Raymundo, a handicrafts vendor and renter of tables, chairs and umbrellas on the beach in Puerto Vallarta, appreciates being away from home again, doing the job he has done for more than 10 years.
“We were already seeing the reality as difficult, the savings have been gone for weeks and we no longer knew what to do,” Raymundo begins, recounting the moment he wipes the sweat from his face under the scorching sun.
With 4 children and a wife to feed, Raymundo began to leave his house this week with the aim of selling handicrafts and renting tables, chairs, and umbrellas on the beach, an activity that he has carried out for 10 years in this city.
“Look, okay … The truth is, it’s okay. From the time this started we saw it negatively,” adds Raymundo.
Like him, hundreds of street vendors have started looking for ways to earn their daily bread since the reopening of the beaches last Monday, unfortunately for them, the income has not been what’s expected or at least required.
“People are coming … Little, but the truth is that we are confident that this is improving,” said José, one of the jet ski and parachute promoters.
On the beach of Los Muertos, next to the iconic pier of the city, the street vendors walk for hours on the incandescent sand trying to make a living, adapting to a pandemic that has introduced the phrase, ‘the new normal’.
Article and Photo by Javier Frías / Quadratín Jalisco – Edited by PVDN
