Overview
- Hours before Christmas Eve, Centro de Lima saw heavy crowding and slow movement, with shoppers packing corridors for toys and decorations and queues building at major malls.
- Municipal inspectors and warning signs were visible at the Andahuaylas–Cusco intersection to deter illegal sales, yet large clusters of ambulant vendors operated along avenida Abancay.
- San Fernando’s paviferias in districts such as San Borja and Surquillo reported long lines for turkeys and pork, with branches open 8 a.m.–1 p.m. on Dec. 24 and stock still available.
- In Piura’s Complejo de Mercados, informal merchants occupied interior roads and closed streets with stalls and vehicles, producing significant traffic congestion in surrounding avenues.
- Reporters documented vendors offering banned pyrotechnics in Piura, while legal experts in Lima renewed calls for a national framework to regulate ambulant trade beyond coercive crackdowns.