Tianguis
There is a saying here "en Tepito todo se vende menos la dignidad" (in Tepito everything is for sale, except dignity). It has a well-known street market or tianguis, which occupies 25 streets as well as three other markets, one for foodstuffs, one for shoes and one for secondhand items, with most residents here making a living as merchants with about 12,000 doing business here. This market is a Mexican tradition that dates back to pre-Hispanic times, with the word "tianguis" coming from Nahuatl. The tianguis at Tepito is called a baratillo or baratijo (lit. little cheap ones) for their traditionally low prices. This market has a long tradition here and is the largest and most vibrant in the city in the 21st century. The market is so large and so crowded, that buses must crawl and squeeze their way slowly with only feet to spare at most from the crowds and market stalls.
The sale of counterfeit brands, called "fayuca," began in the 1970s. It started small, selling from suitcases but rapidly the quantities rose to pickup loads to tractor trailer loads. Sellers like Manuel used go to the U.S. to get merchandise but many now deal with counterfeit goods coming to Mexican ports from China. Many of the Chinese wholesalers even offer credit. Another widespread phenomenon is the selling of pirated audio and video. Venders selling this, most of it copied in Mexico itself, have small television sets with large speakers blaring music at full volume. The electricity for this is tapped illegally, with several stands hooked up to the same cable. It is estimated that street venders earned as much as 80,000,000,000 pesos in 2005 and avoided 22,000,000,000 pesos in taxes.
True to its roots, there is still a used clothing market on Wednesdays on Tenochtitlan Street where garments are sold for as little as one peso. It is generally not stolen but rather bought or bartered for by merchants in lower and middle-class neighborhoods. On Sundays, there is a large antiques market on Paseo de la Reforma. A local dish most often sold from wandering shopping carts in the street here is called "migas." It is a stew made with water, ancho chili, beef and pork bones and pieces of bread.
The street sellers of Tepito and other parts of the city form a large part of the financing of political parties in Mexico City. The Party of the Democratic Revolution has governed the city since 2000 and the charge to these vendors to ignore their activities can be anywhere from thirty pesos a week to 100 pesos a day during campaigns. When multiplied by the half million or so street vendors that are estimated in the city, it is a lot of "black money" for politicians.
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