Uncovering Mexico
Jeremy Schwartz is the Mexico correspondent for Cox Newspapers. He is based in Mexico City.What's on this page?
All the entries posted on August 08, 2007.
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Home > Uncovering Mexico > Archives > 2007 > August > 08
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
The parking mafia
Here in Mexico City we don’t have parking meters, we have franeleros. Roughly translated as ragmen, these self-appointed parking officials stake out a street or two in this parking-space starved city and direct cars in and out. They’ll guide you in and then offer to watch your car (or even wash it) — all for a fee, of course. During the day it’s usually just a handful of change, but at night - especially in trendy areas where parking is at a premium - they can charge several dollars per car.
The charge for parking on a public street is theoretically voluntary. In reality almost everyone pays the franeleros, lest their car suffer a nasty dent, flat tire, or worse, disappear. None of this is legal (thanks to a 2004 “Civic Culture” law), but like lots of illegal activities that flourish in the Mexican capital, is supported by a chain of corruption. Neighborhood cops and tow truck drivers reportedly get a taste of the franelero money in exchange for looking the other way or letting the ragmen operate in no-parking areas.
Neighbors periodically rise up against the franeleros. In Coyoacan neighborhood, home to the Cox office, there’s an ongoing battle between residents and ragmen over the right to park on the streets around the picturesque plaza. In other parts of the city, officials have threatened to replace franeleros with parking meters, hoping to channel parking money directly into the city budget.
For the most part the franeleros are grudgingly accepted as a fact of life in the capital, and like the legion of street vendors who illegally set up shop on downtown streets, are yet another symptom of an economy that isn’t producing nearly enough jobs for its citizens.