QCOSTARICA — Parking near the National Stadium in La Sabana is extremely limited, and the available spaces, whether on the street or in private lots, come at a high cost. This issue becomes even more severe during mega concerts, like that of Karol G this weekend.
To the surprise of many drivers, the traffic police of the Municipalidad de San José were out in full force during the concert, with screwdrivers and pliers in hand, taking down the license plates of 89 vehicles for the Saturday night concert. No numbers were available for Sunday’s performance.
These were vehicles targeted by the “Muni’s” traffic police for being illegally parked, despite some drivers paying “wachimen” or “guidacarros” (informal parking spotters), who operate with any official permit for doing so.
Officials, in their defense of the police action, were quick to respond that concert-goers were warned.
The self-proclaimed “most sold newspaper in Costa Rica”, the Diario Extra, reported it spoke with Marcelo Solano, director of the Municipal Police, about the operation of these operations.
“Massive events, like Karol G’s or Don Omar’s concert a week ago, have a direct impact on the residents of Nunciatura and Sabana Norte. They have been the ones who have been requesting control action from the San José Municipal Police and the Transit Police,” he explained.
Likewise, he indicated that there were large numbers of vehicles parked on the sidewalks, on corners, and obstructing entrances to buildings, in general terms causing a great impact in the area.
The number is short of the 100 pairs of license plates confiscated during the Luis Miguel concert last month.
The traffic ticket price of ¢63,000 colones is minor in comparison to the inconvenience of having to retrieve the seized plates, which involves scheduling an appointment, and a personal visit to retrieve the plates, after paying the fine and all other outstanding fines.
And, of course, a night that got totally wrecked.
Municipal authorities highlight the need to keep order in and around the stadium, as illegal parking blocks traffic flow through the narrow streets and affects the many shops and businesses located in the area.
However, critics of the traffic blitz see it differently. They cite that millions of colones are raked in during the police operation. And feel that they are unjustly targeted given the lack of legal parking spaces and public transportation options.
While we don’t have numbers for the Karol G concerts this weekend, the municipality collected some ¢6 million colones for the Luis Miguel concert on February 8.
Some drivers speaking to the television cameras had hopeful thinking that things will change with the incoming administration, that is when San José’s newly elected mayor, Diego Miranda, takes office on May 1.
