Annual Pilgrimage Will
Be Litter and Alcohol
Free, Cartago
Municipality Promises
August 2nd is
approaching, the time
for the annual
pilgrimage to Cartago
known as "la Romeria"
where thousands pay
homage to the Virgen de
los Ángeles. And each
year police and
municipal officials are
faced with the same
problem of vendors,
alcohol abuse and litter
of the streets leading
to the Basilica.
This year, however, the
Municipalidad de
Cartago, is restricting
all types of sales along
the route and will be
strictly monitoring
alcohol consumption.
The restricted area
include Oreamuno,
cartagineses de Carmen,
Dulce Nombre, San
Francisco, Guadalupe and
the formerDirección de
Tránsito offices in San
Nicolás.
The annual pilgrimage
takes place August 1 and
2, where people from all
over the country and
some from outside of
Costa Rica, make their
way to Cartago on foot
to visit "La Negrita".
However, the pilgrimage
for some starts days and
weeks ahead, visiting
the Basilica ahead of
the multitudes.
The Municipalidad de
Cartago will shut down
all bars effective at
the stroke of midnight
on August 2 and until
11pm that night. Only
restaurants will be
allowed to stay open but
not serve any type of
liquor or beer. The move
is to reduce the amount
of rowdiness that occurs
at the end of the
pilgrimage in the "old
metropolis" and much of
the abuse that is cause
for concern along the
route.
The Municipality also
intends to restrict
vehicular access in and
around the Basilica to
reduce the usual
congestion. The
municipality's health
department will also be
locating garbage bins
along the route from
Ochomogo to the
Basilica, in a move that
in the words of Cartago
mayor, Rolando Rodríguez,
"to put order where it
never was".
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