Mercado Bramadero in Iztacalco Gets One Million Pesos for Repairs
Mexico City gave Mercado Bramadero one million pesos to fix its wiring and roof. It will also be the first market with cameras linked to the C5.
Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada handed one million pesos to Mercado Bramadero, a public market in the Iztacalco borough, on Nov. 13. Stallholders chose to spend it on a new electrical breaker and a repaired roof. Brugada also ordered the city’s C5 (its video monitoring and emergency command center) to make Bramadero the first market whose security cameras are connected to that system.
The money comes from the city’s Presupuesto Participativo (participatory budget) for markets. Brugada said her government is putting 280 million pesos into 280 public markets, one million pesos each, and the stallholders of each market decide how to use it.
How Bramadero’s stallholders decided
Market representatives voted on the project at an assembly on Oct. 14, and 93 percent backed it, according to Eje Central and ContraRéplica. The plan covers two jobs. The first replaces a 600-ampere thermomagnetic breaker, the device that cuts power automatically when there is a surge or fault in the system. The second renews the metal sheets on the roof of the main hall so rain stops leaking in and wearing down the building.
Alfredo Martínez de la Parra, who represents the market, said the electrical work comes first because it is meant to prevent fires and protect stallholders’ property. Two committees will handle the money: one manages and carries out the work, and the other oversees it and reports on spending. The city’s Public Works and Services ministry (Sobse) and Economic Development ministry (Sedeco) will give technical advice, and Civil Protection will review safety issues.
What it means for markets across the city
Markets that spend the money properly, finish the work and document what they spent can get another one million pesos the following year, Brugada said, and the city wants to keep the scheme going in later years. She said that in the first two years of her term the city has spent 468 million pesos on upgrades at 270 public markets. ContraRéplica reported that this is about 80 percent of all such markets in the capital.
Figures from the event did not all match. Economic Development Secretary Manola Zabalza said 180 public markets will receive one million pesos, while Brugada spoke of 280. Zabalza described neighborhood commerce as the livelihood of more than 300 thousand families in the city.
“Defending our markets is defending our culture,” Brugada said, in a line both outlets quoted.
Cameras linked to the C5
The camera link is part of the city’s Ojos Que Te Cuidan program, and Brugada asked for it to be extended to other markets that receive city money. She cited the National Survey of Victimization of Businesses by INEGI (Mexico’s statistics institute), which found that crimes against businesses in Mexico City fell 37 percent between 2023 and 2025.
Vouchers and bulk buying
Brugada also pointed to Mercomuna, a program that pays out local spending vouchers, which has reached stallholders in 299 markets. She invited more vendors to join and said she will ask Sedeco to set up group purchasing so stallholders can buy stock for less.
Looking at the Buen Fin sales weekend, which starts this weekend, Brugada estimated it will bring more than 50 billion pesos in spending to the capital. She said the city will deploy a security and assistance operation during the sales and urged market vendors to use the season to raise their sales.
Sources: Eje Central, ContraRéplica
