Every Sunday in Guatemala City some avenues are closed for traffic. It usually takes place between 8 am and 2 pm. Locals call those places “Pasos y pedales” (pedestrians and cyclists). You can enjoy many activities like skateboarding school, Tai-chi classes, traffic security program, firefighter presentations, on occasion free concerts. There are many street vendors, some of whom are citizens trying to sell dog puppies. Most of the citizens enjoy walks or exercising.
But in last year more and more people with their dogs are taking over those closed streets; here you can see the taste of Guatemalans when it comes to dog breeds. They even offer you free dog training courses. It looks that behind the secured walls of family houses and apartments there is rich and vivid canine life that we never knew of. Until now.
Pasos y pedales became the important part of the city lifestyle. It is important to be seen, but also a good opportunity to push some civil and political agenda. Although it is not genuine Guatemalan idea, people are grateful to the mayor of the city, Mr. Arzu, for this move. There are some other programs that he introduced into the public life that brought him popularity and reelection. Sometimes it doesn’t take a lot of money to make people happier and take the credits.