Mérida’s government has begun to remove the large potted plants placed along the city’s streets in Centro.
The potted plants were installed almost two years ago as an effort to curb mobility just after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Saturday, Yucatán returned to green on Mexico’s epidemiological traffic light.
The removal of these barriers is seen by locals as symbolizing a return to normalcy, or at least a new kind of normal.
“It’s about time. These things are a pain and are creating chaos for traffic, maybe they were necessary at some point, but that point has long passed,” a Mérida local, René Contreras Ramirez, said on Facebook.
In all, the city says it has already removed 2,700 obstacles from Mérida’s roads and sidewalks, and that the remainder should also be gone by the weekend.
Earlier: New signs of life for Mérida’s MACAY contemporary art museum
Other moves implemented by the state government to contain the spread of COVID-19 included controversial mobility restrictions that, in practice, amounted to a curfew between 11 p.m. to 8 a.m., as well as a ban on the sale of liquor.
Though technically limitations on the capacity of venues and restaurants are still in effect, these restrictions no longer seem to be enforced, as evidenced by packed locales across the state.
At Mexico’s most visited archaeological site Chichén Itzá, it also appears to be back to business as usual, with even mask use policies being seldom enforced.
Under green, society can operate nearly as usual, although facemasks are still standard apparel in public.
