For Many Mexicans, Semana Santa Means Retail Pilgrimages to US Joey Palacios - Fronteras Desk
go to original March 30, 2013

A family of shoppers from Mexico takes a break in San Antonio’s Shops at La Cantera. During high travel times the mall attracts many people from across the border to shop.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — This week is Semana Santa – or Holy Week. It’s a big week in Mexico, when schools cancel classes and businesses take a holiday for the last week of Lent before Easter. And it’s a big week for retailers in the Southwest, because Mexican shoppers cross the border in droves.

For San Antonio, it’s one of the biggest weeks of the year for retail sales, and hopes are high for this year’s Semana Santa spending spree because of a powerful peso.

Music pulsates at San Antonio’s Shops at La Cantera, a high-end shopping mall. The cash registers are also pulsating as shoppers from Mexico are here looking for deals and quality merchandise.

Aldolfo Muzquiz is from the state of Coahuila. He and his family make several trips here a year, but Holy Week is a special time to leave Mexico.

“You basically shut down all the commerce and all the work there so the people have the chance to go to the states and do their shopping as well as relax during vacation,” Muzquiz said.

... The Mexican peso is enjoying a two-year high in comparison to the dollar. And it’s trending up as there’s optimism that economic reforms in Mexico will spur greater growth.

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