A. M. With 57 votes in favor, the Legislative Assembly approved the Ley de Creación de la Dirección de Mercados Nacionales y Locales Comerciales Ubicados en Espacios Públicos, with the purpose of organizing, modernizing, and promoting the efficient operation of the country’s markets and commercial centers. This regulation establishes the legal regime for their administration, as well as the rights and duties of those who exercise commercial activity in such spaces.
The new legislation will be applicable to natural or legal persons operating as concessionaires of sales stalls or working in markets and premises located in public spaces. The law seeks to overcome the deficiencies of the previous system, which was characterized by a lack of order, hygiene, and transparency in the allocation of commercial spaces.
As a central part of the regulation, the Dirección de Mercados Nacionales is created, a decentralized and autonomous institution that will oversee the administration, surveillance, and control of these spaces. It will have its headquarters in San Salvador Centro, with the possibility of establishing offices throughout the country, and will be directly related to the Presidency of the Republic.
The Directorate will have powers such as guaranteeing access to basic services, authorizing or revoking the allocation of posts, supervising lease payments, imposing sanctions and taking provisional measures in cases of emergency. In addition, it will administer its own budget financed by the State and its own revenues, which will be audited by the Court of Accounts.
The law also contemplates the creation of the Sistema Informático para la Administración de Mercados (SIAM), which will include unique registries of stalls and commercial premises, facilitating the monitoring of physical and legal conditions of each space, as well as the identification of active merchants.
Finally, the municipalities where markets administered by the Directorate are installed will be able to establish municipal fees or taxes on the successful bidders. The regulations also require that structural modifications to the stalls be previously authorized, thus guaranteeing the preservation of the original design of the markets.
