Traffic and public transit use increased in Mexico City on Sunday as many residents disregarded the recommendation to stay at home in order to make Mother’s Day purchases.

Many capitalinos or chilangos, as residents of the capital are known, ventured outside their homes amid the coronavirus pandemic to buy gifts for their mothers, wives, aunts and grandmothers and meals and beverages to share with them, the newspaper La Jornada reported.

Flowers, chocolates and underwear were among the gifts sought out by capitalinos for the important women in their lives, while paella, barbacoa con consomé (slow-cooked mutton and an accompanying broth), carnitas (pork simmered in its own lard), tacos and roast chicken were all popular meal choices.

Soft drinks flew off supermarket shelves, some of which were destined to be mixed with alcoholic beverages. The ley seca, or dry law, implemented by the authorities in some Mexico City boroughs between Friday and Sunday to dissuade weekend gatherings was no hindrance to making a toast to mom, with many residents stocking up on alcoholic beverages during the week.

“The ley seca wasn’t going to stop us from celebrating with a good tequila, rum or whisky,” one person told La Jornada.

Other residents said that they wanted to see their mothers on their special day, even if was only for a brief time, because they had been sheltering in their homes for weeks and had been unable to interact with their moms face to face. Some people said that they planned to return to their own homes before dark out of fear that they could be victims of crime.

The fear of being mugged is bigger than the fear of being infected with Covid-19, some said, explaining that it is easier to protect oneself against coronavirus by using face masks and antibacterial gel than against crime.

The decision by some capitalinos to visit their mothers on Sunday was taken despite authorities urging people to stay at home in order to avoid the risk of transmitting Covid-19 to loved ones.

Many others, however, heeded the call and instead met up with their mothers virtually via online video applications.

One woman found a novel way to show her mother how much she loved and appreciated her – she traveled to Mexico City’s Plaza Garibaldi and live streamed a performance by mariachi musicians to her mom, who remained out of harm’s way in her own home.

From an economic standpoint, Mother’s Day is big in Mexico. One business organization estimated that last year’s Mother’s Day spending totaled 47 billion pesos (US $1.97 billion at today’s exchange rate), making it second only to Valentine’s Day in terms of economic value.

Source: La Jornada (sp)