The city slows down: neighborhoods in Greater Santo Domingo experience a quiet Holy Saturday

Santo Domingo — A notable decrease in daily activity across different neighborhoods of Greater Santo Domingo envelops this Holy Saturday in an atmosphere of calm and tranquility, where silence, clear streets and avenues, and limited business openings predominate.

Submerged in a kind of lethargy, usually bustling streets appear quieter than normal, with reduced pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The atmosphere reflects an almost complete pause in commercial activity, characteristic of this period of reflection following the total shutdown on Good Friday.

Most commercial establishments, including shops, beauty salons, and other service businesses, remain closed.

However, some food-related businesses continue to operate in a limited capacity, such as grocery stores, fried food stands, and small food businesses, which serve residents who remain in the capital during the holiday.

A large number of vehicles parked along the sides of the streets suggests that people stayed quietly in their homes, with not a single horn or loud music heard.

Sweet beans are expensive

Fiordaliza Capellán, a resident of Ensanche Espaillat, was preparing two swimming pools for her grandchildren in front of her house.

“The children can bathe peacefully there; yesterday they didn’t want us to put it up, but today they do. The police broke one yesterday, on the street behind,” he commented.

When asked how he spent these holidays, Capellán said that he refused to make sweet beans because “there are too many neighbors, I have to give to a lot of people, it’s like six pounds of beans that have to be made, but I did make my fish on Good Friday.”

Beside him was Roberto, a resident of the area, who, with a cheeky smile on his face, said that his Good Friday plans included ” a lot of rum “, an action he intends to continue on Saturday.

“There’s a pool right there, adults only pay 200 pesos and children under five don’t pay,” he added, pointing to a kind of private club.

A watering can on the sidewalk

In Villas Agrícolas, near Nicolás de Ovando Avenue, a group of community members pooled their money and built a shower with three water pipes on the sidewalk. The pipe is connected to a water pump that supplies the water, where children and adults can cool off.

“At night when we turn it off, we remove the shower heads so that the water truck drivers don’t take them,” explained Sandino Henríquez, who has lived in the area for more than 60 years.

• Sandino was with a group of neighbors enjoying bread with avocado and tuna. The boys were gathering the pots to cook fish with rice and beans later.

“We don’t have many plans, just drinks, food, and turning on the shower for a dip ,” he reiterated.

In other streets of the city, pools set up the day before were still empty, an indication of a Saturday that flows slowly, without an agenda marked by the rush, hustle, and bustle of daily life.

Presence of law enforcement officers

Despite the low volume of vehicles and pedestrians, a high presence of authorities and security agencies is maintained, who continue to monitor and ensure order throughout the day.

The boardwalk is calm

On the Malecón of Santo Domingo, one could breathe salt air and peace; even the sea water remained serene with almost no waves.

• Few people gathered at this iconic spot in the capital.

Some were chatting on concrete benches, and a few were doing their exercise routines on foot or on bicycles.