High expectations for Semana Santa 2015

By Azucena Mazón, RockyPoint360.com

Just as the Semana Santa (Holy Week) vacation period is beginning, area hotels along with rental homes and condos across Puerto Peñasco are registering nearly full, reports Héctor Vázquez del Mercado, President of the local Convention and Visitors Bureau (OCV).

Though Vázquez del Mercado acknowledged it is hard to measure the true number of visitors during this time of the year, given that thousands of people stay with family or friends, or set up tents, he anticipates more than 100,000 visitors to the area. This positions Puerto Peñasco as the most visited beach destination in the northwestern part of the country.

In this sense, promotion remains strong in drawing visitors for Easter Week – the week following Semana Santa, which is also seeing an annual increase.

The majority of visitors at this time of the year are from Sonora, Baja California, and Chihuahua.

Vázquez del Mercado indicated safety operatives coordinated among the three levels of government are already in place, and will take place within the urban center, on area beaches, and along highways.

He detailed roads into Puerto Peñasco, such as the Sonoyta – Peñasco highway as well as the Coastal Highway leading to the Gulf of Santa Clara are in good condition. The Caborca – Peñasco highway is in acceptable condition, though caution is recommended for travel along that road in this being a two-lane highway with no shoulders.