El Bronco Swap Meet working to re-open after code violations force temporary closure
EL PASO, Texas -- An iconic El Paso flea market is working to re-open this coming weekend after code violations forced it to shut down for repairs.
A City of El Paso spokesperson told ABC-7 that El Bronco Swap Meet in the Lower Valley was found to have several code violations, with fire hazards being the worst among those. Currently, the flea market is shut down until it meets code compliance, with vendors are scrambling to fix the issues.
“This is their only source of income,” said Diana Torres, whose parents sell food and drinks at the market. For their booth, the issue was improper use of extension cords that took minutes to fix - but the Torres' are only one of nearly 300 vendors. It’s up to all of them and the owners to get things back in shape.
“We needed to open some of the stores to make the corrections and some of the vendors have not come down, so we’re waiting on them to come so we can make the minor changes,” said Carlos Sandoval, one of the Bronco co-owners.
Even then, Torres said they fixed what they could but don’t know if anything is missing. For that, they’re waiting for the next city inspection.
“We should have it all taken care of before Saturday. On Saturday and Sunday, (we) should be back to business as usual,” Sandoval said.
El Bronco management said it will call the city for an inspection once everything is fixed.
El Bronco had a fire last August that burned a couple of sheds. No one was hurt at the time and there have not been incidents since.
