Tijuana Adult Entertainment: At the border, a churro vendor rides changing tides
TIJUANA, Mexico – El Churrero, the Churro Man, sidesteps tamale carts, squeezes between bumpers and beggars, working 24 lanes of idling vehicles.
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Tijuana in the 60s was entering its golden age of tourism. People flocked to the bullfights and bars, the horse races and the red-light district. American tourists, Mauricio quickly found, had an insatiable appetite for cheap Mexican crafts and all things kitschy. He sold piggy banks of all sizes, shapes, colors and themes. He imported ceramic from Guadalajara and blankets from Queretaro. He got up at 4 a.m. to paint flowers on clay pots and whiskers on plaster Santa Clauses with brushes he made from hair he snipped off stray cats.
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Mauricio opens the creaky metal gate to his house in Tijuana’s El Soler neighborhood, 10 miles from the border. The cracked driveway is flanked by two stucco cottages. In the back, past rows of multicolored clotheslines, sits a two-story brick home with fading paint and a peeling front door.
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The number of people crossing from Tijuana into San Diego dropped from 47.4 million in 2003 to 34.7 million last year, according to Customs and Border Protection. Vehicle crossings declined from 17.5 million to 14.2 million.