page_title: Paseo Atocha
section_title: Shopping experience
hierarchical_section_title: Paseo Atocha / Shopping experience
caption_attribution_description: English: Picture of Paseo Atocha in Historic Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico
context_page_description: Paseo Atocha is a pedestrian shopping mall in the Ponce Historic Zone, a historic district in Ponce, Puerto Rico. For over a century the narrow Calle Atocha was bustling retail center opened to vehicular traffic, yet flooded with shoppers. Congestion and pedestrian safety led the Municipal Government to close the two blocks of Calle Atocha from Calle Isabel to Calle Vives to motor vehicles in 1991. Several years later, the closure was expanded to include the block from Calle Vives to Calle Victoria. This last segment coincides with the western perimeter of the historic Plaza de Mercado Isabel II city market. Not the bustling commercial spot it once was, today it is still actively frequented by shoppers, though in much reduced numbers. It is visited annually by thousands of locals and tourists alike and is considered one of the city’s main places of interest.
context_section_description: The Promenade is a lively place, and shoppers can find almost anything they need here.  There are many clothing, jewelry, electronics, souvenir, etc., stores and restaurants. Many merchants have booths or racks along the Paseo.  Most of the stores have discounted merchandise. Police are stationed at every block along the Paseo, making the promenade quite safe. 
  Paseo Atocha also includes he privately-owned Casa Vives, the only historic structure listed in the United States' Park Service National Register of Historic Places Program located within Paseo Atocha.
caption: Ponce’s Paseo Atocha before shops have opened for the day (May 2008)
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