Tacos, 300 thousand people and commerce still on fire: Pucón overflows due to the eclipse

Pucón is synonymous with eclipse. Despite the call of the authorities not to attend en masse for the astronomical day, it is impossible not to realize that the city is ready to experience the phenomenon. And that the pandemic is in the middle of everything.

The commune has signs, posters, advertisements, vendors, glasses, masks, all linked to the eclipse.

To get to Pucón, you have to go through Villarrica. Due to sanitary controls, traffic and taco prior to this last city, it is kilometric. In the afternoon, a section of a few kms. it can take hours. If that seems exhausting, to enter Pucón you have to circumvent another sanitary cordon. East on the Correntoso River bridge. Carabineros and health personnel control and request the corresponding permits.

Despite the large number of visitors to the lake area, the situation has not been quite good yet for trade and tourism. The people who have arrived in the commune have not yet crowded into the streets (probably due to the health situation).

The hotel and accommodation sector is one of the hardest hit. The reserves, prior to the coronavirus, were 100% in all of Pucón. Over the months, and especially with what happened recently in relation to government measures, the cancellation started to happen as a domino effect.

Soledad Matus, administrator of Alpes Apart Hotel, explains that in July 2019, reservations were going well, the entire hotel, the pandemic and social outbreak was not an issue. “A year and a half before, everything was booked, everyone was happy, but 15 days ago when the authorities began to signal the measures, it hurt us, people began to cancel. Before that, 50% and now we are down to 10% occupancy ”.

Although they will also not count in January with the traditional Iron Man of Pucón, Matus keeps the faith. “Our feeling is one of optimism, of moving forward. People are going to need a good summer, see nature, be distracted ”.

Carlos Barra, mayor of Pucón, confirms that the accommodations have been affected, “there is a percentage of reservations that have been canceled, I know. But in the end it is worth it, because we protect the summer ”.

Juan Sanhueza is one of the few who takes happy accounts. The O’Higgins lodge is located on the main avenue of Pucón. Like few others, it is complete for the eclipse. “The eclipse was perfect for us, we took advantage of the fact that people came from outside. We have all the safeguards, we are prepared. The bathrooms are private, not shared ”.

Since the summer they started to book. “Reservations are until Monday and Tuesday. At this time, a room out of a total of nine available costs 60 thousand pesos a day. Due to the pandemic, we do not give breakfast. Maximum two people per room ”, says Sanhueza.

A favored item is restaurants, especially coffee. The traditional Cassis de Pucón, with street terraces, fills up in the afternoons. As well as importers.

Manon Gatica, from the Gatica importer, tells Qué Pasa that the increase in people in the commune and in the store is noticeable. “Here they look for toys, household goods, plastics. Rather Chilean, few foreigners ”.

Adventure tourism, typical of the area due to its landscape (volcano, rivers, among others), has also been affected. Natalia Garrido from Patagonia Experience, points out that “You can see the flow of people, quite a lot, but even so, sales have not been as great as in other years when this same number of people have arrived ”.

“For the eclipse we decided not to make reservations, we did not know what the situation would be like. The volcano depends a lot on the weather conditions and also the pandemic came and obviously we were grateful for not having made reservations. Most of Pucón was reserved three years ago ”, Garrido explains.

Emerson Pezoa from Turismo Sur, acknowledges that the situation is slow, “people come to see the eclipse, not to go sightseeing. Few people are seen from abroad. In a normal year there is more flow than now, the pandemic has limited visits ”.