TIJUANA — The kids are coming. And this year, officials vowed Wednesday, this border city will be ready.
With bars, discotheques and restaurants already gearing up for the onslaught of spring-break revelers from the United States, authorities from Tijuana and San Diego conducted a strategy meeting Wednesday to discuss "unprecedented" preparations to deal with impending arrival of America's youth.
Protection Stepped Up
Among other things, officials vowed, police protection will be increased on both sides of the border, ambulances and hospitals will be put on alert, assorted "rescue" squads will be mobilized and, in a novel twist, visitors will be provided with brochures outlining some "dos" and "don'ts" south of the border.
Tijuana authorities have already begun a crackdown on drinking establishments that are not properly licensed or that serve alcohol after the mandatory 3 a.m. closing.
"We hope Easter Week will be a safe week," said Sergio Lujan Chavez, who oversees the Tijuana civil-protection office.
If it sounds like an invasion, that's exactly the way Mexican law-enforcement authorities are treating it.
And they're not alone. San Diego police say they will be on the lookout for inebriated youths returning to the United States after late-night forays south of the border. (Most revelers park their cars on the U. S. side and enter Mexico as pedestrians, a situation that presents obvious traffic hazards as the youths return to San Diego and attempt to drive north, often as far as Los Angeles.)
"We're going to be on the lookout for people coming across under the influence or being particularly rowdy," said Dave Cohen, a San Diego police spokesman, who added that police will bolster patrols on San Diego-area beaches during the spring break.
Growing in Popularity
Tijuana may not be as storied a spring-break destination as Ft. Lauderdale or Palm Springs, but more and more teen-agers are flocking to the border city. Tijuana's image as a bastion of sleaze for servicemen and single males has gradually been giving way to new popularity as a mecca for U. S. teen-agers of both sexes attracted by its glitzy bars, sybaritic atmosphere, generally inexpensive good times and 18-year-old drinking age. (One has to be 21 to purchase alcoholic beverages in California.) Tavern owners have been quick to change their pitch in a city where tourism is the No. 1 industry.
