The IMA director, Nilo Murillo, came out to clarify the confusion caused by misinterpreting the dates. Entire families lost hours of sleep and time in line for nothing. Meanwhile, the Christmas markets that are active today are only those in the interior of the country: Herrera, Los Santos, and Chiriquí, where merchandise has been moving non-stop since the early morning. In the capital, starting the sales requires a massive operation: over 200 officials from 2:00 a.m., heavy logistics, and the capacity to attend to thousands of people. The official date for the capital city is from December 15 to 19, and not before. The mess was created because many people misunderstood the dates. There could not have been greater confusion: since the early morning, hundreds of people went to Pan de Azúcar in San Miguelito, believing that the sale of the IMA's Christmas box would start today... but none of that was scheduled for this Tuesday. The director of the IMA, Nilo Murillo, came out to clarify the situation: there is no sale of the Christmas box today in San Miguelito, nor in San Antonio, nor in La Chorrera. For now, the Christmas markets in the interior continue to operate normally. That is why they insisted that the people not form unnecessary lines and wait for the official date. The permanent IMA stores are open, but with limited staff because almost the entire team is in the interior reinforcing the operations.
