Three out of ten municipal councils in Costa Rica have resolved that they will not allow the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages in the most solemn days leading up to Easter. As of Palm Sunday, only a handful of municipalities had not yet issued a decision on whether they should apply “dry laws” in their communities, and the total number of cantons and districts that will go dry this Thursday of Mysteries and Good Friday is 25.

The dry laws are part of the religious tradition of Costa Rica, a nation that is constitutionally Catholic. In the past, dry laws were enacted across the country, and they used to begin on Palm Sunday until the following Sunday, when the Christian holiday of Easter is celebrated. As the tourist industry continues to grow in Costa Rica, dry laws are being relaxed, and they are rarely applied beyond the solemn Thursday and Friday of Holy Week.

Fifty-two municipalities have decided not to apply dry laws this year, and many of them are known as cantons or districts that attract a significant number of tourists. In Guanacaste, for example, only three cantons will be subject to dry laws: Abangares, Bagaces and Nandayure; although there is some rural tourism in these cantons, it is not as significant as in Carrillo, Nicoya and Santa Cruz.

The dry laws of Holy Week do not extend to private dwellings, where liquor can be consumed as long as it has not been purchased in a dry law municipality. Within the Greater San Jose Metropolitan Area (Spanish acronym: GAM) the following cantons and districts will apply dry law:

• Alajuelita and Montes de Oca in San José
• Aserrí, Poás and Atenas in Alajuela
• San Isidro, Belén and San Pablo in Heredia
• Oreamuno and the Central Canton of Cartago

In the Caribbean province of Limon, the cantons of Guácimo and Matina will go dry this Thursday and Friday. It is important to note that even in the cantons that choose not to apply dry laws, proprietors of bars, restaurants and stores may choose to take a break from doing business during Holy Week.

 

Source: National Union of Local Governments