Overview
- Iztapalapa crews and neighbors are cleaning streets, repainting crossings and building stages as the 183rd Passion play nears.
- Mayor Aleida Alavez said UNESCO granted the event intangible heritage status and announced an 8,000-person safety and medical operation with planned road closures and open Metro access.
- Same-day coverage names two different leads for Jesus — UNAM medical graduate Arnulfo Eduardo Morales García and 25-year-old Arnoldo Eduardo Galicia — and organizers have not publicly clarified the choice.
- Earlier reports identified Erika Yasmín Morales Hernández as the Virgin Mary and said the lead would carry a cross weighing more than 90 kilograms over nearly 9 kilometers, citing an interview published by La Prensa.
- Local outlets project more than two million visitors and over 250 million pesos in spending, and the tradition that began as a cholera-era vow now anchors community life through a cast drawn from local families.