Buyers, Sellers Bid Fond Farewell to El Mercado : Swap meet: Many who depended on it for income, bargains or diversion were unhappy on its last day. It was ordered closed because of zoning regulations.

Vendors and shoppers of the popular El Mercado swap meet had more on their minds Sunday than the usual selling and buying of wares.

They were officially notified Sunday morning that the city is putting El Mercado out of business because it violates Santa Ana zoning ordinances.

For many, the council’s action evokes apprehension as well as anger.

“I’m not going to have any more money to buy food for my two daughters,” said Luis Cruz, 61, who has sold exotic birds and bird supplies at the swap meet since it opened at Rancho Santiago College in 1987. “Only God knows what I’ll do now.”

Not too far away, shopper Samuel Carrasco shook his head disbelievingly when told there would be no longer be an El Mercado.

“What am I going to do with my Sundays now?” asked Carrasco, who said he has shopped at the swap meet every week since 1987. “I come here to walk and to meet people as well as to shop.”

Last week, Superior Court Judge William F. Rylaarsdam issued an injunction ordering the swap meet to shut down immediately. The injunction follows the city’s appellate court victory in December giving it the power to close the swap meet because of the zoning violation.

Officials of Rancho Santiago College, the swap meet’s sponsor, said they would not appeal because the college has exhausted all avenues during its three-year legal battle with the city to preserve Santa Ana’s only outdoor swap meet.

After the injunction was issued, city officials allowed El Mercado to open one last time Sunday because there was not enough time to notify vendors of the closure. Many of the vendors said they were angry because they did not receive word of the shutdown until flyers were passed to them by college personnel late Sunday morning.

“It’s hard for us because they didn’t let us know in advance that El Mercado would be closed,” said 32-year-old Ricardo Cesena, who drives from Rancho Santa Margarita every Sunday to sell sporting goods. “We need to find another place where we can set up our stands and we don’t know where.”

Even as vendors discussed their woes, local county Latino organizations vowed to fight to keep the swap meet opened.

“The closure caught me completely by surprise,” said Alex Vega, president of the National Organization of Vendors of America, a nonprofit organization based in Orange County. “We will take legal actions against the city if it’s necessary.”

As the afternoon drifted on and business began to wane, vendors milled around each other and their customers to say goodby, many expressing worries about their future.

“I’m trying to figure out what to do next Sunday and what else I would have to do to feed my family,” said Jesus Godinez, 39.

Juana Arellano, 26, of Santa Ana, said she comes to the Mercado every Sunday because it’s the only place in the city where she can afford to buy clothes and household goods.

“Oh, this is very sad to hear; I come here because everything is so low,” Arellano said, pointing to the parakeet she had just bought and a large plastic bag that contained clothes, baby bottles and bird food.