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This article contributes to the understanding of one the links of the global economy through a historical peculiarity: the "Pulga del Puente del Papa", or flea market in the city of Monterrey, Mexico. This market is a case of "popular globalization". merchandise manufactured in distant countries and utilized in others, is sold in the "Pulga del Puente del Papa", to be reused by local consumers. The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the historical process of consolidation of this market, and to demonstrate that it is a "commercial device" that persists precisely because it is inserted into the "global chain of merchandise". Within this framework, we ponder the interaction between local and global process across the Mexico-U.S. border. Not only do we trace the market's history, we describe its principal characteristics and provide examples of the commercial dynamics and international circuits through which the "Pulga del Puente del Papa" is supplied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]