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Masked protesters smashed through the windows and looted
high-end businesses in the touristic areas of Condesa and Roma,
and screamed at tourists in the area. Graffiti on glass
shattered glass being smashed through with rocks read: “get out
of Mexico.” Protesters held signs reading “gringos, stop
stealing our home” and demanding local legislation to better
regulate tourism levels and stricter housing laws.
Marchers then continued on to protest outside the U.S. Embassy
and chanted inside the city’s metro system. Police
reinforcements gathered outside the Embassy building as police
sirens rung out in the city center Friday evening.
It marked a violent end to a more peaceful march throughout the
day calling out against masses of mostly American tourists who
have flooded into Mexico's capital in recent years.
Tension had been mounting in the city since U.S. “digital
nomads” flocked to Mexico City in 2020, many to escape
coronavirus lockdowns in the U.S. or to take advantage of
cheaper rent prices in the Latin American city.
Since then, rents have soared and locals have increasingly
gotten pushed out of their neighborhoods, particularly areas
like Condesa and Roma, lush areas packed with coffee shops and
restaurants.
Michelle Castro, a 19-year-old college student, was among the
flocks of people protesting. She said that she's from the city's
working class city center, and that she's watched slowly as
apartment buildings have been turned into housing for tourists.
“Mexico City is going through a transformation," she said.
"There are a lot of foreigners, namely Americans, coming to live
here. Many say it's xenophobia, but it's not. It's just that so
many foreigners come here, rents are skyrocketing because of
Airbnb. Rents are so high that some people can't even pay
anymore.”
The Mexico City protest follows others in European cities like
Barcelona, Madrid, Paris and Rome against mass tourism.
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