Latest news with #Condesa
Fox News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Officials at popular tourist spot cave to protesters who called out Americans
Local residents of Mexico City have been making their feelings known about unwanted tourists visiting their home areas. Residents were protesting mass tourism over the weekend, with hundreds of people taking to the streets and demanding stricter housing laws and legislation to regulate tourism levels. On Wednesday, it appears that government officials caved to the requests by announcing a preliminary plan to address gentrification and the other concerns of locals, The Associated Press (AP) reported. Clara Brugada, Mexico City mayor, said landlords will not be allowed to increase rents above inflation. Meanwhile, authorities will have a list of "reasonable rental" proposals to share, according to AP. Brugada said her administration will consult residents on her proposal, with the goal of drafting legislation that incorporates measures to keep rents affordable. Earlier this month, an initially peaceful march took a turn when a small group of people in masks began smashing storefronts, looting and harassing foreigners, Fox News Digital reported earlier. Many protesters were calling out American tourists. The number of Americans living in Mexico jumped 70% from 2019 to 2022, according to the U.S. State Department. Popular areas such as Condesa and Roma were affected. Graffiti written on shattered glass from rocks read, "Get out of Mexico," as AP reported. Other signs held by protesters read, among other messages, "Gringos, stop stealing our home," and "Pay taxes, learn Spanish, respect my culture." During the COVID pandemic, many Americans took advantage of cheaper rent prices in Mexico by escaping lockdowns in 2020 as "digital nomads." The number of Americans living in Mexico has continued to grow to a total of 1.6 million, according to the U.S. State Department. The Associated Press contributed reporting.
Fox News
08-07-2025
- Fox News
Americans targeted in Mexico City as locals protest against tourism and soaring rents
As overtourism continues to be a liability for many vacation destinations and cities, a number of locals have been making their feelings known about unwanted visitors to their home areas. Residents in Mexico City protested against mass tourism over the weekend, with hundreds of people taking to the streets over the weekend, The Associated Press (AP) reported. Protesters marched in neighborhoods that are popular with tourists, as well as near the U.S. Embassy and inside metro stations in a stand against gentrification of the popular destination. What began as a peaceful march then took a turn when a small group of people in masks began smashing storefronts, looting and harassing foreigners, AP reported. Popular areas such as Condesa and Roma were affected. Graffiti written on shattered glass from rocks read, "Get out of Mexico," AP reported. Other signs held by protesters read, among other messages, "Gringos, stop stealing our home," and Pay taxes, learn Spanish, respect my culture." Protesters are demanding stricter housing laws and legislation to regulate tourism levels. Many Americans took advantage of cheaper rent prices in Mexico during the coronavirus, escaping lockdowns in 2020 as "digital nomads." The number of Americans living in Mexico jumped 70% from 2019 to 2022. "There are a lot of foreigners, namely Americans, coming to live here." It has continued to grow to a total of 1.6 million, according to the U.S. State Department. Local college student Michelle Castro told AP she has watched the transformation of her "working-class" community. "There are a lot of foreigners, namely Americans, coming to live here. Many say it's xenophobia, but it's not," said Castro. She added, "It's just that so many foreigners come here [and] rents are skyrocketing because of Airbnb. Rents are so high that some people can't even pay anymore." Last month, people in Barcelona and on the Spanish island of Mallorca sprayed tourists with water guns in an attempt to "cool down" tourism, Fox News Digital previously reported. Other cities have held their own tourism protests, with locals gathering in Venice, Italy, and Lisbon, Portugal. Other international vacation destinations have implemented taxes in an effort to curb tourism, Fox News Digital previously reported. Greek officials, for example, are planning to impose a $22 tax on visitors cruising to Santorini or Mykonos.
CTV News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Mexico's president calls march against mass tourism ‘xenophobic.' Critics blame government failures
Demonstrators hold posters that read in Spanish ¨Here we speak Spanish, Real Estate Regulation Now¨, during a protest against gentrification, as the increase in remote workers has risen prices and increased housing demand in neighborhoods like Condesa and Roma, in Mexico City, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) MEXICO CITY — A fierce protest in Mexico City railing against gentrification and mass tourism was fueled by government failures and active promotion to attract digital nomads, according to experts, who said tension had been mounting for years. The criticism comes after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum alleged that Friday's protest was marked by xenophobia, reviving a debate over an influx of Americans in the city. Many Mexicans say they've been priced out of their neighborhoods — in part because of a move made by Sheinbaum in 2022, when she was the Mexico City mayor and signed an agreement with Airbnb and UNESCO to boost tourism and attract digital nomads despite concern over the impact short-term rentals could have. 'Gringo: Stop stealing our home' On Friday, that came to a head. A largely peaceful protest of hundreds of demonstrators marched through tourism centers of the city with signs reading 'Gringo: Stop stealing our home' and 'Housing regulations now!' Near the end of the march, a group of protesters turned violent, breaking the windows of storefronts and looting a number of businesses. In one case, a protester slammed a butter knife against the window of a restaurant where people were hiding, and another person painted 'kill a gringo' on a nearby wall. 'The xenophobic displays seen at that protest have to be condemned. No one should be able to say 'any nationality get out of our country' even over a legitimate problem like gentrification,' Sheinbaum said Monday. 'We've always been open, fraternal.' The frustrations were built upon years of mass tourism and rising rent prices in large swathes of the city. The influx of foreigners began around 2020, when Americans flooded into the Mexico City to work remotely, dodge coronavirus restrictions and take advantage of cheaper living costs. In the years since, choice neighborhoods like Roma and Condesa, lush central areas dotted with cafes and markets, have grown increasingly populated by foreign tourists and the remote workers known as digital nomads, and there are more temporary housing units rented through companies like Airbnb that cater to tourists. As they have, rent and living prices have soared and English has been increasingly common on the streets of those areas. Some groups have described the phenomenon as a sort of 'neo-colonialism.' Mounting tensions The Mexico City Anti-Gentrification Front, one of the organizations behind the protest, it was 'completely against' any acts of physical violence and denied that the protests were xenophobic. Instead, the organization said the protest was a result of years of failures by the local government to address the root of the problems. 'Gentrification isn't just foreigners' fault, it's the fault of the government and these companies that prioritize the money foreigners bring,' the organization said in a statement. Meanwhile 'young people and the working class can't afford to live here.' In its list of demands, the organization called for greater rent controls, mandates that locals have a voice in larger development projects in their area, stricter laws making it harder for landlords to throw out residents and prioritizing Mexican renters over foreigners. Mexico's protest comes on the back of a wave of similar protests across Europe railing against mass tourism. Tensions in Mexico have also been compounded by wider inequalities and the Trump administration targeting Latino communities in the U.S. as it ramps up deportations. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security took a jab at protesters Sunday, writing in a post on the social media platform X: 'If you are in the United States illegally and wish to join the next protest in Mexico City, use the CBP Home app to facilitate your departure.' Government failures Protesters' cries against government failures were echoed by experts, who said that surging gentrification is a product of both shortage of affordable housing in the city and longtime government failures to regulate the housing market. Antonio Azuela, lawyer and sociologist and others said that they do see the protest as a xenophobic backlash, and around 2020 the core of the problem was the influx of 'digital nomads' in the city, but it grew out of hand because of lax housing laws. 'What has made this explode is lack of regulation in the market,' Azuela said. Mexico City's government over the course of decades has made a few efforts to control development and create affordable housing. Legislators estimated there are about 2.7 million houses and apartments in the city, but it needs about 800,000 more. But such affordable housing developments that have popped up often are pushed off to the fringes of the city, said Luis Salinas, a researcher at National Autonomous University of Mexico who has studied gentrification in Mexico City for years. Taking advantage of 'insufficient' laws Controls, meanwhile, have been marked by lack of enforcement, which developers travel services companies like Airbnb take advantage of, he said. Today, more than 26,000 properties in Mexico City are currently listed on Airbnb, according to the Inside Airbnb, an advocacy organization that tracks the company's impact on residential communities through data. That's compared to 36,000 properties in New York City and 19,000 in Barcelona, where protests have also broken out. 'The government has treated housing like it's merchandise,' Salinas said. The actions the government is taking 'are completely insufficient. The federal government needs to be intervening far more nowadays.' Airbnb said it helped contribute more than a billion dollars in 'economic impact' to Mexico City last year and that spending by guests has supported 46,000 jobs in the city. 'What's needed is regulation based not on prohibitions, but on respect for rights and transparency of obligations,' it said in a statement. Last year, Mexico City's government approved the most ambitious rent control law since the 1940s in an effort to control prices and also set caps on short-term rentals to 180 nights a year, but Salinas said that enforcement of short-term rental legislation has been put on pause until after the 2026 FIFA World Cup. And even then, the country's government will have to take far greater actions to get the situation under control, said Azuela. 'This isn't going to end by just reigning in Airbnb,' he said. 'They're going to have to do a whole lot more.' Megan Janetsky And María Verza, The Associated Press
Daily Mail
07-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Now anti-tourism protests spread to MEXICO as crowds are 'seen harassing foreigners' and smashing shopfronts during mass demonstration in holiday hotspot
The anti-tourism fury that has swept across Europe has now spilled into Latin America, with violent scenes erupting in Mexico City. Demonstrators have targeted foreigners and demanded a crackdown on mass tourism. What began as a peaceful march on Friday through two of the capital's trendiest neighbourhoods quickly descended into chaos, as masked protesters smashed up shopfronts, scrawled graffiti on walls and hurled abuse at visitors. Anger boiled over in Condesa and Roma, two districts popular with foreign tourists and expats where a breakaway group began attacking high-end businesses and screaming at passers-by. Chilling messages were spray-painted across windows, including 'Get out of Mexico', while others displayed signs saying 'Gringos, stop stealing our home'. Footage shared online showed rocks being thrown through glass storefronts and looters breaking into shops as stunned onlookers watched on. The protesters, some of them in balaclavas, then made their way to the US Embassy, where they chanted slogans and marched into the city's metro system, according to AP News. Sirens blared across the city centre as police rushed to the scene and reinforcements were deployed. It marked a dramatic escalation in a growing backlash against what many Mexicans see as uncontrolled tourism. The capital has seen an influx of foreign visitors since the pandemic. Locals say soaring rents, rising property prices and the spread of short-term lets like Airbnb have priced them out of their own neighbourhoods. But it is mass tourism and the visible presence of Americans that appears to have become the flashpoint. The unrest in Mexico comes just weeks after furious anti-tourism protests broke out in popular destinations across Europe. In Spain, demonstrators marched through the streets of Barcelona, Palma and the Canary Islands, demanding an end to what they called the 'tourism invasion '. Similar scenes have played out in Venice and parts of Greece, where locals say their cities are being transformed into playgrounds for the rich. Now the movement is spreading across the Atlantic, fuelled by anger over gentrification and economic inequality. In Portugal, locals have also slammed the government for letting in tourists and contributing to soaring prices Officials have yet to comment on Friday's violence but calls are growing for the government to take action. Some campaigners are demanding legislation to cap tourism numbers and impose tougher restrictions on foreign property ownership.
New York Times
05-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
As a Tourist Influx Makes Prices Soar, Hundreds Protest in Mexico City
Protests in Mexico City against a surge in tourism and rising prices turned violent on Friday night, damaging over a dozen businesses and drawing condemnation from officials. The demonstration reflected the growing frustrations of many of the capital's residents, who have watched rents skyrocket and old neighborhoods turn into swanky developments as the city has become a major tourist destination and a base for many so-called digital nomads. The protest also prompted criticism from some officials, who denounced the violence and what they said were the protests' nativist bent. The protest was initially peaceful. Hundreds of people marched through the streets, carrying signs sporting messages like, 'Your new home is an invasion,' 'We shouldn't feel like foreigners in our own land,' and 'Expat = gentrifier,' photos and videos of the protests showed. It turned violent when a small group of protesters began smashing the windows of storefronts, including a Starbucks and a bank, and graffiting walls and ransacking stores in the high-end neighborhoods of Condesa and Roma, according to The Associated Press. Fifteen businesses were affected and some cars were vandalized in the protests, Mexico City's government secretary, César Cravioto, said in an interview with Milenio, a Mexican news outlet. He urged an end to violent marches with 'xenophobic' messages, saying that Mexico City 'is a city of migrants,' and that the city's government does not agree with 'this type of demonstration.' In a statement, the governor of Mexico City, Carla Brugada, recognized the problems gentrification has caused, saying her administration was working to bolster affordable housing. 'Mexico City does not agree with gentrification,' she said. 'We know that gentrification can exclude those who have lived all their lives in their neighborhoods.' But she also denounced the violence, arguing that the campaign against gentrification should not become an excuse for discrimination or 'xenophobic expression against migrants.' Since the coronavirus pandemic, stylish neighborhoods like Roma and Condesa in Mexico City have seen an influx of foreigners, coaxed by lower living costs and the opportunity to work remotely. The surge has helped businesses in areas popular with foreigners and landlords or those renting rooms on long-term stays on platforms like Airbnb. But it has also threatened to make large swaths of the city, where the average monthly salary is about $370, unaffordable to many locals. Some protesters had likened the influx of Americans and Europeans to a modern form of colonialism, with Frente Anti Gentrificación Mx, one of the grass roots groups that organized the demonstration, calling on people to protest against 'American imperialism' in a post on social media. The group said on social media before the demonstration that gentrification amounted to 'a silent expulsion.' The demonstration in Mexico City is part of a broader movement against mass tourism that has cropped up in increasingly unaffordable cities around the world, including a recent wave of protests in Italy, Portugal and Spain.
