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.
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