Fierce protests in Mexico City Oppose gentrification and mass tourism According to experts, government failure and active promotion have attracted digital nomads, and he said tensions have been growing for years.
Criticism has been raised after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum claimed Friday’s protests were marked by xenophobia, resuming debate about the influx of Americans in the city.
Many Mexicans say their prices are from nearby Airbnb Despite concerns about the possible impact of short-term rentals, UNESCO is to promote tourism and attract digital nomads.
‘gringo: Stop stealing our home’
Friday, that was a head. Peaceful protests against hundreds of demonstrators marched into the city’s tourism center with the words “Gringo: Stop stealing our houses” and “Housing regulations now!”
By the end of March, a group of protesters turned violent, breaking storefront windows and looting many businesses. In one case, one protester smashed a butter knife into the window of a restaurant where people were hiding, and another painted a “kill” on a nearby wall.
“The xenophobic performances seen in the protests must be condemned. “We have been open, brothers.” ”
These frustrations are based on years of massive tourism and rising rental prices. The influx of foreigners began around 2020, when Americans flocked to Mexico City to work remotely, avoid coronavirus restrictions and take advantage of cheaper living costs.
In the years since, Rome and selected neighborhoods such as Roma and Condesa, lush central areas dotted with cafes and markets, increasingly by foreign tourists and remote workers’ populations known as digital nomads, and through more temporary housing units rented by companies like Airbnb, these homes can cater to visitors.
As they have, rents and living prices have soared, and English is becoming more common in the streets of these areas. Some groups describe this phenomenon as a kind of “neocolonialism.”
Installation tension
Mexico City Anti-Climbing Front is one of the organizations behind the protests that “completely opposed” any physical violence and deny that the protests are xenophobic. Instead, the group said the protests were the result of years of failure of local governments to resolve the root cause of the problem.
“Gentrification is not just the fault of foreigners, but the fault of governments and these companies prioritize foreigners,” the group said in a statement. Meanwhile, “young people and working classes are unable to live here.”
In its demand list, the group demands greater rent controls, requires locals to speak out in large developments in its area, stricter laws make it harder for landlords to abandon residents, and will prioritize Mexican renters over foreigners.
The protests in Mexico are behind a wave of similar protests against mass tourism throughout Europe. Tensions in Mexico are also being exacerbated by wider inequality and the Trump administration targeting the Latino community in the United States as it exacerbates deportation.
“If you are illegal in the U.S. and want to join the next protest in Mexico City, please use the CBP home app to facilitate your departure,” the Department of Homeland Security wrote on protesters on Sunday in a post on social media platforms.
Government failure
The protesters’ calls for government failure have been responded to by experts, who say gentrification is a product of the city’s affordable housing shortage and the government’s long-term failure to regulate the housing market.
Antonio Azuela, lawyers and sociologists, etc., said they did see the protests as a strong xenophobic rebound, with the central part of the problem being the influx of “digital nomads” in cities, but growing more due to loose housing laws.
“What made this explosion was the lack of regulations in the market,” Azuela said.
Over the course of decades, the Mexico City government has put in some effort to control development and create affordable housing.
Legislators estimate that the city has about 2.7 million homes and apartments, but it requires about 800,000 homes. But this kind of frequent housing development that is often pushed to the edge of the city, says Luis Salinas, a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
Take advantage of “insufficient” laws
At the same time, controls are marked by a lack of law enforcement, and developers travel services companies like Airbnb have taken advantage of the service, he said.
Today, Airbnb currently lists more than 26,000 properties on Airbnb, which tracks the company’s impact on residential communities through data, according to advocacy group Inside Airbnb. By comparison, 36,000 properties in New York City and 19,000 properties in Barcelona Protests broke out.
“The government has treated housing like commodities,” Salinas said. The actions the government is taking are “totally inadequate. Today, the federal government needs more intervention.”
Airbnb said it contributed more than $1 billion in the “economic impact” on Mexico City last year, with guest spending providing 46,000 jobs to the city. “What is needed is based on the injunction, but on the right and transparency of respecting obligations,” it said in a statement.
Last year, the Mexico City Government The most ambitious rent control law has been approved since the 1940s To control prices and set the cap on short-term rentals to 180 nights per year, Salinas said it has stopped implementing short-term rental legislation until after the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Even then, the government must take greater action to control the situation, Azuela said.
“It won’t just end under Airbnb,” he said. “They will have to do more.”
