Latest news with #digitalNomads
Washington Post
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Mexico's president calls march against mass tourism 'xenophobic.' Critics blame government failures
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.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mexico's president calls march against mass tourism 'xenophobic.' Critics blame government failures
MEXICO CITY (AP) — 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
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mexico president slams xenophobia after anti-gentrification protest
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday condemned "xenophobic" behavior at a protest against gentrification blamed on remote workers and other foreigners. Friday's rally in Mexico City turned violent, with some of the several hundred protesters vandalizing businesses including a Starbucks coffee shop. Others held signs saying "Gringo go home" or demanding that foreigners speak Spanish, pay taxes and respect Mexican culture. "The xenophobic displays at this demonstration must be condemned," Sheinbaum said at her morning news conference. Protesters complained that an influx of remote workers and other foreigners since the Covid pandemic had driven up rent prices and displaced Mexicans, a phenomenon known as gentrification. As they passed street-side restaurants, some demonstrators heckled foreign diners, who either ignored them or left. Sheinbaum, who was Mexico City mayor from 2018 to 2023, called the motive for the protest legitimate but rejected calls for foreigners to leave. The leftist leader linked the rise in rents to the arrival of "digital nomads," many of them from the United States, as well as real estate speculation connected to online rental platforms such as Airbnb. Mexico is home to one-fifth of the five million expatriates counted by the Association of Americans Resident Overseas in 2023. The march came as US President Donald Trump intensifies his crackdown against undocumented immigrants in the United States. ai-dr/dw
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mexico president slams xenophobia after anti-gentrification protest
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday condemned "xenophobic" behavior at a protest against gentrification blamed on remote workers and other foreigners. Friday's rally in Mexico City turned violent, with some of the several hundred protesters vandalizing businesses including a Starbucks coffee shop. Others held signs saying "Gringo go home" or demanding that foreigners speak Spanish, pay taxes and respect Mexican culture. "The xenophobic displays at this demonstration must be condemned," Sheinbaum said at her morning news conference. Protesters complained that an influx of remote workers and other foreigners since the Covid pandemic had driven up rent prices and displaced Mexicans, a phenomenon known as gentrification. As they passed street-side restaurants, some demonstrators heckled foreign diners, who either ignored them or left. Sheinbaum, who was Mexico City mayor from 2018 to 2023, called the motive for the protest legitimate but rejected calls for foreigners to leave. The leftist leader linked the rise in rents to the arrival of "digital nomads," many of them from the United States, as well as real estate speculation connected to online rental platforms such as Airbnb. Mexico is home to one-fifth of the five million expatriates counted by the Association of Americans Resident Overseas in 2023. The march came as US President Donald Trump intensifies his crackdown against undocumented immigrants in the United States. ai-dr/dw
The Independent
05-07-2025
- The Independent
Protests against overtourism in Mexico City turn violent against visitors
A protest against gentrification and mass tourism that began peacefully in Mexico City on Friday turned violent when a small number of people began smashing storefronts and harassing foreigners. Masked protesters smashed through the windows and looted high-end businesses in the touristic areas of Condesa and Roma. Some screamed at tourists in the area. Marchers then continued on to protest outside the U.S. Embassy. Graffiti on glass shattered glass being smashed through with rocks read: 'get out of Mexico.' 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 American tourists who have flooded into Mexico's capital in recent years. Tension had been mounting in the city since American 'digital nomads' flocked to Mexico City in 2020, many to escape coronavirus lockdowns in the U.S. Since, 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. The Mexico City protest comes at the same time other European cities like Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Rome and more are also facing mounting protests railing against mass-tourism. Last year, 747 million international travellers visited Europe, far outnumbering any other region in the world, according to the U.N.'s World Tourism Barometer. Southern and Western Europe welcomed more than 70 per cent of them. Among factors driving the record numbers are cheap flights, social media, the ease of travel planning using artificial intelligence and what U.N. tourism officials call a strong economic outlook for many rich countries that send tourists despite some geopolitical and economic tensions. Citizens of countries like the U.S., Japan, China and the U.K. generate the most international trips, especially to popular destinations, such as Barcelona in Spain and Venice in Italy. Protests have erupted against the growing tide of travellers because, critics say, it strains housing and water. At the most Instagrammable hotspots in the region, the effects of overtourism have proliferated.
