Protests against surging mass tourism in Mexico City end in vandalism, harassment of tourists

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News/AP

July 5, 2025, 4:09 AM EDT / Source: The Associated Press


MEXICO CITY — A protest by hundreds against gentrification and mass tourism that began peacefully Friday in Mexico City neighborhoods popular with tourists 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, 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.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/world/mexico/protests-mass-tourism-gentrification-mexico-city-rcna217013

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This is becoming more and more of a "thing" - most recently in Europe (including in Venice with Bozo's wedding fiasco).

[ret5hd]

1. what would make us think...

that if they aren't welcomed here...

that we would be welcomed there?

[BumRushDaShow]

2. The "Ugly American"

[Prairie Gates]

3. The protest against Bezos wedding was not a tourism protest

There are very real tourism protests in Venice. That wasn't one of them. We shouldn't conflate separate issues.

The tourist issues in Venice (and other parts of Italy) are also very real. Tourism became a neoliberal solution for collapse of prior economic structures, and it has done well for some areas, but it has tons of negative externalities that people are now organizing against.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. The protest against him

at least as blasted out by the various articles that I was trying to avoid but couldn't because the news sites were swamped in them, was EXACTLY what the tourism protests have been about. EXPLOITATION.

And moreso in this case because both of them ARE "Americans" and brought the obscenity of the billionaire class into a city already (literally) drowning (climate/water issues and otherwise) and overrun in tourism.

‘Kisses yes, Bezos No,’ protesters say, as Bezos wedding bonanza stirs controversy in Venice

Locals opposed to the wedding festivities have multiple concerns, ranging from logistical disruptions to environmental impacts of a sudden influx of yachts and private jets.

Updated 8:56 PM EDT, June 28, 2025

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Hundreds of protesters marched through Venice’s central streets on Saturday to say “No” to billionaire Jeff Bezos, his bride and their much-awaited wedding extravaganza, which reached its third and final day amid celebrity-crowded parties and the outcries of tired residents.

On Friday, the world’s fourth-richest man and his bride Lauren Sanchez Bezos tied the knot during a private ceremony with around 200 celebrity guests on the secluded island of San Giorgio.

The wedding, however, angered many Venetians, with some activists protesting it as an exploitation of the city by the billionaire Bezos, while ordinary residents suffer from overtourism, high housing costs and the constant threat of climate-induced flooding.

As the two newlyweds prepared for the final party Saturday evening, hundreds of Venetians and protesters from across Italy filled Venice’s tiny streets with colorful banners reading “Kisses Yes, Bezos No” and “No Bezos, no War.” Venice has around 50,000 residents.

(snip)