What began as a peaceful protest against mass tourism and gentrification in Mexico City on Friday, July 4, ended in violence, vandalism, and harassment of foreign visitors, as tensions boil over in neighborhoods increasingly transformed by an influx of mostly American tourists and remote workers.
The demonstration, which drew hundreds of participants, was organized in Roma and Condesa, two trendy districts popular with U.S. “digital nomads” and tourists, News.Az reports, citing Le Monde.
Protesters held banners reading “Gringos, stop stealing our home” and called for stricter housing regulations and measures to limit tourism.
As night fell, a smaller group of masked individuals smashed storefronts, spray-painted anti-tourist graffiti, and threw rocks through windows. On one shattered pane of glass, the words “Get out of Mexico” were scrawled in black paint. Some foreign tourists were confronted and harassed as chaos spread.
Demonstrators also marched to the U.S. Embassy, where police reinforcements were deployed amid rising tensions in the city center. Inside metro stations, protesters continued chanting slogans against gentrification and foreign influence.
The unrest is the latest flashpoint in a city where rising rents and displacement of local residents have become flashpoints for anger. Since 2020, Mexico City has seen a surge in foreign arrivals, many remote workers from the U.S. drawn by lower living costs and more relaxed pandemic restrictions. In neighborhoods like Roma and Condesa, locals have been priced out as Airbnb rentals and upscale cafés multiply.
The backlash echoes similar anti-tourism protests in European cities like Barcelona, Paris, and Rome, where residents have also protested the transformation of once-affordable districts into hubs of short-term rentals and boutique businesses catering to outsiders.
While most demonstrators in Mexico City marched peacefully, Friday’s violence underscores deepening resentment and calls into question how cities can balance tourism with the rights and livelihoods of local communities.
