![]() “There is so much corruption and impunity it’s generating a sense of chaos.” “There’s a feeling you can do whatever you want to do when you come to a place like Tulum,” said Acevedo, of investors, tourists and criminals. To cater for the growing demand, the building of new condominiums and luxury hotels proceeds apace – casting a growing shadow over adjacent shanty towns. A record number of Americans reportedly visited the Quintana Roo region in 2020, with about 4 million tourists of all countries coming to Tulum each year. Photograph: Elizabeth Ruiz/AFP/Getty ImagesĪ new airport is expected to boost a tourism industry that brings in the majority of the state’s revenue. View image in fullscreen Members of the newly created tourist security battalion of the national guard patrol a beach in Cancún, up the coast from Tulum. “Plus, we’re connected to the biggest underground freshwater system in the world and we’re polluting it because we don’t have proper sewers.” “Birds and mammals have been killed on the highways after fleeing big events in the jungle and loud music,” she adds. “Tulum has to decide what kind of destination it wants to be.” “If we stay on this path there are going to be more and more shootings and people will continue to sell their places and leave,” said Karla Acevedo, spokesperson for a group of environmental activists, Sustainable Tulum. The rapid growth of Tulum’s tourist industry has brought not just violence but starkly uneven development and serious environmental damage. One bar worker said establishments face a choice of paying protection money, permitting drug sales on their premises, or shutting down Hoteliers have blamed growing demand for narcotics on a boom in festivals and parties, which continued throughout the pandemic. Photograph: Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Members of the national guard are seen in the center of Tulum. ![]() “We are facing an issue of supply and demand for drugs,” prosecutor Oscar Montes de Oca told local radio. Local officials say that about 10 rival groups are fighting to control Tulum’s extortion rackets and the lucrative local drugs market. The president has been criticized for his reliance on the military rather than reforming the police, who are often outgunned by warring crime factions. Mexico’s government has announced plans to deploy a battalion of national guards to the region, and build a base in Tulum.īut Amlo’s anti-crime strategy has failed to stop the bloodshed, and murder rates remain stubbornly high. In April, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as Amlo, described the local police as “rotten” and they were replaced by state officers after a string of abuses including the death in custody of a Salvadoran refugee. Tourists appear mostly oblivious to the rising strife, as they often do not stay for long, but locals describe an atmosphere of fear and mistrust. The following month, a US firefighter was found dead in a resort hotel local authorities maintain the holiday-maker was asphyxiated while crawling though a window but his family believe he was kidnapped and killed. Meanwhile in Cancún, two Mexicans were killed and an American woman was wounded in June when gunmen opened fire from jet skis. On a recent afternoon, two gunshots rang out downtown but few people batted an eyelid – and a group of traditional musicians started performing nearby almost immediately. Visitors from Spain, Belize and Uruguay have been among those killed. ![]() Photograph: Reutersīetween January and September, Tulum saw 65 murders – an 80% rise on the same period last year. View image in fullscreen Investigators in Tulum collect information on a shooting that occurred at a restaurant, in which two foreign tourists died.
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