Mexico Struggles With Overtourism Fueled By Airbnb And Digital Nomads In Mexico City

Published on July 8, 2025

Mexico is grappling with the negative aspect of overtourism as growing public indignation regarding spiked rents, widespread displacement, and foreign digital nomad arrivals stokes street protests in Mexico City. Fueled by years of unfettered tourism promotion, including a controversial agreemenet with Airbnb signed under President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government, residents have alleged to have been priced out of their own neighborhoods as short-term rentals and luxury development cater to foreigners. The crisis has been a trigger for fervent debates on matters of housing rights, government accountability, and both cultural and economic impacts of turning Mexico’s cities into international remote work hubs—turning once-thriving neighborhoods into temporary tourist playgrounds.

Mexico City Protests Erupt Over Gentrification and Tourism as Frustration Spills Over Decades of Surging Rents and Foreign Visits

There was a massive demonstration in Mexico City on last Friday, which was a protest against escalating tensions between gentrification and mass tourism’s record-breaking growth. Hundreds of people filled the city’s most storied neighborhoods, demanding radical change in housing and condemning unlimited foreign digital nomad arrivals—Americans in particular—whom surging rents and community culture shift have been directly responsible for. The protest, which was named by organizers as a culmination of four years of government inertia, was triggered by escalating tensions after local governments began promoting campaigns for short-term tourism and remote work.

Born out of Policy and Displacement

The protests were originally triggered by measures started by current President Claudia Sheinbaum as Mexico City mayor. In 2022, Sheinbaum signed a controversial agreement between Mexico City and UNESCO on behalf of Airbnb aimed at attracting digital nomads and boosting cultural tourism in the nation’s capital. Though economic benefits were promised, residents had increasingly been worried about its social effects—specifically, forced local displacement and rising rents that came as a result of increased short-term rentals.

While promoting Mexico City as a remote work paradise, its policy lured tens of thousands of foreign visitors—predominantly American—hoping to take advantage of lower cost of living, sophisticated cultural life, and COVID-era lenient regulations. Trendy neighborhoods of Roma, Condesa, and Juárez were radically shifting, no longer solely targeting Spanish speakers with high purchasing power. While English was proliferating in shopfronts and coffee shops, most natives felt like foreigners in their own neighborhoods.

Protests Break Out After Decades of Discontent

On Friday, demonstrators carrying signs that read “Gringo: Stop stealing our home” and “Housing regulations now!” processed through inner neighborhoods of Mexico City, angry at having been priced out of neighborhoods in which they had previously resided. In a mostly calm protest, a minority of demonstrators smashed windows and looted shops as the protest progressed. Written on a city wall was graffiti that read “kill a gringo,” causing a broader debate regarding xenophobia and social justice.

President Sheinbaum condemned the aggressive parts of the protest and called some of its messaging xenophobic. Grassroots groups such as the Mexico City Anti-Gentrification Front, however, denied these accusations and pointed out that the protest was not against foreigners in general, but against displacement. In a communique, the group explained that while it did not promote physical violence, the protest was a reaction to years of government failure and neglect of communities.

Digital Nomads, Tourism, and “Neo-Colon

Since 2020, Mexico City has experienced a popularity boom among foreign remote workers. What was a dribble during the pandemic was a tidal wave of newcomers to break away from high costs of living and American lockdowns. A good number of them moved into picturesque, well-connected neighborhoods and turned residential units into co-working spaces or into Airbnb units.

The more people came, the higher the rent was. A tiny two-roomed Roma Norte flat that once cost 10,000 pesos per month (\$500) now costs over twice as much. For many local people earning well below international norms, these neighborhoods were no longer affordable. Even some commentators have likened the trend to a new form of colonialism, in which economic and cultural hegemony is asserted in a manner that is non-inclusive and non- accountable.

Demands for Reform and Housing Justice

The leaders of protest made a detailed list of demands aimed at containing gentrification’s worst effects. These include legislation of rent control measures, prohibitions on retaliatory evictions, legislation that would require community consensus on massive development plans, and prioritizing local tenants over foreign lessees. They also called for increased control of Airbnb and other short rentals as a precaution against further displacement.

Activists argue that if transformative change does not take place, Mexico City risks losing its status as a vibrant, community-conscious capital. It would instead become a stop-over site for tourists and digital nomads, and real local culture would become peripheral.

Experts supported protesters’ outrage, alleging that gentrification development is not just a byproduct of global travel trends, but a decades-long failing in urban development and rent regulation. Mexico City has been unable to supply cheap housing to its steadily growing population for decades. Without limits on rent hikes or protective measures for longtime residents, entire neighborhoods have been redeveloped over a span of years.

Whispers Around the World

The Mexican unrest is not isolated. In Europe, cities such as Barcelona, Lisbon, and Amsterdam have seen protests against mass tourism and local displacement. In such cities, local residents have been demanding protections of housing and restrictions on short-term rentals for vacation homes, and governments have responded by putting restrictions on websites such as Airbnb.

What makes its case particularly contentious is Mexico City’s tense relationship with its northern neighbor, the United States. Even if American digital nomads do not have malicious intent, their presence—fueled by economic disparities and previous tensions—has become a point of controversy. Others argue that this disparity exists because of Mexican government policies, which have been geared more toward tourism than toward sustainable urban development.

A City at a Crossroads

Mexico is experiencing a growing crisis of overtourism as locals organize protests against surging rents and displacement fostered by a mass influx of digital nomads and short-term rentals spurred by government policies. For decades, residents have tolerated unlimited tourism growth and deregulation of housing just so long.

Mexico City is at a turning point today. Whereas protests remain and neighborhood outrage builds, its government is forced to decide between promoting more hype globally about Mexico City as a foreign remote work haven or appeasing its current residents. Bold leadership, transparent debate, and inclusive policymaking will be required to achieve a balancing act. Unless something is done, Mexico City could become a caution tale: a city celebrated for its culture and sapped of its soul. What’s being communicated by these streets is indisputable—the residents seek to preserve their neighborhoods, their identity, and their right to access affordable housing in a city that their people have built and preserved for decades.