Are Gringos to Blame for Mexico City's Housing Crisis?

Everyone’s talking about digital nomads — but not about what matters.

“Make Mexico spicy again,” read the neon-colored posters plastered along the walls of Roma, Mexico City’s ground zero for the global long-stay tourism wave. In Roma, as well as in the neighboring areas of Condesa and Juárez, it is becoming increasingly common to find restaurants that cater to foreigners, serving non-spicy "Mexican" tacos at prices that are often equivalent to half a day’s minimum wage.

Source: @LQMCC & @isabellamoncayo

The posters are part of a backlash. A campaign against the tidal wave of digital nomads who have settled in the city in larger numbers since the COVID-19 pandemic began. For many Mexicans, foreign arrivals are seen as the main culprits behind soaring housing costs.

But the story isn’t that simple. And blaming the gringos for the housing crisis actually lets the real culprits off the hook.