Gringolandia: The Construction of a New Tourist Space in Mexico

Abstract

With Cancun, the site of the 2003 World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations, being presented as a metaphor for the inequities purported to emerge from globalization, this is an opportune time to examine the resort and its surrounding region as a product of transnational forces. Locals refer to Cancun as “Gringolandia,” a term that reflects the circus-like spectacle of the overbuilt resort, embedded in a region deeply divided by uneven development and the ensuing inequitable power relations. The principal objective of this article is to understand how transnational forces have reshaped local realities and power structures in the Yucatan to construct and reproduce Gringolandia as a new tourist space. We commence with an historical overview of the planning, inception, and subsequent evolution of the physical and socioeconomic spatial divisions manifest in the resort today. We then analyze the two forces that have played perhaps the greatest role in constructing Gringolandia: the transnational economic structure of the resort and the consumption- and production-led migratory flows to Cancun. Detailed understanding of the construction of Gringolandia, and its regional influence, holds valuable lessons for future tourist resort planning and development in lesser-developed countries.

Key Words:

• Cancun
• Mexico
• migration
• tourism
• transnationalism
• globalization

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support over the years for our collective Mexican research from the following sources: an East Carolina University (ECU) Research/Creative Activity Grant and Thomas Harriot College of Arts & Sciences Research Award, a UCMEXUS Research Award, a National Science Foundation Award (#9627457), a US-Mexico Fulbright Award, and the University of California (Davis) Humanities and Jastro Shields Awards. We wish to thank Dr. Karen Mulcahy for producing the Figure 1 Map of Quintana Roo for this article. Finally, we are grateful to the anonymous referees and Annals of the Association of American Geographers People, Place, and Region editor Audrey Kobayashi for their insightful comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. Nevertheless, any errors, omissions or inaccuracies remain our own responsibility.

Notes

Source: Fieldwork, Hotel Survey 1997.

1. Ejidos are communal lands cultivated by farmers with usufruct rights.

2. Colonia Puerto Juarez was the informal shantytown settlement that evolved north of Cancun, on the Isla Mujeres ejido that was not part of the planned FONATUR service city. Colonia Puerto Juarez, was the name informally adopted to refer to the immigrant squatters colony extending inland westward from the Puerto Juarez (Port) north of Cancun.

3. According to the most recent Mexican census, Cancun has 397,191 inhabitants, comprising approximately 45 percent of Quintana Roo's population (Ayuntamiento Benito Juárez 2002). Given the constant influx of new immigrants and the informal manner in which many live in shantytowns, it is probable that the census results are well below the real numbers. Discussions with planners reveal that the real population of Cancun may be approaching one million people and comprise 70 percent of the state's population.

4. Approximately 20 percent of Cancun's hotels—many of which are among the resort's largest and highest-class-rated hotels—now offer a timeshare option (Ayuntamiento Benito Juárez 2002).

5. A survey of 615 tourists departing from Cancun airport revealed that 40 percent of all respondents were return visitors to the Yucatan Peninsula and over 90 percent indicated an intention to return to the region—suggesting that repeat visits will continue increasing in the future (Torres 2002a).

6. For methodological details, see Torres (2000).

7. Some hotels were tentative about providing details regarding ownership, or employees were uncertain of the precise origin of ownership. Therefore, “combined” or “other foreign” were responses for a few of the hotels. It is likely that there is American equity participation in these categories. Also, in some cases, hotel owners of foreign origin have changed their nationality to Mexican. Nevertheless, those individuals typically lead lives similar to other Mexican elites, i.e., with homes, businesses, and properties in Mexico.

8. Gran Turismo (GT) is the highest class of luxury hotel in Mexico.

9. Only about 1,500 Americans living in the Cancun area are registered with the consulate; however, officials estimate that approximately three times that number actually live in the area. Many choose not to register with the consulate as they are either running from the law or their spouses (personal communication, Lynnette Belt, U.S. Consular Agent in Cancun, 27 January 2004, via e-mail)

10. In another case, Rudiño (1996) reports on a conflict between ejidatarios and local elites for 298 hectares of land on the western shore of the Bacalar lagoons, 32 kilometers northwest of the state capital, Chetumal. Formerly ejido property, in the 1970s, 60 percent of lakefront property was taken from its rightful ejido owners. The land was sold to local business and political elites—including both former and current governors of Quintana Roo—and “jet setters” to build second homes. The remaining land in dispute is planned for the development of “Las Velas de Bacalar,” an exclusive hotel with a marina and golf course.

11. Milpa refers to the traditional subsistence, shifting-cultivation farming of primarily corn, beans, and squash practiced by Maya peasant farmers in the Yucatan Peninsula.