The Mazatlán boardwalk is a landmark of the city that gives a sense of belonging to the local population and is one of the places that outsiders think of when talking about this coastal municipality in southern Sinaloa. However, this Mazatlán emblem has undergone modifications to meet the demand of visitors, which is known as touristification and if not regulated, could have consequences.
“When people think of Mazatlán, they think of the boardwalk,” says Jocelyn Arreola, a student in the last semester of the Doctorate in Tourism Management at the Universidad Autónoma de Occidente, an institution located on this seaside promenade, the longest in Mexico with an extension of 21 kilometers; where cultural, social and natural elements are concentrated that make it unique and generate identity.
Taking into account that the main activity of Mazatlán is tourism, the boardwalk is exposed to the effects of touristification, a term used to explain the process in which a place changes to satisfy the needs of those who visit us. But disputes over space can be avoided through proper planning, says the specialist.
The boardwalk is a space where there are many people doing different types of activities, whether recreational or sporting, or economic and cultural activities such as fishing and the celebration of the carnival parade, a festivity that dates back to 1898.
From here you can capture the most intense sunsets and see the bay with its three islands. During the mornings you can watch seabirds feeding and at night you can see sea turtles that come out to lay their eggs on the beach between July and November. With luck, you can also capture the fleeting flash of the green ray when the sun sets.
This corridor has also been allocated resources over time for its modification and expansion. Even so, there are times, during the high tourist season, when the concrete walled extensions are too small for so many people.
“You will see tourists, but you will also see a local exercising and further on you will see people working, the fishermen who are also located there and where they work and come to contribute to the identity of the port,” details the specialist when referring to the fishermen of Playa Norte.
The monuments that are installed on the coastal walk also represent the cultural manifestations of the Mazatlan population.
“They are monuments that are attractive for tourism, but in reality they are talking about the port, in reality they are making reference to our culture,” she indicates. Some of them also express the relationship between the sea and people, such is the case of the Fisherman’s Monument, popularly known as “Monos bichis,” which also serves as a meeting point and geospatial reference.
That the natural landscape is cared for so that it does not degrade and thus the identity of the port is maintained is a crucial line for Arreola. Why are real estate towers being developed on the boardwalk? This was one of her main questions and she finds that this is where the privileged landscape is and gives reasons to invest guaranteeing added value.
The constructions cover the demand for lodging but at the same time they are generating garbage, traffic, use of large amounts of water and prevent the average local population from accessing them; it is then that they are displaced, not only by not being able to live there, but the view of the sea is also modified.
The urban landscape, which is in front of the coastal walk, has been modified; but also the natural landscape composed of the beach, the bay and its islands. “Out of nowhere I feel invaded because I cannot see the landscape that I had on the other side,” said the researcher before the interview.
While discussing how to prevent the boardwalk from becoming an inaccessible space for the Mazatlan population, it is necessary to remember that it is also the meeting point for citizen demands; The doctoral student lists the families searching for missing persons, the women who march every March 8, and other groups that hold rallies in that space to demand justice or to ask for support.
“There are more and more events and there is nothing wrong with that, they attract tourism. We are not talking about tourism being bad, but rather that there should be regulation to avoid the problems that can be caused by touristification and above all to protect the identity of the Mazatlan people because the boardwalk is a space that is used a lot by people and that means so much to them that they make it part of their daily life,” he says.
Touristification can occur for periods, for example in high season the boardwalk fills up and there are Mazatlan families who choose not to go due to the crowds and because they consider it to be an important point for tourism; especially the area where the letters of Mazatlan are. It is during these dates when businesses focus on satisfying the needs of those who visit the destination attracted by its beaches, gastronomy, music and other local cultural expressions.
Additionally, events have been incorporated for tourist purposes, such as the Motorcycle Week, or the Truck Week or other dates that discourage locals from going to the boardwalk.
Governance and touristification
Jocelyn Arreola says that there are more and more street stalls, which should not be a problem if the city council takes care of a correct distribution so as not to generate inconvenience among the local population. It should also be considered that more importance is being given to the floating population than to the local population when a place looks full.
Due to the impact that it generates on public space, it is important to have a correct management and planning of tourism, she insists.
There must be a balance and not reach the opposite extreme, which is what Arreola identifies as tourismophobia, which is happening in European cities such as Venice or Barcelona, where tourists take over the space and there is less and less local population in places that are very visited; we can already speak of gentrification caused by touristification.
They are Beaches
Therefore, she speaks of governance between the authorities, citizen groups and some private companies, especially the Municipal Government, which must invite involvement so that the space is taken care of. Citizens taking ownership of the space and using it either personally, for example, to exercise, or collectively for demonstrations or celebrations, is ideal for achieving balance and working together so that it does not become a place for tourists only.
“One of the purposes of public spaces is to promote social cohesion. Because in the space you meet others, you live with others, it is your meeting place,” says Arreola after conducting a series of interviews for her doctoral thesis, in which the population stated that a person who does not occasionally use the boardwalk and enjoys the sea breeze cannot be considered a Mazatlan resident.
The researcher questions what would happen if the population of Mazatlán who goes to exercise on the boardwalk every day were deprived of that possibility. “What would happen if the boardwalk became so tourist-ridden that Mazatlan residents could no longer be there?” The purpose of proposing dialogue or maintaining governance is to prevent that from happening.
“In the theories that address touristification, most of them see it as a negative effect, it is an excess of tourism and what you see is a greater presence of tourists and businesses focused on tourism; but in my opinion there must be some management because we must not forget that Mazatlán is a tourist port,” he explains.
“Most of the literature speaks of touristification as a negative term, but it is also abundant in good terms that it produces greater income, produces more employment more than anything, but sometimes at what cost? And what must be avoided here is commercializing culture, taking care of the roots of Mazatlán,” he concludes.
Source: sonplayas
