| Have you ever wondered if mass tourism actually | | | | even more severe when the tourists come in |
| spoils the very thing it comes to observe in a | | | | hordes, straining the system in the hotels and |
| foreign country? I've been wondering this a lot | | | | hostels. The city officials cut water off from the |
| lately. Does the onslaught of tourists flooding into | | | | residents so the tourists can bathe and flush the |
| a particular place to enjoy what that place has to | | | | toilets. |
| offer end up becoming the source of that place's | | | | The priority here seems a bit a skewed. Are not |
| ruination? | | | | the city services meant for those who support |
| This is both confusing and, of course, a bit | | | | these services by paying their taxes? I mean, |
| hypocritical of me, a travel writer, to even | | | | who should come first, the tourists or the citizens |
| suggest. It has, however, been on my mind. | | | | of Guanajuato? |
| More than once, I've met or corresponded with | | | | One of my wife's private ESL students told her a |
| those who have visited my adopted home of | | | | horrifying example of how this water shortage |
| Guanajuato because of the articles my wife and I | | | | works: |
| write. Based on our first two books, one couple | | | | 1. They have to take sponge baths with their |
| attributes their moving to Guanajuato to us. So, in | | | | bottled drinking water that they heat on the |
| a very real sense I am a source of this problem. I | | | | stove. |
| am drawing people here. Hypocrisy? | | | | 2. They have to find a friend or family member |
| Massive tourism can put a strain in the | | | | somewhere outside the neighborhood with running |
| infrastructure of any place. Basic services such as | | | | water to take a weekly shower. |
| water gets stretched to the max. Water, | | | | 3. Her husband and son have to walk to a public |
| something Americans take for granted, is not as | | | | water source to fill buckets with water to flush |
| renewable a resource in Guanajuato as it is in | | | | the toilet. |
| most places in the States. | | | | This goes on while water for the tourists flows |
| Guanajuato is a mountain desert with a Steppe | | | | freely. I can guarantee you the tourists don't |
| Climate. It is dependent on the annual rainfall (or | | | | have to go in search of water to go potty or to |
| lack thereof) to refresh and replenish its | | | | sponge out their pits. |
| reservoirs. The current problem is the last two | | | | It would be lovely if there were a steady and |
| rainy seasons have not been "up to snuff." The | | | | renewable supply of water all the time for |
| rains have been sadly lacking and now we're in | | | | everyone. There isn't! And it seems to me that |
| trouble. | | | | those who live here, who raise their families here, |
| The influx of tourism this year is making it worse. | | | | should have priority. |
| It seems the tourists just keep coming and | | | | The main problem is the tourism season for most |
| coming. This is a good thing for the merchants | | | | Americans and Canadians is June through August. |
| but how will the city keep the water flowing? | | | | That is our rainy season, and if the rains don't |
| Normally, the city implements water rationing | | | | come-there is no water. |
| measures. | | | | Would the tourist season suffer? Maybe. But, the |
| The city cuts off the water supply to certain | | | | tourists would then be able to have an |
| residential areas throughout the city in hopes of | | | | opportunity to see first hand how real Mexicans in |
| conserving water. Rationing in the neighborhoods is | | | | Central Mexico are often forced to live. |