Mexico complains of tourists without mask, closes site of ruins

MEXICO CITY – Officials on the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula complained on Friday about tourists who don’t wear face masks, while Mexico is preparing for an increase in visitors during Easter Week.

The interim police chief of the state of Quintana Roo, on the Caribbean coast, patrolled the streets of the Tulum resort, reminding people to wear their masks and complaining that few people did.

“It is unfortunate to see how things have become unruly,” said Lucio Hernández Gutiérrez. “It was really frustrating to see hundreds of people walking around without masks”, noting that tourists were the worst criminals.

“It is really embarrassing to have to get to this point, to ask people (to wear masks), when we must be aware of the risks we face,” he said.

Federal authorities decided to close the Mayan ruins at Chichén Itzá, in the neighboring state of Yucatán, from April 1 to 4, to prevent the possible spread of the coronavirus. The extensive temple complex is the second most visited archaeological site in Mexico and generally attracts around 1.8 million visitors a year.

And for the second year in a row, the most famous staging of the crucifixion of Christ in Latin America will be held without spectators in Mexico City. The multi-day ceremony will be broadcast instead,

The show has attracted some 2 million viewers in recent years, but officials said these large crowds would be very risky during the pandemic.

The detailed presentation has taken place in the Iztapalapa neighborhood since 1843, but was closed to the public in 2020 for the first time in 177 years because of the virus. It was first carried out in 1843, after an outbreak of cholera threatened the then rural village.