At first, life in confinement was fine and he shared his time between working from home, exercising with his roommate, and watching everything on Netflix.
But as the coronavirus pandemic progressed steadily, Rob George began to feel that confinement at home in West Hollywood was unbearable.
“There were weeks when I just didn’t leave my house, I just worked all day and my mental health started to get affected,” said George, 31, who handles the business operations of a new company. technological.
That’s why when a Mexican friend told him he would be traveling to Mexico City in November, George decided to accompany him. Now, he decided to turn the Mexican capital into his home, and is part of a growing number of foreigners, mostly Americans, fleeing confinements in their countries and moving to the Mexican capital, for a short trip or longer stay.
They are drawn in part to the possibility of returning some normalcy to their lives in a place where coronavirus restrictions have been more flexible than at home, even when COVID-19 cases break records. Some of them have decided to stay, at least for a while, and take advantage of the six-month tourist visa that is granted to Americans upon arrival.
“I have no interest in coming back,” George said.
However, while coming to the country can be a relief for many foreigners, particularly for those fleeing a colder climate, some Mexicans consider these moves irresponsible in the midst of a pandemic, especially when the virus overflows in Mexico City and its hospitals. Others say the problem lies with Mexican authorities, who waited too long to establish strict containment measures, making places like Mexico City attractive to outsiders.
“If it was less attractive, people would come less,” said Xavier Tello, a Mexico City health policy analyst. “But what we’re generating is a vicious circle where we’re getting potentially infected or infected people from somewhere else, and it’s still mixing with the potentially infecting or infected people we have in Mexico City.”
According to official figures, more than half a million Americans arrived in Mexico in November; of those, about 50,000 entered through Mexico City airport, less than half of the U.S. visitors who visited the country in November last year, but an increase of the meager 4,000 in April, when much of Mexico was closed. Since then, the numbers have steadily increased: between June and August, American visitors more than doubled.
Most American visitors flew to coastal towns such as Cape Town and Cancun.
It is unclear how many are visiting and how many plan to stay, even temporarily. Some may be Mexicans who have American passports and are visiting their relatives. But as you walk the streets of Mexico City’s trendy neighborhoods these days, it can sometimes seem like English has become the official language.
“A lot of people are coming and visiting to try to live here, or they’ve just relocated,” said Cara Araneta, a former New Yorker who has lived intermittently in Mexico City for two years, and returned to the capital in June.
However, the increase in foreigners occurs when Mexico City entered a critical phase of the pandemic, hospitals are so full that many sick people stay home while their relatives struggle to buy-oxygen. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised Americans to avoid traveling to Mexico.
The capital’s health system “is already basically overflowing,” Tello said via a WhatsApp message. “The worst is yet to come.”
In mid-December, authorities raised Mexico City’s alert system to the highest, red level, which requires the immediate closure of all but essential businesses. But the shutdown came weeks after the figures became critical, even according to government numbers themselves, leaving shops crowded with Christmas shoppers and restaurants filled with diners.
With its tree-lined streets and picturesque cafes, Rome and the Countess, exclusive neighborhoods of the city, attract expats who for years have tried to escape the lofty rents in New York or Los Angeles. But with an increasing number of young people working from home, the area that is known as the cool axis has become even more attractive, even as Mexico City residents face a crisis of public health.
As in much of the world, the richest are usually the least affected. In northern Rome, the contrast was vivid: in one corner, working-class Mexicans lined up for hours to be able to buy oxygen tanks for sick relatives of COVID-19 they had at home and within walking distance. , affluent people lined up to buy croissants.
Mexico City is not the only Mexican destination experiencing an increase in foreign visitors, particularly Americans, who are banned from traveling to many countries because of the pandemic boom in their country. While some Latin American nations have closed their borders completely, Mexico has imposed few restrictions and was the third most visited country in 2020, ahead of the seventh place it occupied last year, according to the Mexican government citing statistics preliminaries of the World Tourism Organization.
Much of these trips have focused on the country’s popular spas, where coronavirus restrictions can be further relaxed. The Chiefs welcomed nearly 100,000 Americans who arrived in November, while Cancun had 236,000 U.S. visitors, only 18 percent less than in 2019. The nearby tourist city of Tulum was in the news for a festival of art and music in November where hundreds of people danced without masks inside underground caves.
Authorities in the capital have appealed to residents to avoid parties and meetings, and even before the most recent closure, the government had limited the capacity of diners in restaurants and banned the sale of alcohol after 7 p.m. : 00 am However, these measures were far from those imposed in American cities such as Los Angeles, where, in late November, outdoor meals and all meetings were completely banned. public.
“Even with the restrictions imposed here, I can go out and work from a coffee shop, maintaining social distance, and I feel like I’m not on hiatus, which has been very helpful,” said George, who lived in Los Angeles. .
Like most foreigners arriving in Mexico, George said he was aware of the risks of traveling during the pandemic, so he takes precautions such as wearing masks and washing his hands. But having a little freedom, as well as the thrill of living in a new country, makes it worth the risk for many.
“I know people who have lived in fear for the past year, without leaving their homes and who lost their jobs,” said Alexander Vignogna, 33, who visited Mexico City in October and plans move full-time, with his partner, in January. “But instead of doing something adventurous and great like my girlfriend and I, they just stayed home, depressed.”
These laissez faire attitudes of outsiders have infuriated many residents, both Mexicans and foreigners.
“Tourists (mostly from the United States, it seems) have come to Mexico to escape the restrictions imposed in their home states,” said Lauren Cocking, 26, a British blogger who has lived in Mexico. for about five years, in an email.
“They seem to see Mexico as a kind of land of adventure and without law, where they can escape the need to wear masks or stay at home.”
Others say the avalanche of foreigners is giving Mexico City’s economy a positive boost.
“What Mexico needs most is people to grow the economy,” said William Velázquez Yañez, 25, who worked as a valet parking assistant at an exclusive restaurant in northern Rome before the last closure was imposed. .
Velázquez lost his job at the beginning of the pandemic and, although they eventually called him back, they cut his salary and took out his medical insurance. With more people dining out, your boss could start paying you more, he said.
But enjoying full restaurants and other activities previously considered normal carries its own risks.
Nicole Jodoin moved to Mexico City from Canada after getting a job in July. Her impulse to move is due in part to the fact that, with the Canadian borders closed, she was far from her Scottish boyfriend. Mexico’s open borders and long tourist visas for Europeans made it possible for them to be together again.
But then both she and her partner fell ill with COVID-19. They had been careful, Jodoin said, but they dined out several times and took some Uber before they got sick. The couple was isolated and recovered, but Jodoin’s symptoms have persisted.
However, most foreigners say life is better in Mexico City than at home, even with the pandemic. Araneta, the former New Yorker, went to visit her family in San Diego in November, but found the United States a challenge.
“He felt more isolated,” he said. “A lot of people are on their own.”