The Guardian released this report by Coral Murphy Marcos of San Juan.
The combination of US residents looking to escape the cold weather, cheap airline tickets, and easing restrictions on the island has brought tourists en masse. […]
Videos shared on social media show aggressive tourists starting fighting, disregarding local workers and residents, and disregarding Covid-19 precautions, including wanting not to wear face masks and holding large gatherings, while the influx of travel to the island continues .
Murphy Marcos also reported on the local response.
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For months, Puerto Rican workers and residents have been complaining about tourists who refuse to obey the island’s order.
Now the Puerto Rican Tourism Society is reminding tourists that they will be fined $ 100 for not wearing a mask. Http://t.co/hRN4TQ7hsP
– Coral Murphy Marcos (@coralmerfi) March 15, 2021
Natalie B. Compton, a travel writer for The Washington Post has a list of wonderful places to visit and things to do on the island. Compton also cautions readers not to “treat the local community with respect”. Unfortunately, not everyone listens.
Photos and videos of visitors who misbehave are circulated regularly. They show scantily clad tourists dancing suggestively on the streets and beaches, leaving scooters and rubbish on the sidewalks, and breaking the country’s measures to mitigate the coronavirus, from mask requirements to curfews.
“It’s sad,” says Israel Meléndez Ayala, a native of San Juan, writer and historian with the Puerto Rico State Department of Monument Protection. “It’s the first time I’ve seen this in Old San Juan, this type of tourist with this sense of entitlement.”
Ayala, who has also reported on tourist behavior on Twitter, says he and his neighbors have come across travelers on multiple occasions who refuse to follow mask protocols, curfews, or general norms of courtesy in general.
Ayala does not hesitate to reveal the underlying causes of the disrespect.
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Tourists with aspirations + colonial behavior, because they don’t care about the values and the way people live here! Unfortunately, the government is doing almost nothing. #ColonyVirus https://t.co/7lsmOz9p4i
– Israel Ayala (@ IsraelAyala144) March 17, 2021
The video below features, clip by clip, bad behavior and obvious disrespect.
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Puerto Rico is facing a crisis from ENTITLED TOURISTS who do not wear masks or socially distance themselves. We have (3) different variants of COVID around the island. We are fed up with this war against foreigners who believe that laws don’t apply to them and who mock us for calling them. STAY TF HOME https://t.co/FUOgVlbRzA
– paolette (@deviIette) March 15, 2021
The “ugly American” can be seen by everyone on the island.
Brenda A. Vázquez Colón discusses another ugly (and expensive!) Tourist problem for The Weekly Journal.
Public order violation by some travelers in San Juan and other tourist areas is affecting small business economies as their aggressive behavior has forced traders to pay for private security services.
“To deal with inappropriate behavior, small and medium-sized businesses have had to hire staff for security purposes when they can barely survive financially. Big chains can, but small ones can’t,” said Jesús Vázquez, president of the United Retailers Center (CUD, which is Spanish acronym) .
The situation is worsening as many of these visitors, in addition to the inappropriate behavior of some tourists, refuse to pay for their consumption. Ramón Leal, Senior Vice President of International Restaurant Services, Inc. (IRSI) and former President of the Puerto Rico Restaurant Association (Asore, Spanish acronym), affirmed that grocery businesses receive visitors in groups who come to consume and then refuse Paying the bill for an alleged dissatisfaction with the quality of the food.
Susana, a nursing student in Puerto Rico, tweeted about the dine and dash situation.
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Many of our people rely on tourism to support their families. So it’s gross when you act like uncivilized people.
– 🇵🇷 (@moisturizednerd) March 15, 2021
She also addressed the racist component of anger on the island. Much of the videos that are circulating are from black mainland tourists, and this has led some islanders to broadcast their “inner racist.”
(Yes, there is racism in Puerto Rico.)
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Non-Black Puerto Ricans are mad at the tourists who break covid restrictions, or are you mad that some of them are African American?
– 🇵🇷 (@moisturizednerd) March 16, 2021
In the past I visited the island frequently, stayed with friends and family, and avoided most of the touristy areas. I’ve seen some incidents that the islanders respond to – but they’ve never been this bad and have gotten worse due to the COVID-19 curfew that islanders have to obey and tourists seem to be able to ignore it.
If you know someone planning a trip to Puerto Rico for a vacation, do Puerto Rico a favor. Tell them if they have to leave, improve their best behavior and respect the islanders.
Play them this replica PPE, which is offered as a “message to our tourists”.
And if you can’t, you should stay home.
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