Mexico. tourist stirs controversy by swinging on Mayan temple

He just wanted to entertain his followers on TikTok. A 29-year-old Spanish tourist sparked controversy in Mexico earlier this week by climbing the UNESCO-listed temple of Chichen Itza, an ancient Mayan city in the Yucatan, and filming himself dancing at the top. However, climbing the monument has been prohibited since 2008 in order to avoid its degradation.

Behavior that upset other visitors present at the same time in this sacred archaeological site. “Several tourists started throwing water on him, pushing and pulling his hair“, the daily writes El Pais . According to the National Institute of Anthropology, site manager, no damage was done to the monument. The tourist receives a fine of 5,000 pesos or about 250 euros, the local daily reports. Yucatan Diary . Far from the €2,500 to €5,000 fine provided for in this case by the Federal Law on Monuments.

According to the National Institute of Anthropology and History, with 2.1 million visitors since the beginning of 2022, the archaeological site of Chichen Itza is the most visited in Mexico, ahead of the city of Teotihuacan in the state of Mexico. This ancient Mayan city was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. Its Kukulkan Pyramid, 30 meters high and 68 meters wide, was built in the 9th-12th centuries.