Mexico City gentrification said to have shuttered beloved boutique

One of Mexico City's emblematic shops, established in 1935, was to shut after a sudden rent hike neighbors blamed on "gentrification" and ruthless speculation. The shop, Artículos ingleses (English Articles), was reputed for selling English-style clothing and accessories "not to be found anywhere else in the city," the newspaper La Jornada reported on 31 December. It was located in a busy avenue of the historical district, at the heart of the city's vast tourist economy. Local shopkeeprs told the daily Artículos regularly paid its monthly rent of around 78,000 pesos (well over 3,000 euros) a month, but that a "mafia of brokers" or real estate agents were offering landlords up to four million pesos to change for higher paying tenants that tend to be big brands or retail chains. The capital witnessed protests in July 2025 over the steeply rising cost of home rentals, largely due to tourism and the proliferation of short-term rentals for visitors. 

Cancún in Mexico vows to curb plastics, garbage

Cancún, the popular beach destination on Mexico's Caribbean coast, would become the country's first resort to join the UN's Global Tourism Plastics Initiative, meant to cut back on trash. The district and its hotels generate around 1,500 tons of solid trash daily, according to mayoress Ana Paty Peralta. She told the local press on 23 October that the city would join the UN program through its Destino cero residuos Cancún initiative, which she termed a new vision of tourism for the Quintana Roo state that includes Cancún. This would begin with local hotels considering actions to reduce use of silly items like plastic cutlery or straws, and include, over a three-year period, recycling and communal initiatives like cleaning up the beach or regional cave pools (cenotes). Crucially, this was a joint effort between local government and hotels, but also visitors, the head of a regional hotels' association (AHCPMIM), Rodrigo de la Peña Segura, said in turn. He added, 15 local firms were already implementing the sector's Menos plástico guidelines to reduce "plastic trash by 44%, equivalent to 100 tons every year."