Gentrification in Mexico City: These are the municipalities with the most properties listed on digital platforms.

MEXICO CITY (Proceso).– The presence of properties offered on platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com is growing in a concentrated manner in the municipalities of Cuauhtémoc, Miguel Hidalgo, and Benito Juárez. At the same time, regulations governing this type of accommodation and the creation of the host registry, as established in the Tourism Law, the Housing Law, and the Law for Comprehensive Reconstruction, are being suspended.

Since the riots that occurred during the anti-gentrification protests in the Condesa, Roma Norte, and Doctores neighborhoods on July 4th, the discussion surrounding this phenomenon has intensified. While some defend it by arguing that it brings progress to the neighborhoods, others denounce that it violates their right to access housing and displaces indigenous residents.

Following the protest, President Claudia Sheinbaum acknowledged that apps like Airbnb contribute to the rise of gentrification and rising housing costs in certain areas through real estate speculation.

To address the above, regulations exist, but are not enforced. First, on April 4, 2024, a reform to the Tourism Law was published in the Official Gazette , establishing obligations for platform hosts. Among these obligations is their registration in a registry—which does not yet exist—established by the Ministry of Tourism (Sectur), in which their properties must be registered.

On October 2 of that same year, the Mexico City Congress approved an initiative promoted by the former mayor and current director of ISSTE, Martí Batres, which theoretically tightened control over real estate rentals through apps.

The amendments established a 50% cap on the number of nights each property can be offered per year, as well as a ban on registration in these social housing applications.

Everything remained unresolved, as at press time, the resolution of the lawsuits that arose after Airbnb and some hosts filed injunctions against the approved initiative in January 2025 is pending.

Furthermore, the expectation that the Mexican capital will receive more than five million visitors for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, according to data from Mayor Clara Brugada, has led to reconsideration of the registry's creation, given the potential impact on the availability of spaces to receive tourists.

The director of the Digital Agency for Public Innovation (ADIP), Ángel Augusto Tamariz Sánchez, told Expansión: “The platform is ready. The point is, we're now reflecting and talking with the Mexico City cabinet to make sense of the platform in light of what's coming.”

While implementation of the guidelines is on hold, the Inside Airbnb data project recorded a 13.6% increase in the number of properties listed on the platform between November 2022 and July 2025.

Data collected through March indicate that there are 26,067 properties listed in Mexico City, of which 46.15% are concentrated in the Cuauhtémoc borough, 17.4% in Miguel Hidalgo, 11.4% in Benito Juárez, 6.4% in Coyoacán, and 3.8% in Álvaro Obregón.

"Outrageous" prices

In 2017, Alejandra arrived in Mexico City from Guatemala on a postgraduate scholarship at the Universidad Iberoamericana (Ibero). In an interview, she recounts: “Ever since then, my classmates were recommending that I live in La Condesa or La Roma. I remember them telling me that living in those areas was like not being in Mexico City, and the truth is, there were a lot of white people and a lot of “fresa” parties, as they call them.”

To afford a room in an apartment located right on the Amsterdam circuit, she started working part-time as a waitress, also receiving support from her family: “I paid five thousand, which seemed like a fortune, but I didn't know the city, and it's a safe, comfortable area. I came with support from Ibero. In Guatemala, my family is hardworking, and they also made sacrifices so I could enjoy my experience as a student abroad to the fullest.”

However, just as she was about to finish her postgraduate studies, she had to move because her landlord raised the rent to seven thousand pesos overnight: “I didn't sign a contract. I found the room and trusted it because a friend lived there and told me there were a lot of students and foreigners.”

For the same price she was paying, she found a 30-square-meter studio apartment in the Tabacalera neighborhood. Despite her bad experience renting in La Condesa, Alejandra fell in love with the area and Mexico City.

In 2020, she returned to her country, determined to return to work here and be able to live near Parque México again. Four years later, she was back on a two-month trip spent looking for jobs and an apartment: “I thought that with a more mature professional life and more opportunities, I would be able to, but I couldn't have been more wrong. I thought I would have the opportunity to return to my old apartment in the Iztaccíhuatl roundabout to share it with my partner, but I discovered that the entire apartment was already being rented on Airbnb for 2,300 pesos a night. Overall, I found outrageous prices.”

Alejandra says she visited at least 15 rental apartments in the area, which she describes as “too small, too expensive, and too run down.”

As the days passed, she finally came to a conclusion: “It turned out that to achieve the life I wanted, I had to resign myself to spending more than 30% of my salary on rent, so it was better for us to return to Guatemala.”

He also shares a reflection:

Look, I know I can't call myself a victim of gentrification because I'm a foreigner, but I think my testimony reflects a situation that affects many people. I've read on my Instagram about the displacement of people who have lived there their entire lives and can no longer afford to live in their neighborhood. I couldn't imagine how angry they are.

Alternative to generate resources

Lorenza's parents live in a retirement home in San Miguel de Allende, which they finance thanks to her helping them manage an Airbnb apartment they own near Nuevo León Avenue.

In a phone call, Lorenza expresses pride in the ratings she's received as a hostess. She talks about the importance of white sheets and towels, her experience testing air fresheners, and "the little details," such as preparing hot chocolate and mineral water to welcome her guests.

Then, he begins to talk about the graffiti that says "Out with the gringo!" that was plastered on various streets in Condesa and Roma Norte after the protest against gentrification:

“It infuriates me to see my country resist progress. Those of us who want to progress, to seek a better life, are dragged down because, after reading the news, foreigners lump us all into the same sack of vandals and cowardly, resentful nacos.”

–What is your opinion on Airbnb regulations?

–I don't know about the law, but my children did inform me about it a few months ago, and then everything sort of continued as before because it's clear it's not in anyone's best interest.

I do want to make one thing very clear to you, I'm Mexican and for me the app is a marvel that allows me to have my parents the way they deserve. Not every month is the same, but in any case the basics are covered and sometimes I give them their treats, we all go on trips or we send them with my sister to Texas.

A month before the anti-gentrification protests, on June 4, Airbnb published a statement emphasizing that its platform is an economic catalyst for thousands of neighborhood businesses, generating an economic impact of more than 22 billion pesos in Mexico City in 2024 and boosting income for more than 46,000 people in sectors such as food, transportation, and commerce.