Chichén Itzá reopens after dispute with vendors that led to 13-day closure

Mexico’s Chichén Itzá reopened on 1 June after an unprecedented 13-day closure triggered by community opposition to relocating long-standing vendors into a new tourist complex. The dispute involves moving more than 600 vendors and artisans to the 16-hectare Catvi visitor facility, part of infrastructure linked to the Maya Train project; the $46 million complex includes 962 commercial spaces, food courts, and guide facilities, along with a new ticketing system. INAH (Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History) says Chichén Itzá draws more than 8,000 visitors daily and about 2.2 million annually, making tourism the main income source for surrounding communities; INAH director Joel Omar Vázquez Herrera called Catvi “the biggest infrastructure for visitor services in Latin America” at a 26 May press conference. A newly formed local Maya organization, the Indigenous Governing Council of Pisté Chichén Itzá (CIGPC), filed a legal injunction on 27 May alleging insufficient consultation and argued the new vendor spaces are too far from the pyramids; INAH said 220 of 666 vendors had agreed to relocate as of 26 May and proposed phased relocation and vendor placement along the path from Catvi to the site.

Read the full article at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events