tipping into chapala

Things have changed in Barra de Navidad.

When I moved to this area in Mexico eleven years ago, I would often refer to it as a "small fishing village by the sea" -- shamelessly lifting from the tales of Lake Woebegone. But, even back then, the description was anachronistic. Navidad Bay was a magnet for more tourists than fishermen. Mexican tourists in the summer; Mexican and northern tourists in the winter.

I cannot tell you when, but it seems about two years ago, we hit a tipping point. More so in Barra de Navidad than in Melaque. But something had changed.

The little villages that arc around the edge of the bay were famous for providing a basic Mexican beach experience for tourists. It was not Cancun. It felt more like the little town I grew up in the mid-1950s.

What changed was not the mix of tourists. In the winter, the ratio to northern tourists did not alter. But, the marketing to northern tastes did increase.

Local businesses and government officials made a conscious decision to attract more northern dollars to the area. Events were created that would meet the never-ending desire of northerners to "do something."

The plan worked. Last week I opened one of our gringo-run Facebook pages to discover fourteen events directed at northern visitors. I felt as if I was on a cruise in -- well, almost anywhere.

That is not a criticism. Mexican business owners are simply doing what any good businessman would do. They are maximizing their profits.

It has come at a price. The pleasure of simply enjoying a relaxing day at the beach is still here. But a more frenetic layer of activity has been laid over the top placing Barra de Navidad in the same league as other northern playgrounds like Ajijic and San Miguel de Allende, where a minority northern population has set the cultural feel of the place.

On Saturday, I wrote an essay on the irony of having a solar-powered water heater in tropical Mexico (not in hot water). As often happens, the conversation in the comments section took a sharp left-turn from the topic.

I had included a footnote about a new lunch place in our neighborhood run by a northern immigrant couple. A reader, who immigrated to Barra de Navidad from The States over 30 years ago and raised a family here, asked and commented: "Do the owners stick around during the lean months or do they just take advantage of the gringo season and diminish earnings for the locals? What a shame."

His comment is representative of some northerners here who will not eat at any restaurant who is not owned by a Mexican. Some of them extend that rule to art created by non-Mexicans and houses for rent owned by northerners. That group is, at least, consistent with its boycott-mindedness.

I understand their position. But I do not agree with it. Entirely.

There may be an exception or two, but the non-Mexicans who own restaurants here are immigrants. They have chosen to make Mexico their permant home. As immigrants, they do exactly as immigrants to Canada or The States do: they try to survive financially by providing a service that would not otherwise be available. And I appreciate the service just as I appreciated the Mexican, Lebanese, and Ethiopian immigrants who were brave enough to open restaurants in my neighborhood in Salem.

The xenophobic argument would make far more sense if the few restaurants owned by non-Mexicans were driving Mexican-owned businesses out of customers. Restaurants are not a zero-sum economic enterprise. If I want a supper of beef stroganoff, I can go to Out to Lunch or I can make it myself. A purveyor of chicken mole loses nothing in that transaction.

The health of Mexican-owned businesses is hearty in my neighborhood. Five new restaurants have opened, and all seem to be doing well -- even after the northern tourists leave.

I will confess that I preferred the much simpler life of a decade ago here. But it was inevitable that change would occur. And not all of the change dynamic has been caused by northern tourists. The increase in middle class Mexican tourists has had its own effect. There will be no going back.

Perhaps that is why I find myself spending more time in my house and talking with my local neighbors. I have managed to create my own far-simpler time bubble.

And, for now, that is good enough for me.