A social media post by a nightclub in Mexico City has gone viral for its explanation of its entry fee policy, which charges American visitors US$300 in what the club calls “a political stance.“
Mexican residents and people from other Central and South American countries pay $14, while people from elsewhere pay $20.
An Instagram statement shared by the Japan nightclub within the Roma Norte neighbourhood, situated just west of town’s centre, said, “It’s not that ‘we charge gringos more’ it’s that we provide discounts to those who need it,” adding that American visitors simply don’t receive the discount.
The post explains that Americans pay a full-price 5,000-peso entry fee; people from another country get a 93 per cent discount; Mexicans and Latin Americans receive 95 per cent off, while students and teachers receive 97 per cent off, meaning they pay just 150 pesos (CAD$12) for entry.
Get each day National news
Get each day Canada news delivered to your inbox so you will never miss the day’s top stories.
The club’s owner, Federico Crespot, told The Guardian that the staggered pricing was introduced in response to strained relations between Mexico and the U.S., where the Trump administration has targeted Latin American immigrants residing within the country.
“This can be a response to a 12 months of insults directed at us — as a rustic — by the US,” he said.
“It’s very much a response to the numerous attacks against Mexico from Trump,” he continued, adding that it was also a response to rising prices because of this of gentrification in Mexico City.
In a follow-up post on Wednesday, the nightclub said its policy “on no account reflects any animosity or negative feelings toward Americans as individuals.”
“This can be a political stance,” it explained, adding that the club had taken the approach to prompt conversation in regards to the treatment of Latin Americans within the U.S. and the negative impacts of foreign tourism on locals.
“We consider that the residents of a rustic are those who elect and take away governments. We consider in voting, protesting, and grassroots organizing to realize these goals, and we encourage Americans to take the reins of their country,” the statement continued.
The nightclub’s posts follow a wave of backlash against American tourists and other foreign visitors in Mexico City, whose presence is driving up rents and pricing out locals in neighbourhoods like Condesa and Roma.
Protests broke out last July and at times became violent, with some marchers smashing windows and carrying signs that read, “My city will not be your Airbnb.”
The violence marked a furious end to a more peaceful march that mostly called out the masses of American tourists who’ve flooded into Mexico’s capital in recent times.
Demonstrators march at a protest against gentrification and tourism within the Tlalpan neighbourhood of Mexico City on July 20, 2025. Mexico City’s government presented a plan to fight gentrification following a recent protest from residents who accused foreigners moving into the capital of constructing it costlier and displacing longtime residents and merchants.
Alejandro Cegarra/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Graffiti over shuttered businesses and strewn across partitions read, “Get out of Mexico” and “Gentrifiers and Colonizers.”
Some in attendance held posters that said, “Gringos, stop stealing our home,” while demanding local laws to higher regulate tourism levels and introduce stricter housing laws.
Tension had been mounting in town since U.S. “digital nomads” flocked to Mexico City in 2020, many to flee COVID-19 lockdowns within the U.S. or to reap the benefits of cheaper rent prices within the Latin American city.
— With files from The Associated Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.