Just over a week ago, a national scandal erupted about a “gringo” who ran off a construction worker eating lunch in a shady garden space in front of the man’s property in Mazatlán. He was widely outed on social networks and in the media for his xenophobic behavior.

A day or so later, the presumed foreigner identified himself as José Ignacio Lizárraga Pérez, a Mexican attorney and native of the seaside resort town. While denying he had been as rude to the worker as portrayed, he acknowledged that he had ongoing conflicts with the high-rise construction project across the street, where the man was employed.

If this was an unfortunate incident of mistaken national identity, it is indicative of growing indignation among Mexicans about how foreigners treat them with disrespect and the way some openly flaunt disobedience to the nation’s laws and social norms.

Numerous recent media reports tell of foreign citizens attempting to privatize beaches that are legally in the public domain.

An expat woman threw a hissy fit when some Mexican men started ripping out cement poles she had installed in front of her home with the intent of blocking access to Playa El Tomatal in Santa María Colotepec, Oaxaca.

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