Mexico City installed a chandelier in its metro for the World Cup. Then came the crush of memes

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The sound of construction boomed through the world’s most talked-about subway station Mexico City Workers raced to finish the race as they pounded the marble floors under a chandelier and rows of lamps reminiscent of a scene from “Harry Potter” or “Titanic.” FIFA World Cup opening ceremony on Thursday.

Mexicans milling around the crowded Hidalgo subway station pointed and laughed, occasionally snapping photos of the facelift that became the subject of internet memes.

Along with visitors from all over the world, the cosmetic renovation that the authorities are trying to do to the capital has also become a symbol. reviews It was stated that the government prioritized the superficial appearance for World Cup fans rather than fixing the critical structural problems that have long plagued the city.

“People make fun of it because it’s a failed aesthetic, it doesn’t mean much,” said Silvia Escamilla, 28, rushing to work among a crowd of Mexican commuters. “All these renovations are like giving the city a facelift because the infrastructure they can invest in isn’t there yet.”

Decorations cover up problems

For weeks, Mexico City workers plastered walls and subway cars with cartoon axolotls, the mole salamander that became the city’s mascot. They also painted the bridges purple and planted Mexican marigold flowers, typical of Day of the Dead celebrations in November.

The 22 million residents of the sprawling capital known as Chilangos have jokingly referred to the renovations as the “axolotlisation” of the city. They posted videos of flooded underpasses next to freshly painted axolotl murals, crumbling staircases, and bright purple-painted potholes.

The Hidalgo station in the heart of downtown has perhaps become the subject of more memes than any other part of the city.

When city workers installed the chandelier near the subway entrance and Victorian wall lamps in May, social media users joked that officials were trying to make the bold subway system look like it was in a European city.

Social media creators tease changes

Residents began to come to the station in elegant dresses in videos prepared on the music of Mozart. A social media influencer descended the marble stairs dressed as the Beast from the classic Disney cartoon “Beauty and the Beast.” Another arrived as Napoleon Bonaparte, wearing a white wig and French military uniform.

“Have a stylish subway connection,” said one social media influencer as he strolled through crowds of passengers dressed in tuxedos and top hats. Another filmed herself selling pink dresses on one of the subway trains, shouting to passengers that the items comply with Metro Hidalgo’s “etiquette.”

Before the football tournament to be hosted by Mexico, the USA and Canada, many people posed next to the marble floors and walls destroyed due to construction.

Humor highlights bigger problems

Mexico City art historian Aldo Solano Rojas, who criticized the renovation, said the intensity of the jokes entertained Mexicans for weeks but also got to the heart of a deeper problem in the city.

He said the lack of prioritization of issues such as the crumbling infrastructure of the metro and holes in major municipal roads showed the government “did not understand the real needs of the city”.

“The presence of the state is reflected, at best, in well-maintained sidewalks and adequate transportation infrastructure that does not collapse every day,” Solano Rojas said. “While the streets are flooded, this is not reflected in the meaningless, superficial axolotl murals.”

Criticisms are coming in the meantime Wider social unrest in Mexico City Families as the country’s teachers union 130,000 missing people in Mexico and a number of other social movements use proximity to the event to put pressure on authorities.

The government also faced criminal charges. displacing sex workers and street vendors We are trying to clean the streets. Despite the tensions, city workers were still racing to complete construction on Wednesday. opening ceremony and the first match.

Mirna Baranco looked back fondly on the renovations, but the 46-year-old laughed at the chandelier hanging over Hidalgo construction workers. She nudged her boyfriend and pointed.

“I already see this everywhere on Facebook, but not in real life,” he said.

Baranco understood the criticism but said he didn’t think it was necessarily a bad thing for officials to make changes that would be more attractive to international visitors. He said the World Cup had helped push local governments to make necessary renovations, even if some of them seemed a bit out of place.

Baranco said the changes show that “Mexico is not what others stereotype us as a country with narcos.” “Mexico has a lot to give to the world.”