Tourism has undoubtedly brought development to the region, an older woman says — but it can be deceiving. From the outside it might look like everyone here is doing well. In reality, poverty is still widespread, in large part because so much of the land belongs to so few.
Most of those few, she adds, are foreigners. It's reached the point where locals sometimes feel like outsiders in their own country.
“So many of the owners are foreigners now that sometimes we feel like outsiders in our own country.”
What troubles her most is what she sees happening to the region's young people, who increasingly imitate the tourists around them — especially the ones they watch on the beach. Drug use among young people, in particular, worries her more each year.
As a woman, she's just as concerned about the rise in prostitution that's come with it.
Not everything has moved in the wrong direction, she's careful to add. Schools in the region have multiplied, and the training courses now on offer have genuinely improved in quality — a real gain for the area's young people, even amid everything else.
What she'd most like to see now is more support for the small businesses local women have started within tourism — selling handicrafts, mostly. Her ask of visitors is simple: buy from them directly, and buy local.