Tourism matters a great deal here, the religious leader says, though it arrived by way of loss. Agriculture and cattle-breeding once defined the local economy; as that land was sold off to foreigners, nearly everyone was pushed toward tourism to make a living instead.
Their town, Villa Real, tells a split story. Ninety percent of the land there still belongs to Ticos. But down at Playa Tamarindo — the beach, where the tourists and the money actually are — the ownership runs almost entirely the other way.
Tourism has created real work, especially for young people and, to a lesser extent, women. Nearly every young person in town works in tourism in some form, he estimates — though rarely in management, which tends to stay out of local hands.
Its cultural influence runs deep too. Young people have picked up the way surfers talk and move, a shift he attributes partly to television and other media, but just as clearly to the tourists themselves.
Some of what he sees troubles him more directly. Sex between tourists and locals happens in public in ways most residents don't want to witness, and tourists play a real part in the rise of alcohol and drug abuse among the young — which he now considers the community's single biggest problem. Half of the area's young people, by his estimate, are using drugs or alcohol. His ask of tourists is simple: please set a better example for the children watching.
“Fifty percent of our young people are now using drugs or alcohol.”
He's careful to balance the picture. Tourism, at its core, is a good thing — the education system, technical education especially, has improved enormously, and that improvement is owed largely to tourism.
His advice for visitors, in his own words: respect the local values and habits that already exist here — you are a model for our young people, whether you intend to be or not. Take a genuine interest in the culture; learn something about the place before you arrive, and adapt to it. When looking for a place to eat, seek out the restaurants run by local people. And drugs remain a serious problem in Tamarindo — make sure you don't add to it, and be an example instead.