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»El Castillo« in Chichén Itzá: »Prison, prison, prison!«
Photo: Sandra Salvadó / IMAGO
Chichén Itzá is a famous ruined site on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.
Here you can find relics from the late Maya period on an area of over 1500 hectares.
One of them is the "Castillo", a 30 meter high step pyramid, on the top of which is the temple of Kukulcán, a snake deity of the Maya.
A sacred place where visitors should behave with respect.
But apparently not everyone understands that.
Although entering the pyramid was banned by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in 2008, a tourist climbed the stairs ten days ago.
Several people filmed the scene, and a video by the user "angelalopeze" went viral on TikTok.
In it, a blond woman in red pants and a blue T-shirt, hat in hand, steps out of the temple entrance, walks down a few steps, swings her hips, and throws her arms in the air.
The first whistles and boos can already be heard, and a security guard accompanies the lady on the descent.
Arriving at the bottom, she is greeted by an angry crowd with abuse, insults, water poured over her and plastic bottles thrown at her.
“Prison, prison, prison!” demanded some of those present.
At first it was rumored that the woman was a Spanish tourist.
Mexican media are now reporting that the woman is said to be a 29-year-old local.
Demands circulated on Twitter that the rule-breaker should be jailed for up to 10 years and pay a fine of several thousand dollars for her misconduct.
Did you get off lightly?
According to the INAH institute, fines for violating visitor regulations range from 50,000 to 100,000 Mexican pesos, the equivalent of 2,505 and 5,009 euros, depending on the damage done.
Because the stair dancer left no traces on the »Castillo«, she is said to have paid a significantly lower sum.
She is no longer allowed to visit the holy places.
Those responsible were asked to better protect the ruins.
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