MEXICO CITY — In a trendy part of Mexico City, in a park surrounded by hipster coffeeshops and restaurants, stands a figure dressed in white with hands in prayer like a Catholic statuette: the so-called patron saint against gentrification. Nearly two million foreigners touched down at the Mexico City International Airport in the first half of 2022, inching toward the record 2.5 million arrivals in the first half of 2019. The gap between American and Mexican salaries means even affluent Mexico City residents can get priced out, in a city that is already home to wide wealth disparities. According to Mexico’s statistics agency, the top 10% of Mexico City households earned more than 13 times as much as the bottom 10% of households in 2020. Coronado, an architect and interior designer who lives between Los Angeles and Mexico City, said he understands locals are resentful.

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