{"id":1193,"date":"2026-06-11T14:44:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T14:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1193"},"modified":"2026-06-11T14:44:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T14:44:24","slug":"mexico-city-roasts-new-chandeliers-slapped-onto-its-metro-for-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1193","title":{"rendered":"Mexico City roasts new chandeliers slapped onto its metro for World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Mexicans milling through the busy Hidalgo metro station pointed and laughed, occasionally snapping pictures of the face-lift that has become the subject of a cascade of internet memes.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1191\">Westchester County built a 600-camera plate reader network that shared 1.6 billion scans with ICE, lawsuit says<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The cosmetic makeover that authorities have attempted to give the capital as visitors arrive from around the globe also has become a symbol of\u00a0criticisms\u00a0that the government is prioritizing its superficial appearance for World Cup fans over fixing critical structural issues that have long plagued the city.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cPeople make fun of it because it\u2019s a failed aesthetic, it doesn\u2019t make a lot of sense,\u201d said Silvia Escamilla, 28, who was hustling to work among a crowd of Mexican commuters. \u201cAll these renovations are like putting makeup on the city, because the infrastructure they could actually invest in just isn\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Decorations cover the problems<\/h4>\n<p>For weeks, Mexico City workers have plastered walls and metro cars with cartoon axolotls, the mole salamander that has become a city mascot. They also have painted bridges purple and planted Mexican marigold flowers typical of Day of the Dead celebrations in November.<\/p>\n<p>The 22 million residents of the sprawling capital, known as Chilangos, have jokingly referred to the renovations as the city\u2019s \u201caxolotlization.\u201d They have posted videos of flooded underpasses next to freshly painted murals of axolotls and crumbling stairs and potholes painted bright purple.<\/p>\n<p>Hidalgo station, in the heart of the downtown, has perhaps become the subject of more memes than anywhere else in the city.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>When city workers installed the chandelier near the metro entrance and rows of Victorian wall lamps in May, social media users were quick to joke that authorities were trying to make the gritty metro system look like it was in a European city.<\/p>\n<h4>Social media creators mock the changes<\/h4>\n<p>Residents began to show up at the station in elegant dresses in videos layered over Mozart music. One social media influencer descended the marble stairs dressed as the Beast from the classic Disney cartoon \u201cBeauty and the Beast.\u201d Another arrived as Napoleon Bonaparte in a white wig and French military uniform.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cMay you have an elegant metro connection,\u201d one social media influencer said as he strolled through throngs of commuters dressed in a tuxedo and top hat. Another filmed herself selling pink dresses aboard one of the metro trains, yelling to passengers that the items matched the \u201cetiquette\u201d of Metro Hidalgo.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Many more posed next to marble floors and walls torn up by construction ahead of the soccer tournament being hosted by Mexico, the United States and Canada.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1189\">SpaceX is about to make history\u2014and 80% of VCs won\u2019t see a dime of it<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h4>The humor highlights larger issues<\/h4>\n<p>The crush of jokes amused Mexicans for weeks, but also cut to the core of a deeper problem in the city, said Aldo Solano Rojas, an art historian in Mexico City who has criticized the remodel.<\/p>\n<p>Failures to prioritize issues like the metro\u2019s crumbling infrastructure and holes in the major municipal roadways show the government \u201cdoesn\u2019t understand the real needs of the city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cState presence, at its best, is reflected in well-maintained sidewalks and adequate transportation infrastructure that doesn\u2019t collapse every day,\u201d Solano Rojas said. \u201cIt\u2019s not reflected in frivolous, superficial axolotl murals while the streets are flooding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The criticisms come in the midst of\u00a0wider social unrest in Mexico City\u00a0as the country\u2019s teachers union, families of\u00a0Mexico\u2019s 130,000 missing people\u00a0and a range of other social movements use the proximity to the event to pressure authorities.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The government also has faced accusations of\u00a0displacing sex workers and street vendors\u00a0in an effort to clean up the streets. Despite the tensions, city workers on Wednesday were still racing to complete construction ahead of the\u00a0opening ceremony\u00a0and first match.<\/p>\n<p>Mirna Baranco looked fondly on the renovations, but the 46-year-old laughed at the chandelier over Hidalgo construction workers. She nudged her boyfriend and pointed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve already seen it all over the place on Facebook, but not in real life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Baranco understood the criticisms, but said she didn\u2019t think it was necessarily a bad thing that authorities were making changes to be more attractive to international visitors. The World Cup has helped push local governments to make needed renovations, even if some look a little out of place, she said.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The changes show that \u201cMexico isn\u2019t just how others stereotype us, as a country with narcos,\u201d Baranco said. \u201cMexico has a lot to give the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1187\">Jamie Laing thinks tomorrow\u2019s Fortune 500 will be built by creators.\u00a0He might be right<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cPeople make fun of it because it&#8217;s a failed aesthetic, it doesn&#8217;t make a lot of sense&#8230; like putting makeup on the city.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-cup"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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