Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Tuesday that Mexico and its capital are among the top three destinations for expatriates, according to a recent survey.
“It’s a city that fascinates them and it’s a safe city,” he said when asked about Expat Insider’s 2022 ranking, which places Mexico City just behind Valencia, Spain, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates .
Mexico is even the country of choice for emigration candidates, according to this survey by the Internations community, which claims to have received 12,000 responses from foreigners from 181 countries.
“In recent years, thousands of foreigners have come to Mexico City, particularly from the United States,” Mr. Lopez Obrador recalled during his daily press briefing.
The survey shows that “91% of expatriates are satisfied with their life in Mexico”, for example for the gastronomic variety, but with some caveats (air quality…).
His American counterpart Joe Biden, who admired the Zocalo Square from the windows of the National Palace – seat of the presidency – during an official visit a week ago, lyrically emphasized the head of state: “It is the most beautiful square in the world, or one of the most beautiful of the world”.
Mexico City “is welcoming, cheap, but not safe,” the survey authors qualify. The expatriates are “happy” with “their financial situation” but “disappointed with the environment, the climate and security”.
There are “fewer murders” in Mexico City “than other major cities in the world,” said Mr. Lopez Obrador, paying tribute to the capital’s Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, his possible runner-up in 2024.
At the national level, the number of homicides fell by 7.1% in 2022 compared to the previous year (a total of 30,968 deaths), according to official figures provided by the government on Tuesday.
Six of the 32 states concentrate almost half of the killings, including the state of Mexico, on the outskirts of the capital, but not in the city itself.
“Where, with all due respect, is there tourism prosperity like Cancún, which has 30 million passengers a year? ‘ continued the Mexican President, highlighting this Caribbean seaside resort served by daily direct flights from Europe and the United States.