Alberto Lopez Rosas. Acapulco’s Municipal Mayor

Q.- Mr. Mayor, you’re right now working on a new strategy for the future of Acapulco. How are you doing that?

A.- We’re trying to renew the rundown and obsolete urban equipment. Through this renovation, we want to paint a new picture of our city, put an urban and humane face on it that could stress the warmth and traditional hospitality of our beach destination. Acapulco has no industries, no farming, no livestock breeding. Tourism is the basic layer of its economy. Therefore, today we must put our efforts back on track, rekindle our imagination and creativeness in order to strengthen this beach destination’s natural flair. That’s why we’re working hard to win the confidence of local and foreign visitors, so that they could once again see Acapulco as a safe, reliable destination.

Q.- We’ve seen Acapulco through the charm of its decadence. Some people say you’re going to do away with that decadence. Is that your goal?

A.- My objective is to prevent that decadence. It’s true we’re sort of lagging behind now, stuck in a kind of palsy. I think we made many mistakes, we made some wrong decisions and we let the economic sense fall by the wayside to favor political and partisan objectives. Now we must siphon off all that and prevent that decadence from setting in. Indeed, Acapulco has never been decadent. It’s been through some tough times but this is the time to reverse this. Acapulco is putting a new spin on itself and that’s owed to a generational challenge that’s going to put out all the stops to do in that decadence. We’ve got a fresher look now and that can be seen in many hotels, in images, facades with fresh coats of paint. The development of Punta Diamantes –Acapulco’s newest side- has been great and as many as $450 million are going to be invested there. I think this is the threshold of our second wind and we’re very encouraged not to let it slip through our fingers.

Q.- According to some environmental reports and like many other Mexican shorelines, Acapulco is facing a bad case of polluted waters. I know you’re putting a halt to that. What kind of investment are your going to make and what preemptive actions are you going to take?

A.- I think we must draw a line between the moment before and after hurricane Pauline. I believe among the mistakes we made –counting both hurried actions and no actions at all- was the way we neglected the cleansing of our bay and the actions we failed to take with those irregular settlements that, as a matter of fact, generated pollution. After the hurricane in 1997, the investment made by the federal government, as well as by the municipal and local authorities, served to clean our bay waters. Of course, this is not the best thing to do, but with the measures we’re taking right now that include the building of three cesspool water treatment plants scheduled to start operating this year, I believe we’ll be taking a much stronger step to achieve that goal. Let me tell you the waters of the Acapulco bay are not hazardous to human beings. Our people and their relatives come here every Sunday because they don’t have to pay for that. They bring their own food, they eat at the beach and spend the Sundays here. They take a swim in the sea and not a single case of cholera or dermatitis has been reported yet, the two fastest-developing symptoms that give away any human contact with polluted waters. And that’s not merely a Municipal Mayor’s statement; that’s what health authorities report. The water of our bay is renovated; there are no frontiers. So, I think that talking about pollution is an overstatement. It’s not that I want to downplay the impact, but we shouldn’t put the situation under a magnifying glass, either. We’re taking care of that situation and we’re seeing to it measurably. That’s why I consider one of our top challenges is to win back the confidence of the people as far as the quality of our waters is concerned. That’s the key to making Acapulco grow on and on.

Q.- In this term of yours, do you think Acapulco will once again be the capital of the Pacific?

A.- I want to say this is not up to the Mayor. I don’t have a magic wand and I don’t see myself as a prophet. So, I don’t think there’s going to be a sea change just because of what I order or do. This effort takes a businesslike willingness and the willingness of the ordinary citizenship. I say to you our generation is accepting this challenge. We’re sort of an intermediate generation, baby boomers in our 40s and 50s that knew the glamorous Acapulco our parents once lived in. We’re the same generation that’s seen Acapulco lagging behind after having a nightlife that knew no end. We’ve been through this sort of palsy. And I see we’re an intermediate generation because we stand in between our parents and our children. Therefore, I’ve invited baby boomers like myself to meet this generational challenge and give our children back Acapulco’s old glamour and a much better tourist destination.

Q.- Is the municipal government planning to make some kind of special investment to support hoteliers and entrepreneurs to refurbish their hotels, get soft loans and back up lost funds?

A.- Absolutely. City halls do with tight budgets. There’s not enough money in our coffers so as to be dishing out loans. We are doling out bonus packages to new companies and those downsizing their business operations. My administration is hammering out agreements with entrepreneurs. If they refurbish their businesses, we refurbish the environment. We did it with the Habano Hotel; we rebuilt the entire front side, made a much cozier front gate in return for the investments that company is making. And that’s how we’re going to keep on working, pitching hands with the entrepreneurs that make up their minds to make their investments look brighter in a more renovated state.

Q.- Are you going to keep focused on the U.S. market or are you going to open up to the European market as well?

A.- We’re very confident of European tourism but I think we’ve neglected it by zeroing in too much on the American market. Unfortunately, U.S. tourists turned their backs on us just when Acapulco needed them the most. Canadian tourism, though not as deep-pocketed, kept on trickling in and they are welcomed because they were there for us when we were in the middle of the crisis. But I believe we’ve neglected the European market, a good market that could find real tourist values here in Acapulco. So, now we’re in for the European market. We want to launch an all-embracing, very aggressive tourist promotion, just to put it this way. But we’re putting a lot of confidence in the European market.

Q.- Is there anything else you’d like to say?

A.- Just to add that Acapulco is in Mexico, but it belongs to the whole world. Acapulco is a cosmopolitan destination, a universal destination. I want you to visit out city because we’re improving it and changing it to welcome our tourists.