Tourism, Violence, and Dispossession in La Perla: When the Spotlight Turns Deadly
La Perla, the cliffside community pressed against the walls of Old San Juan, has long stood as a paradox. On the one hand, it is a vibrant neighborhood rich in cultural resilience, art, and history. On the other, it has been systematically marginalized since the colonial period, first relegated as the home for enslaved Africans, jíbaros, and laborers outside San Juan’s walls, and more recently targeted by tourism and gentrification pressures. The tragic shooting of a tourist during Bad Bunny’s residency in Puerto Rico lays bare how these overlapping forces of spectacle, tourism, and dispossession collide in violent ways.
Tourism and the Displacement of Communities
Bad Bunny’s residency drew over half a million visitors and injected more than $200 million into Puerto Rico’s economy (Forbes 2022). Yet for neighborhoods like La Perla, the influx of outsiders has intensified longstanding struggles. Following the global spotlight of Despacito, La Perla became a tourist attraction—its streets transformed into Instagram backdrops and short-term rental opportunities. Rising property values, speculative investment, and tourist-centered development have displaced long-time residents, while those who remain often find themselves living in a neighborhood that feels less like home and more like a stage set for outside consumption (Harvard DRCLAS Review, 2021).
This process is not new. Urban studies scholar Florian Urban argues that La Perla’s marginalization is inseparable from Puerto Rico’s colonial planning history, where spaces of Afro-Indigenous and working-class life were excluded from the city’s resources while their culture was appropriated as heritage (Urban 2015, Planning Perspectives). Today’s tourism-driven gentrification is simply a new chapter in this ongoing story of dispossession.
Violence at the Intersection of Tourism and Inequality
The killing of 25-year-old tourist Kevin Mares in La Perla, who had traveled to Puerto Rico for Bad Bunny’s residency, highlights the tensions produced when massive waves of visitors enter neighborhoods still grappling with poverty, exclusion, and neglect (AP News, 2023). Tourism injects outsiders into fragile local economies and nightlife scenes without addressing the systemic inequalities residents face. Violence in this context is not random—it emerges from the friction of social inequality, economic desperation, and the commercialization of everyday spaces.
At the same time, violent incidents involving tourists often lead to heightened policing and securitization. Rather than protecting residents, these responses frequently justify redevelopment schemes and policing practices that further displace vulnerable communities. In this sense, the shooting will likely become part of the larger cycle: violence prompts security measures, security paves the way for redevelopment, and redevelopment accelerates displacement (Penn Design Studio Report, 2022).
Colonial Legacies in the Present
The story of La Perla cannot be divorced from Puerto Rico’s colonial status. As a U.S. territory, Puerto Rico remains subject to economic policies and planning decisions that privilege external capital and tourism over local well-being. The residents of La Perla are caught in this colonial bind: their community is celebrated as cultural heritage and tourist attraction while their rights to land, housing, and safety are undermined.
Conclusion: Whose Puerto Rico Is Being Built?
The Bad Bunny residency was framed as a triumph for Puerto Rico’s global image, a celebration of music, culture, and pride. But for La Perla, the shooting reveals another side of that story. Tourism may bring dollars and visibility, but it also deepens the dispossession of communities already on the margins. Until Puerto Rico confronts the colonial and economic structures that make neighborhoods like La Perla simultaneously celebrated and expendable, the cycle of tourism, displacement, and violence will continue.
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