In the working-class neighborhoods of Ensenada, there’s no water in the taps, trash piles up on street corners., and roads are full of potholes. And yet, residents say, the municipal government of Mayor Claudia Agatón Muñiz seems far more interested in organizing massive concerts and promoting tourist hot spots in Valle de Guadalupe than in fixing the city’s most basic problems.
Take the recent case of Pórticos del Mar, a residential development where neighbors say they went three full weeks without garbage pickup despite being listed on the official schedule of Municipal Public Services. Families report filing complaint after complaint, only to be met with silence. Meanwhile, the growing mounds of waste have become both an eyesore and a public health risk.
Then there are the protests. Organized families from the Antorchista Movement marched to the offices of CESPE, the local water agency, demanding action on chronic problems with access and distribution. The city’s most populous neighborhoods continue to suffer the same old neglect, while solutions never come. The core grievance is that the most urgent infrastructure and service needs keep getting shoved aside.
All of this has unfolded while public debate in Ensenada has been dominated by talk of big-budget concerts and tourism schemes in Valle de Guadalupe. The mayor’s office has rolled out glossy messages about sustainability, electromobility, and clean energy. But to many residents, that language feels utterly detached from a city drowning in trash, dodging potholes, and begging for reliable services.
Criticism erupted even louder when news surfaced of a possible mega-concert in the valley featuring crowd-drawing acts like Margarita “La Diosa de la Cumbia,” Los Tucanes de Tijuana, or Grupo Firme. Activists and locals warned that such an event would only bring more traffic, overcrowded services, pollution, and pressure on a region already straining under serious environmental and urban stresses.
While large swaths of Ensenada plead for needs that have gone unmet for years such as water, garbage collection, decent roads, and basic services, the growing perception is that Mayor Claudia Agatón Muñiz is far more invested in polishing the Valle de Guadalupe’s image for tourists and media cameras. The daily struggles of the city’s working-class communities have been left in the dust.
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed on this article do not necessarily reflect, in whole or in part, the official position of SanDiegoRed.
