The political economy of Mexican Spring Break

Mexico is always a popular destination. But certain destinations are more popular than others. Here’s why.

This week marks Holy Week (Semana Santa), Mexico’s equivalent to Spring Break. Though Mexico is a notoriously secular country, a great number of Mexicans still take the opportunity to take the week off leaving residential streets empty and its beaches heaving.

Holy Week is slightly after Spring Break in the United States, making these weeks the first big travel spike of the year after the January and February slowdown. Yet, just as Semana Santa shifts depending on the liturgical calendar from late March to late April, who goes where is also affected by tidal economic and social forces.