A word of advice for anyone planning to ascend the Temple of Kukulcán while visiting the Chichén Itzá archaeological site in Yucatán: don’t.
A woman who choose to defy the ban on climbing the pyramid was met by an angry mob of tourists when she descended from the 24-meter-high structure.
Footage posted to social media on Monday showed tourists dousing the scofflaw with water, pulling her hair and hurling abuse at her as she was escorted out of the ancient Mayan site, Mexico’s most visited archaeological zone so far in 2022, according to INAH. Some even called for the woman to be jailed or lynched.
Videos also showed the tourist climbing up the pyramid after stepping over a low barrier, eventually reaching the top of the Temple of Kukulcán, also known as El Castillo. She made her way down after a security official partially climbed the pyramid and ordered her to do so.
#LadyChichenItza:
Por este video de una mujer que subió a la pirámide de Chichen-Itza. pic.twitter.com/aSVIyxy4Z6— ¿Por qué es Tendencia? (@porktendencia) November 21, 2022
The woman’s nationality hasn’t been definitively established, although several reports said she was foreign. At least one identified her as Spanish. However, the news website Infobae reported that she appeared to be Mexican.
Climbing the ancient stairs of the pyramid at Chichén Itzá – one of the “New 7 Wonders of the World” – has been prohibited since 2008 due to concerns about the potential for damage to the structure. According to a report by the newspaper El País, the woman who defied the ban was turned over to local authorities and could be fined as much as 172,87o pesos (about US $8,900).
Continuing a decade-old tradition, social media users dubbed the offender “Lady Chichén Itzá.”
The titles “lady” and “lord” have been used on social media in Mexico since 2011 to identify and publicly shame people who have acted in questionable or controversial ways or with an attitude that reflects a sense of entitlement.
The first member of the hashtag nobility was #LadyPolanco, a woman caught on camera screaming insults at a police officer in the upscale Mexico City neighborhood of the same name.
