AGUAS CALIENTES, Peru — The suspension of ticket sales to
Machu Picchu
sparked protests among angry tourists and merchants from the town closest to the
Inca citadel.
اضافة اعلان
Authorities had
recently begun limiting the number of visitors to the jewel of Peruvian tourism
to reduce wear and tear but increased the number of daily visitors from 4,044
to 5,044 in July following industry complaints.
Friday’s protests
took place in the neighboring town of Machu Picchu, formerly called Aguas
Calientes, where visitors arrive by train before boarding minibuses that
transport them to climb the ancient site through a narrow mountain pass.
Protestors were
angered after tickets to enter Machu Picchu were only being sold in the nearby
city of Cusco and not in Aguas Calientes.
“I paid for my
(train) tickets with Inca Rail for one day with a tour guide. We even paid an
additional fee for the bus that brings us here to Machu Picchu, where the ruins
are and they have not let us in because we do not have the ticket to get in,”
Mexican Israel Gonzales Rizoo told AFP.
The town’s
merchants were also very upset, with dozens blocking the railway to prevent the
movement of trains.
“We demand the
sale of tickets at the offices of the Ministry of Culture of Machu Picchu, and
50 percent of its totality in person (...) to reactivate our economies,” the
merchants said in a statement.
This is the second
protest in just over two weeks over the lack of tickets to enter the stone
citadel — the most visited attraction in Peru.
On July 27, the
available tickets were sold out due to overbooking.
Given the protests
this Friday, the Ministry of Culture indicated that it ordered in person sale
of entrance tickets to continue, respecting the limit set to protect the
archaeological heritage.
That is because,
in the last two weeks, “the average admission to the Llaqta (citadel) of Machu
Picchu has remained below the admission capacity,” the Ministry said in a
statement.
The town is
located at the foot of the 2,430m-high mountain on which is the famous stone
citadel built in the 15th century by the Inca emperor Pachacutec.
UNESCO declared the
citadel of Machu Picchu a World Heritage Site in 1983. Since then, the
organization has required Peru to comply with a series of guidelines to
preserve the place.
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