Female tourist's 'disrespectful' act at sacred site

Wild footage has emerged of a woman being condemned by locals for illegally climbing a sacred site in Mexico.

One person recorded the woman climbing the Mayan Pyramid in Chichen Itza, as security ushered her down, to be greeted by a large, unimpressed crowd whom shouted for her to be imprisoned.

"This is so disrespectful… don’t mess with my Mexican people," Angela Lopeze posted on TikTok.

The video showed the tourist even doing a little dance on top of the site as people whistle and shout at her, and then having water and rubbish thrown at her while trying to make her way through the crowd.

Crowds were also reportedly chanting “cárcel” at her, meaning "jail' in Spanish.

El Castillo (The Castle), also known as the Kukulcan Pyramid, is 30 metres high and has 365 steps to symbolise the number of days in a year. Built by the pre-Columbian Maya civilisation sometime between 8th and 12th centuries AD, the ancient structure is regarded as one of the most remarkable in the world.

Social media users react to woman climbing structure

The video has been viewed more than 4.2 million times, with people having mixed responses to the tourist's behaviour.

"Good, I’m glad this was the outcome cause people really are disrespectful," one person said.

"Few things more embarrassing than entitled tourists," said another.

"She should be fined for climbing it," a third person said.

However others were not thrilled with the aggressive response of locals.

"They still have no right to touch her," one person said.

"Bruh why throw water though, it’s getting the other ppl more wet than the lady," said another.

People also questioned why the site was able to be climbed before, and now isn't, which the poster and several others pinned down to "erosion, graffiti, and safety".

"Our Spanish class took a trip there about 15 years ago, in high school," one person said. We were told to only climb 5 steps because of possibly falling."

"I went in 2005 and was able to climb it. It was very steep and scary. They had ambulances sitting at the bottom because people would fall," said another. "I’m glad I did it but once was enough for me."

Site deemed no longer climbable after fatal accident

According to local media, the death of an older tourist was supposedly the final straw, who slipped on a smooth step and fell 60 feet to the ground on January 5, 2006.

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Then two years later in 2008, the Mexico’s Institute for History and Anthropology prohibited tourists from climbing the site, citing preservation reasons, according to Yucatan magazine.

In 2021 a female visitor to the site was brought before a court after climbing the pyramid.

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