The housing estate of Tlajomulco de Zúñiga has become a no-go area, with gang violence a regular feature of an abandoned project that is now crumbling into the ground
A big ‘no entry’ sign hangs ominously above the entrance to an abandoned town known as the ‘Mexican Chernobyl’.
Unlike the Ukrainian town, which was evacuated following the nuclear meltdown of 1986, the housing estate of Tlajomulco de Zúñiga is not empty of almost all human life as a consequence of a futuristic energy solution gone wrong.
The housing complex was built with the people of the Guadalajara district in mind, designed to provide safe, spacious homes for families there. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, there are 70,000 homes in Tlajomulco. Just 12 years after they were built, all of them are empty.
It takes a brave soul to visit the abandoned town. The unfinished buildings tower ominously over the empty streets. Many have no windows and have been battered by the elements. Plants have broken through the cracks in the brickwork, upon which graffiti has been slapped.
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Inside some, there are hundreds of scratches on the wall. In others, food and clothing have been scattered on the floor. The properties are occasionally frequented by homeless people looking for shelter for the night, although they have a long 20-mile journey from the bustling centre of Guadalajara over swaying fields of grass that seem to hold in the silence of the eerie settlement.
The area is under the control of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), reports Info Bae, meaning the YouTubers, media outlets and tourists who venture to the housing complex for a poke around do so at no small risk to themselves.
In the last six years, the area has become a go-to place for those looking to get rid of a body. Officials found 54 bodies in clandestine graves in the area in December 2019, and a further 110 in July 2020, reports La Jornada.
Next to the unfinished buildings are apartment blocks that stand over them, both a legacy of the construction company that went bust in 2014. The Mexican Army set up one of its bases in one of these apartment towers.
Mexico has a huge number of abandoned homes, with some estimates putting the total nationwide into the millions. As in the case of Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, housing estates are built on the outskirts of urban centres specifically for working people and their families.
During periods of wage stagnation and inflation, many have defaulted on unfavourable mortgages. At the same time, construction firms, including the one responsible for Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, have struggled to complete ambitious jobs. Some of the homes in Tlajomulco de Zúñiga are finished and ready for habitation, while other sections consist of half-built shells.
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Some families still live in the housing complex, but it is a far cry from the brief period when a majority of the buildings were occupied. The remaining few live under a cloud of fear. “Those who stayed are living under a self-imposed curfew. At 6pm no one leaves their homes, and outside, only the wind and criminals roam the streets,” La Jornada adds.
Guillermina Sánchez is one of the limited number still living in estate, along with her husband. She adheres to the 6pm curfew after her partner was badly beaten while leaving their home, NMas reports.
“It gets really ugly out there,” she said.