Patatas Bravas and the Irony of Colonizers Demanding "Tourist, Go Home"
A renowned tapa dish hails from a region where colonial amnesia is overpowered by a late-stage capitalism housing crisis.
Patatas bravas, which can translate into "strong," "brave," or simply "spicy potatoes," is a classic Spanish tapa that emerged in the mid-16th century. This dish was developed after the Spanish brought back potatoes and tomatoes indigenous to South America following their brutal conquest of the Inca Empire. The Incas, indigenous to South America, ruled a body of land that stretched from the Pacific coast of what is modern Ecuador—to Central Chile. (Recipe after nerdy history jump)
Nearly one hundred years before the creation of this spicy potato dish, the insidious Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés arrived on the shores of Veracruz, Mexico, bringing with him a young enslaved African child from Cuba. This child, along with many more who would follow over the centuries, represents a barbaric and traumatizing chapter in history. This era of slavery was intricately linked to the colonization of Mesoamerica, igniting a complex and enduring legacy of cultural, human, and environmental devastation.
“Where do you want me to go? I quipped, “When we were forcibly brought to Mexico 500 years ago?”
In 2023, I was at a Moodyman show in Mexico City—a cute, vibrant gathering of people there to listen to one of the most prominent Black, Detroit-house artists of our time. After ignoring the advances of tall, self-important Mestizaje bro, presumably European, he aggressively confronted me when a group of friends and I continued to mind our business, yapping amongst ourselves.
“Why don’t you all go back to where you came from?” he said in English.
“Where do you want us to go? I quipped, “When we were forcibly brought to Mexico 500 years ago? He fell silent.
This was just one of the instances that underscores a troubling trend: the rise of exclusionary, xenophobic sentiments to “go home” that—for me, seems primarily targeted towards Black folks. We’ve become an easy target for the mostly misguided anger. It’s easier to attack people of visible African descent when, statistically, there will be fewer consequences for your actions. They see us as less of a risk for recoil. Easier to falsely pinpoint us as dumb gringos who have money and are responsible for the gentrification of Mexico. But it might be better suited to guide their anger towards the primary culprit: capitalism.
Is Late-stage capitalism to blame?
Defined by a globalized, post-industrial economy, late-stage capitalism transforms material resources and products and intangible aspects of value, like art and lifestyle—into commodities. It is turning every facet of life into a consumable experience. One example is social media tourism. We are living in what many Marxists refer to as late-stage capitalism. It is a period in the decline of economic and resource production. A period that exhausts natural resources exacerbates the shameful economic inequality and fosters unsustainable practices that drive the system toward inevitable collapse.
It turns out that gringos going home won’t solve Mexico’s dire housing, gentrification, water, or natural resources crisis. When it comes to housing, Mexico’s Federal Mortgage Association estimates that the city would need at least 11,000 new homes annually to satisfy its standard housing needs. Other sources suggest the number could be as high as 50,000. But, in 2023, only 1,701 homes were constructed in Mexico City, and just 12% were affordable housing units. Viri Ríos, author and journalist, wrote in their article, ‘Gringo go home’: Mexico City’s housing crisis precedes digital nomads:
“Mexico City housing prices have not increased since digital nomadism [….]; on the contrary, they have gone down. Since the pandemic four years ago, housing prices in Mexico City have increased by 25%, less than what they had increased in the previous four years when they rose by 44%.”
The Mexican government and capitalism itself are perhaps the cause of some of this mess. When then Mayor, now President Claudia Sheinbaum, endorsed the agreement between Airbnb and UNESCO, positioning the city as a "digital tourist center," she failed to address the potential negative impacts of locals in the deals. The number of temporary residences in the city's center surged more than three times from 2000 to 2022, increasing from 22,122 to 71,780. Cuauhtémoc, for example, the neighborhood where I live, is a historic barrio founded by the Aztecs in 1521 and once home to their sacred city of Tenochtitlán (aka Mexico City); over 10,000 homes have been classified as temporary. As a Black woman living in a rent-stabilized apartment, primarily earning Mexican pesos, I can feel that things are getting tight economically. I understand and sympathize with the frustration. But I am not the cause of it.
When capitalism began to put the global economic system in a chokehold in the 1400s, it coincided with European colonial expansion. Nations like Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and England violently ventured into new and sacred regions of the world, claiming and appropriating lands as their own.
As Catalan locals in Barcelona grapple with the impacts of late-stage capitalism on their housing market and way of life, a striking irony emerges: attacking tourists when they have been the most vile tourists of our globe. This anti-tourism sentiment has surged dramatically, with protests erupting into social media virality with demonstrators wielding water guns at restaurant patrons and staff.
Around 2,800 people participated in the Barcelona demonstration that took place in July. The protestors carried signs with "Tourists go home" and "You are not welcome." But it’s not just Barcelona that they want to protect.
Sharon Backhouse, the director of GeoTenerife told The New York Times, “The Canary Islands have a limit,” and protestors, “don’t want any more hotels and they want a new tourism model. They want their natural spaces respected, not cemented over.” Their is a wild word to use when the original inhabitants of the Canary Islands, were Guanches, Berber people indigenous to North Africa with traditional homelands spanning from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya—all the way to parts of Mali and Niger in West Africa.
After Spain conquered and colonized The Canary islands in the late 1400s. Their boy, Christopher Columbus used the islands to restock his ships on his westward voyages, making it a crucial Spanish base for voyages to the Americas.
What we need to be addressing, rather than tourists, are the wealthy 1% who have, since the era of colonization, created a system that is now crumbling at rates even the normies can’t ignore.
“Human beings participate in history both as actors, and as narrators.” — Michel-Rolph Trouillot
Haitian historian, anthropologist and one of the most influential thinkers of Afro-Caribbean diaspora, Michel-Rolph Trouillot observes that “Human beings participate in history both as actors and as narrators.” To me this means that the narratives and erasure of history can be shaped by those in positions of power—overlooking and having denial when it comes to their own part of our complex histories. Trouillot’s emphasizes that these people of power not only influence history through their actions but also mold false interpretations in collective memory.
If one good thing comes out of all of this destruction and displacement, it might be this patatas bravas recipe that you can make at home instead of booking a trip to Spain.
The Recipe —
What you need:
Makes 4-6 servings
Potatoes
3-4 pounds of potatoes (fingerling, andean, or baby potatoes)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Salt to taste
Spicy Tomato Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
5 to 6 small tomatoes, rough chopped (or 14 oz canned tomatoes)
1 bay leaf
1 cup vegetable broth
1 teaspoon pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon sugar *optional
1 dollop of cream or mayonnaise *optional
1 teaspoon infused cannabis oil or butter *optional
What To Do:
Potatoes
Rough chop potatoes into 1-inch cubes. (If using russet potatoes, remove skin)
Steam potatoes, let cool, and cover with water and ice or let sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (a cold bath makes them crispier).
Drain and pat the potatoes dry with a clean tea towel or paper towel.
In a large skillet or cast iron, fry potatoes in a thin layer of oil, adding seasoning and frying until golden brown to your preference.
Brava Sauce (make while chilling potatoes):
In a saucepan, on medium heat, and add chopped onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the minced garlic, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, red wine vinegar, broth, dried oregano, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, and sugar (if using).
Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes, until it thickens significantly and the flavors meld together. Adjust the seasoning as needed.
Generously drizzle sauce over fried potatoes and thoroughly mix or dip into the sauce.
Add a dollop of sour cream or mayo if you’re feeling like a cute capitalist, and serve immediately while the potatoes are hot and crispy!
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