How the touristification and casinofication of Panjim have made life miserable for residents

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Touristification and casinofication sound like made-up terms, but they have unfortunately entered our lexicon.

Touristification is “a complex process in which various stakeholders interfere, transforming a territory through tourist activity”, says Mexican geographer Antonio Ojeda and her collaborators.

The word was coined in the 1980s, and was initially used as a neutral academic term in geography to describe territorial transformation. But from the early 2000s, it has come to negatively describe the displacement of local residents, overcrowding and the conversion of cities into commercial tourist commodities.

If you are a resident of Panjim and live in or around the city tourist hotspots (São Tomé, Fontainhas, the areas with the “coloured houses”; Church Square; more and more of our once-scenic Mandovi riverfront), you will have noticed first-hand how the very character of those spaces residents prized and were justly proud of for their unique charm have degenerated into round-the-clock, all-year tourist thoroughfares.

Residents are mere museum exhibits in a tableau to be tolerated at best; irritating obstacles and party-poopers at worst when we call out traffic or parking violations, loutish drunken behaviour, invasion of our privacy, disturbing the peace or open urination and defecation.