Thank you all for your support and your comments. I hope that some of you or everyone will write to OXXO and/or La Huerta Municipal and voice your opinions. I think it is in numbers of voices that will enable a change. If we do not speak up, then nothing will change.
An architect at La Huerta Municipality Office told my husband that they hope there will be no demonstrations and protests in La Manzanilla. So somehow this tells me that they are aware of how this was done here and that many people would be very upset. And I do think there would have been a protest here, if it was December, when those who call La Manzanilla their second home, would be here to see and experience this in person. Citizens of the world - I think everyone would react.
The architect said something to my husband about how much money it would take to try to change how OXXO did their store here. In my opinion, OXXO ought to not be paid for the necessary changes they need to make.
This atrocity has probably the worst light pollution of any little town up and down this coast. The more I read about light pollution, especially from LED lights, and its affect on basically everything around us - humans, the animals, the insects, the trees and the ocean - the more upset I get about what happened here, in a little town of 1800 inhabitants. I have downloaded every light pollution app there is for iPhone/ipad, but the problem is that we have currently no great way to measure the new LED lights. There are a few android apps that I can not download, that might be useful.
Explanation from Radiance Light trends, an app that measure light pollution over time:
“The satellites measure light in the spectral range of about 500-900 nm. This is not the same as human vision, which runs from 400-700 nm. The satellite data is therefore less sensitive to white light than the human eye, and has sensitivity at infrared wavelengths that the human eye cannot see. For this reason, when communities switch from orange high pressure sodium lamps to white LED, the satellites often report a drop in brightness even if a human would say that the white LEDs look brighter. Since cities worldwide are changing to white LEDs, it is important to keep this in mind.”
Needless to say, I ran this app for La Manzanilla, comparing the light pollution before and after the OXXO store, but as the explanation above describes, it just can’t measure these LED flood lights. So too bad. Would have been nice to have some scientific proof...
But we do have one proof - our photos and the thousands of insects swarming around these flood lights all night long - causing diminution of the food source for the inhabitants of the mangrove. Not to talk about attracting mosquitos carrying Dengue Fever, ZIKA etc.
The OXXO representative claimed they are yellow lights, as to attract less insects, but I don’t think so. They do not appear yellow to me, in person or on the photos, but I am not sure - I am not a lighting expert! But I do know it is very hard to find yellow LED lights nowadays, because that is what I am trying to use in my home. Many companies have stopped making them.
I drove to Manzanillo today for some provisions, that I can’t find in La Manzanilla, and I studied the various OXXO and Kiosko stores along the way, and I must say our town got the worst. Only in Manzanillo by Walmart was there as tall of an OXXO sign as here, but on a busy road, competing with other stores, and no flood lights on its roof.
Even the OXXO along the highway towards Barra de Navidad, did not have flood lights on their roof and that store is right by a highway. So of course I question over and over again what OXXO did here and why - it is not like any cruise ships can come to our shallow bay (well, I don’t think). Or maybe they did it so they can attract as many highway drivers as possible, but if they have signs on the highway that ought to be enough.
Also, the OXXO representative mentioned the big hotel coming nearby (the Four Seasons I assume, but I don’t know) and I have heard in town that there will be day trips and guided tours for the hotel clients to La Manzanilla, either by boat into the bay or vehicles through the mountain. OXXO probably want to attract these clients too - for frozen pizza heated up in a microwave, hot dogs, soda and alcohol - the regular fare for 5 star hotel clients...😂
So it appears to me that OXXO just went “all out” here, to make a major mark/stamp for their company and now we all have to try to change it. To me, it is simply not acceptable what happened here and ought not to be, anywhere in the world.
Interestingly and disturbing, was when I entered the La Manzanilla exit ramp coming from Melaque, the sign for the OXXO is right in line with Pedros’ previous restaurant. So basically when drivers come from the South, they will not see the sign for OXXO until AFTER the exit into La Manzanilla. If a sign is AFTER the exit ramp then what???
It appears that the La Manzanilla committee gave the ok to OXXO, but due to being overworked and maybe not necessarily knowing what was coming or not knowing what they would have liked to have in their town, they might not have given any type of instructions, limitations or guidance to the OXXO architects so it appears that they then had free reins. And OXXO took advantage of it, that is for sure. Not like in San Pancho where the OXXO has a palapa!
The members of the committee do as well as they can with the resources and the education they have.
So I am not pointing fingers, no point and of no use, we all do as well as we can in life. What matters now is what we all do about it.
The OXXO store will probably put some of the family run tiendas in town out of business. But that is too late now, the conglomerate has already moved in, permanently. But we can all help by supporting the local economy and restoring the beautiful landscape again, like lowering the tall OXXO sign and have the flood lights removed or at least redirected down towards the store, and not to the sky and mountains and straight into the drivers’ eyes coming into town. One option I read about is putting hoods on top of the lights, as to prevent some of the light pollution.
I wrote to the OXXO representative that the strong interior lights of the store is more than efficient, in my opinion. No response. Of course.
Vicky asked me if I had talked to the Delagado. I must say, the times I have gone there to talk about important issues, well to me, in my very limited Spanish, I have not gotten much response or results, unfortunately. So no, I have not gone to the Delagado but I would appreciate if someone would.
Last night we had an electric black out in town and for a few hours our town was the way it used to be, at night, with no blinding lights, just normal house lights, that must have had a transformer of some kind.
I will kindly ask Daniel to upload the photo from last night, in addition to a few others, including the OXXO store in Comala - a town that has a 25 year into the future city planning in place.
I have so much to do, I want to contact FEMSA, RAMSAR, some major Mexican newspapers and maybe even the New York Times. The problem is that I am leaving this Tuesday for a 3 week trip home to Sweden. I will try to do as much as I can from there, but it might be hard due to going on a vacation trip once over there, with my family.
Meanwhile, PLEASE, I BEG you, do your best to voice your opinions/concerns/wishes/facts and even your feelings about, in my opinion, our violated town. I truly believe you will not regret it. And please continue to eat the healthy food from the local tiendas and restaurants.
Buen día!
Anneli
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