Every spring, college students across the US have a week off sometime between late February and the end of March. Many of them head to Mexico during that time, not only because the drinking age is 18, but also because who doesn’t want to spend a week in a tropical paradise with all of their friends?
Sometime in the 1960s, college students from The University of Arizona in Tucson, as well as students from colleges in Southern California, began to venture to Mazatlán by train. Over the years, this grew in popularity. Many continued coming by train, while others began to fly down here (I’m in Mazatlán at the moment). The students who could afford it stayed at the nice resorts in the "Golden Zone" of Mazatlán.
Spring break in Mazatlán had morphed into a month of insane parties full of drunk people, wet t-shirt contests, and other crazy shenanigans. Maybe this is where the phrase “What happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico” originated? You would never speak to your parents of the things that happened during spring break in Mazatlán.
Some opportunistic entrepreneurs had seen what spring break was growing into, and they started Spring Break Tour Companies. They’d have representatives at campuses across the US, who’d be selling spring break packages to the students there. They’d sell flight/hotel/party packages to students all around the US, who would convene in Mazatlan in early spring.
These tour companies would fill the resorts with college students, organize massive parties at local Mazatlan venues, and turn the entire city into one gigantic party. And they got rich doing it.
Most of the local business owners loved when spring break rolled around. The hotels would have all of their rooms booked, restaurants would be packed, and local shop owners would sell tons of items at inflated prices. It brought a lot of foreign money into the city and gave the Mazatlán economy a huge boost.
About 12 years ago, the Mayor of Mazatlán decided he didn’t like having the crazy parties filled with wet t-shirt contests and countless topless college students. He forbade the local hotels, restaurants, and other event centers from allowing any more parties.
This would mark the end of spring break as we knew it, at least in this city.
College students wanted the craziness, so the tour companies then began sending all the students to places like Cabo, Cancun, and Puerto Vallarta. Cities where they were allowed to throw massive parties. Some students would still come to Mazatlán, but the insane parties were no longer. Spring break in Mazatlán would never be the same.