Nudism and natural beauty: Zipolite, the beach where the López-Gatell scandal erupted

Located in the Costa region of the state of Oaxaca, Zipolite is a paradise town where thousands of tourists go every year.

Its climate, vegetation, fauna and culinary variety make this destination one of the favorites for domestic and foreign holidaymakers. However, the main attraction of this place is its nudist beach.

According to some versions, Zipolite in Zapotec means “Beach of the Dead”, because it is locked from where the inhabitants of said city buried their deceased. Every year, from January 31 to February 3 the nudist festival takes place.

In addition to the economic benefits generated by this event, due to its overflow of resources in the hotel, catering, trade and tourism sectors, it aims to “see nudism as an essential and natural part of people and not as a characteristic of sexuality “, indicates the official site of San Pedro Pochutla, one of the 570 municipalities of Oaxaca to which Zipolite belongs.

And that’s it, the swell of the place is characterized by being intense during most of the year, in addition, the white sand and its strategic location near other beaches and the localities of the region make this place the ideal place for a vacation.

According to city officials, the number of people attending the festival has managed to position it as the second most frequented destination, only after the Guelaguetza, “the maximum celebration of the Oaxaqueños”.

Faced with the health contingency generated by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the coronavirus disease, people working in the tourism sector have had to stop offering services to visitors. Currently, the color of the current traffic light in the entity is orange, so non-essential activities operate under certain restrictions.

In the latest report on the coronavirus disease in the municipality of San Pedro Pochutla, local authorities recorded 144 cumulative cases, of which only someone has had symptoms in the past 14 days.

In addition, the deaths of 10 people have been reported. On the other hand, At the state level, 28,316 infections and 2,126 deaths from COVID-19 have been recorded since the start of the epidemic.

This panorama and repeated calls by the Mexican government to stay at home were the main reasons social media users criticized the fact that the Under Secretary for Prevention and Health Promotion, Hugo lopez-gatell, will be spending his end-of-year vacation in Zipolite, Oaxaca.

After being caught without a mask on a commercial flight to Huatulco, the official responsible for communicating the federal strategy to mitigate the spread of the virus was still surprised to enjoy the beach and the gastronomy of the said tourist site.

According to various versions circulating on Twitter, the place where the medical professional was captured is the El Alquimista hotel restaurant; however, the official did not report details of his stay in the state of Oaxaca.

A post on the Azul Profundo Facebook page, dedicated to promoting tourism in the city, said the Undersecretary’s visit shows Zipolite to be a safe place.

If you still have doubts about the safety of Zipolite, Mexico’s nudist beach during a pandemic, let me tell you that you have nothing to worry about, our beach is a safe place, so much so that we are honored that the Undersecretary Hugo López-Gatell Ramírez appreciates of it and that it is the beaches of #Pochutla that you have chosen to spend your vacation. This Sunday, the Under-Secretary ate at the El Alquimista Zipolite restaurant

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