Fontainhas has always been on all the Goa brochures and social media platforms. And rightly so, every corner of this Latin Quarters screams the phrase, 'Visit me!'
However, for the locals of Fontainhas, this social media fame has come at a price. Recent news reports suggest that the toll includes not just disturbances from unruly visitors, but also verbal and physical confrontations with the residents.
On Tuesday (October 15), the simmering angst spilled on to the streets of Fontainhas where Aloo Gomes Pereira, a prominent local resident confronted tourists with a stick, sparking a flurry of emotions. What made the incident worrisome was that this person is well-known within the Goan tourism fraternity.
In the video which later went viral on social media, Pereira, who has been a highly respected figure in the tourism circuit for nearly three decades, is seen emerging from his home without wearing a shirt. He appeared furious at the behaviour of some of the tourists who were seen on the street around his house.
But this isn’t the first time Pereira has expressed his frustration with tourists. He was previously seen yelling at and driving away those who linger around his brightly painted home, which is adorned with signs reading 'No Photography Allowed.'
People were in for a shock when they saw Pereira running shirtless down the street charging at the tourists with a wooden stick while they (the tourists) recorded the incident, which was later shared on social media.
It is safe to say that this outburst is a troubling indication of the increasing tensions between the local community and the influx of tourists. While some believe that resorting to physical force contradicts the values of Goans, others empathised with his frustration.
They, however, acknowledged the challenges of maintaining the character of their neighbourhood in the midst of growing tourism fame and called for firm measures.
The incident can be viewed as a byproduct of poor governance, and raises pertinent questions: Why should locals have to take matters into their own hands? What more will it take for the authorities to establish police surveillance and maintain law and order in this heritage zone?
Speaking to Gomantak Times Digital, Salvio Fernandes, an elderly resident, expressed strong dissatisfaction with the disturbance caused by tourists throughout the day as they constantly sought to capture pictures for their social media accounts. "The noise can be truly overwhelming at times, and it feels like it never stops,” he said.
The incident can be viewed as a byproduct of poor governance, and raises pertinent questions: Why should locals have to take matters into their own hands? What more will it take for the authorities to establish police surveillance and maintain law and order in this heritage zone?
While just a few houses away, Jessy Abreu, another senior citizen from Fontainhas, pointing to the gutter outside her house, shared, “They move our vases and leave them in the gutters.”
Jessy finds tourist coming to Fontainhas as early at 6 am, and this is something she rues. “I understand that they are on holiday mode and I never stop them from taking pictures outside my house. Infact, I tell them, ‘Take your pictures, but don’t lean against the wall.’"
"My neighbors have suggested putting up stickers, but that would ruin the beauty of my home. They block the roads, and honk during odd hours. Them spitting paan on my house almost feels like they are spitting on my face, but what can we do? The government promotes tourism, and for some, it’s a livelihood,” she says empathetically.
But even lost in conversation, the woman exemplified true Goan hospitality as she struggled to open the little gate. "Would you like to come inside?" she asked the GT reporters.
And there it was, a classic example of how tourists must learn that only when approached politely and visited respectfully, can Goa and tourism truly coexist in harmony.