Dark tourism: why do sites of death, crime and tragedy become tourist attractions?

In Mexico City, hundreds of devotees gather on the first of every month on calle Alfarería, in the Tepito neighbourhood, to pay homage to Santa Muerte. Local authorities organise tours of this dangerous 'barrio bravo ', where the Unión Tepito cartel operates. Clasos/Shutterstock

This summer, Laureano Oubiña, a major Galician drug trafficker, launched a “drug trafficking tour” through the Arousa estuary. He offered his clients a boat ride through the places that defined an era and promised the story told firsthand – with lunch included. The initiative has since been banned by Galicia’s regional government for infringing on tourism laws.

This is an example of “dark tourism” – the practice of visiting places marked by death, violence and crime. Oubiña’s proposed tour poses the question of whether this increasingly popular phenomenon is getting out of hand.