Security is about to get a lot tighter at the ancient tourist hotspot of Machu Picchu for an unusual reason: tourists were filmed scattering what are believed to be human ashes.
“We will reinforce surveillance measures on site,” by installing more cameras and deploying more guards, said César Medina on Tuesday, head of the Machu Picchu Archaeological Park, to AFP.
Last week, an undated video showing a woman scattering ashes from a plastic bag into the air before hugging another woman in the citadel sparked outrage in Peru after it was posted on TikTok.
The images were accompanied by the caption: “a farewell full of love at Machu Picchu” and hashtags #ashes and #scatterashes.
The 30-second video was removed from the @IncaGoExpeditions account, belonging to a travel agency that first posted it.
Listed as a World Heritage Site since 1983, Machu Picchu, located 80 miles from Cuzco and at an altitude of 2,438 metres, was built in the 15th-century by order of the Incan emperor, Pachacutec (1438-1470).
The site, which receives an average of 5,600 visitors per day, currently has only four surveillance cameras and a small number of guards.
According to RoadGenis, over 950,000 tourists visited Machu Picchu in 2023. Before the pandemic, Machu Picchu attracted an average of 1.5 million tourists annually.
“The police were notified [of the incident], but no complaint was filed because nothing punishable can be attributed to the travel agency,” said Medina.
Despite the lack of legal sanctions, the case has sparked a debate about the need to regulate this practice. Following this incident, the practice will be banned on the site for health reasons, Medina added.
In addition to this, Peruvian authorities are working on raising awareness about respecting historical sites and ancestral traditions.
It is hoped that new surveillance measures and actions to prevent practices like scattering human ashes will help maintain Machu Picchu’s integrity.
