You would be hard pressed to find any history of the Yucatan Peninsula in which the relations between the indigenous Mayan population and the Hispanic conquistadores would be described as anything other than fractious and violent. Certainly to call it something like a “cultural cohesion” would be to gloss mightily over centuries of domination and subjugation. To summarize archaeologically: the Spanish arrived, toppled Mayan buildings and pyramids, and used the giant limestone pieces as the foundation stones for their own cathedrals.
And yet at Tulum, that relationship is summarized on this large placard. Note the final paragraph:
The logo of the National Council for Culture and the Arts and the National Institute of Anthropology and History at the bottom left of the sign tells the story: it is the Mexican state, not the Mayan people, which has the power to erect this informational sign, and who can contest it? Bear in mind that Tulum is the single most visited Mayan ruin, which by definition means that for many tourists this is the only storyline of the Mayan-Hispanic relationship they will read.
