The axolotl is a cute and amazing critter endemic to Mexico City.
Click here for my previous article about the axolotl. In Spanish it’s called an ajolote and its scientific name is Ambystoma mexicanum.
Mexico City is one of the venues for the upcoming Soccer World Cup. The opening ceremony is scheduled to be held in the Estadio Azteca/Estadio Banorte/Estadio Ciudad de México
World Cup games are scheduled to be played in that stadium on June 11th, June 17th, June 24th, June 30th, and July 5th.
On November 7th, 2025, the Jefa de Gobierno of Mexico City, Clara Brugada, introduced the axolotl as the Mexico City mascot for the World Cup.
FIFA, the governing body of international soccer, has 3 mascots for the World Cup: Maple the Moose for Canada, Clutch the Bald Eagle for the United States, and Zayu the Jaguar for Mexico.
But the axolotl is only the mascot for Mexico City, sponsored by the government of Mexico City.
Here’s a picture of the axolotl mascot with the kids:
From The Guardian: “The giant purple axolotl peered up at Manuel Martínez from the black bitumen of the street. It was the second such painting of the rare amphibian he had walked past that morning. In recent weeks he had seen axolotl murals pop up in neighbourhoods across Mexico City…The axolotl, a kind of salamander native to the ancient waterways of Mexico City, is the capital’s mascot for this summer’s Fifa World Cup. And these days it is everywhere: painted on walls, plastered on trains, crawling up lamp-posts, swimming across traffic barriers. Following in its trail is an apparent effort to beautify the city before the tournament by painting much of the capital’s infrastructure purple: pedestrian overpasses, building facades, walls, bridges, banisters, footpaths – all of them turned lilac, lavender or plum.”
It’s been called the “axolotlisation” of Mexico City and it’s been criticized: “But many residents are unhappy with what has been called the ‘axolotlisation’ of the metropolis, with some complaining that limited state resources could be better utilised elsewhere, particularly in a city filled with potholes, crooked pavements and flooding streets. ‘In emblematic places like the Zócalo or Azteca Stadium it’s fine but in other places it’s just a waste of resources,’ said 63-year-old Sergio Rivera, standing in front of a giant pink axolotl in the capital’s sprawling central plaza. ‘There are other priorities.’ “
The aforementioned Manuel Martiniz [start of first Guardian quotation) had this to say:
“It’s a waste of money. You could use that budget for fixing potholes, traffic lights, security cameras. They’re spending on something that doesn’t benefit us at all – it’s just for tourists.”
Mayor Brugada, on the other hand, staunchly defends it. Quoth Brugada, “Some have said, out of prejudice or classism, that we are ‘axolotlising’ the city. If axolotlising means filling what was once grey with colour, transforming public spaces and guaranteeing access to services for the benefit of thousands of people, then yes, we are axolotlising the capital.”
Mayor Brugada said this to reporters, according to The Guardian, “at the reopening of a light rail service (renamed the Axolotl).”
Here is a photo of Mayor Clara Brugada standing in front of an axolotl illustration on a train or bus and holding up a stuffed axolotl:
President Claudia Sheinbaum, herself a previous Mexico City Mayor, weighed in on the issue: “All governments paint pedestrian bridges, all of them. Clara decided that to beautify the city she was going to use the colour lilac. And now there’s a lot of criticism. I don’t see why. Besides, the bridges look very pretty.”
I think President Sheinbaum has a valid point. Capital cities ought to look good. Why not have special decorations for the World Cup?
More recently, a rumor emerged that FIFA was fining Mexico City for adopting the axolotl as a mascot, and ordering the city to remove this axolotl from in front of the Estadio Azteca/Banorte, to be replaced by Zayu the Jaguar.
But it turned out that wasn’t true, and the Axolotl is still the mascot of Mexico City. As for the statue in fron of the stadium it was moved temporarily and is being returned.
I close with this happy photo of Mayor Clara Brugada and the Axolotl Mascot of Mexico City:
