Tourists seeking 'Despacito' discover Puerto Rico's La Perla

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Something unusual is happening in La Perla, a poor barrio clinging to a steep hillside between Old San Juan and the sea where the video for the pop hit "Despacito" was filmed.

With the video on the verge of becoming the most watched on YouTube (2.9 billion visits since January, fast approaching the 2.98 billion record held by Wiz Khalifa's "See You Again"), a barrio once burdened with a bad reputation is now a tourist hot spot.

"I totally came for the tourist video," said Jennifer Adams, a 28-year-old middle school teacher from North Carolina. "I've seen the music video many times and I knew where I needed to go, I got pictures, I tried to dance."

The hit song Despacito has led to increased tourist interest in Puerto Rico. /Photo via Daily Mail

Outsiders use to be afraid to venture in before, but ever since Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's megahit, tourists from all over the world are flocking to the narrow streets that wind among La Perla's brightly colored houses.

Most are looking for "Despacito".

The barrio's residents obligingly point out the locations where the video was filmed: the rocks facing the sea where Fonsi sings the refrain, the sea wall where ex-Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera strolls, the little plaza where men play dominoes - the tables and chairs just as they were in the video.

Screenshot from Despacito Music video. /Photo via the Inquirer.Net

In a recent interview, Fonsi marveled at the song's impact on the non-Spanish speaking public.

"The language doesn't matter," he said. "What's important is the flavor, the rhythm, the music."

Singers Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee perform 'Despacito' during the Latin Billboard awards in Coral Gables on April 27, 2017. /AP Photo

(Source: AFP)

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