Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Blocking access to beaches could net fine of over 1 million pesos

Property owners who block access to beaches could soon incur fines of more than 1 million pesos.

The Senate unanimously approved a reform to the General Law on National Assets on Monday that sets fines ranging from 260,640 pesos to 1.04 million pesos (US $11,800 to $47,200) for owners of coastal properties who prevent, restrict, obstruct or place conditions on access to beaches. By law all beaches in Mexico are public.

Fines can be issued if fences, barriers or buildings prevent entry to a beach or if property owners, hotel security staff or other hotel personnel block access when there is not an alternative public path to the coastline.

Repeat offenders could be stripped of permits that allow them to access the beach from their properties.

“The restriction of access to beaches … by owners of properties adjacent to the federal maritime land zone represents an act of discrimination against citizens,” said Mónica Fernández, a senator with the ruling Morena party.

She said that some owners of coastal properties treat the beach as their own private land when in fact it belongs to the nation.

Antonio García, a senator with the Democratic Revolution Party and president of the upper house’s tourism committee, said the reform will help to put an end to the discriminatory practices of some property owners.

He also said that it will strengthen the tourism industry, which has been decimated this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re guaranteeing the right to recreation and also strengthening the tourism industry. … The tourism industry is the sector that has been hit the hardest by the pandemic; more than 10,000 small businesses have closed … due to a lack of economic activity,” García said.

After approval by the Senate, the reform was sent to President López Obrador for his endorsement prior to publication in the government’s official gazette.

Hotel owners have previously been warned by the government that their properties could be closed and demolished if they don’t comply with orders to grant access to public beaches.

The director of the federal office of maritime law zones said last December that one hotel project in Cancún, Quintana Roo, was demolished because it would have blocked public access to the beach.

In February this year more than 1,000 people gathered outside a beach club in Playa del Carmen to protest the infringement of citizens’ access to the country’s beaches.

The protest followed the arrest of a couple who had refused to buy food and drinks from Mamita’s Beach Club while they were enjoying the white sand and turquoise water of the Caribbean coast.

Source: El Universal (sp), Sin Embargo (sp) 

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Mexico's budget deficit

Mexico slashes budget deficit by US $8.5B as tax collection surges 8.9%

5
A 38.4% boost in revenue from import taxes and a 5.3% decrease in public spending from January-May helped to majorly reduce Mexico's budget deficit.
the commute from Tijuana to San Diego

Number of cross-border workers from Baja California drops 20%

0
INEGI data showed that Baja California residents who commute regularly to work in Southern California stood at 70,642 in Q1 of 2025, down from 87,190 in the first quarter of 2024.
Sinaloa violence

20 killed in gruesome massacre attributed to ‘Los Mayos’ in Culiacán

0
The massacre of 20 people, five of whom were decapitated, is the deadliest single episode of violence of what has widely been described as a "war" between "Los Chapitos" and "Los Mayos."