It’s best known as a tourist attraction but the Sumidero Canyon in Chiapas was used as the setting for an adult film last week. It didn’t sit well with local or federal authorities.

A group of pornographic actors filmed a sex scene aboard a boat while floating down the Grijalva River, which runs through the canyon.

Alex Marín, an actor and director for a pornography production company who featured in the scene, posted videos and photographs of the canyon cavorting to his Twitter account.

He boasted that it was the first time that sexually-explicit content had been filmed in the canyon, located near Chiapas capital of Tuxtla Gutiérrez.

Marín’s posts went viral on social media and as a result caught the eye of the federal government’s National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (Conanp), which denounced the improper use of the Sumidero Canyon national park.

Conanp said Wednesday that the filming of pornographic content in the park “damages the image of an icon that represents the pride of Chiapas” and exceeds “moral limits.”

It also said the filming violated environmental laws and that those involved hadn’t been granted permission to shoot in the canyon.

The commission said it will take legal action against the people who participated in the “illegal acts.”

Conanp also said it will file a complaint against the cooperative that rented a boat to the pornographic actors and facilitated their behavior.

The municipal government of Chiapa de Corzo, where the Sumidero Canyon is located, also denounced the actions of Marín and the three women who participated in the sex scene with him.

The footage that circulated online “denigrates the image of the municipality and one of the country’s main natural attractions,” it said.

The president of the Central Chiapas Hotel and Motel Association took a very different view.

Manuel Niño Gutiérrez said the sexually explicit video will help promote tourism in the southern state. He also praised the actors for following the proper “health protocols” while filming, although it was unclear exactly what he was referring to.

During a five-day promotional trip to Chiapas, the female actors also posed for erotic photos in front of Tuxtla Gutiérrez’s famous flower clock. City authorities asserted that they hadn’t granted permission for nude pictures to be taken there.

Source: Proceso (sp), La Voz de Michoacán (sp), El Universal (sp)