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| Rosalio Mezo plays with his grandchildren in Xpu-Ha Bay, Mexico. 'I want them to have this place forever,' he says. He has
refused to sell his land to developers. Asel Llana Ugalde |
Locals left behind by Mexico beach boom
The 'Mayan Riviera' is developing too fast, environmentalists warn.
By Sara Miller Llana | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the October 10, 2007 edition
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Playa del Carmen, Mexico - Rosalio Mezo dips his feet in the Caribbean Sea and points from one end of Xpu-Ha Bay to the next. There used to be nothing along this inlet, he says, save a few fishermen's homes and the jungle.
Now a 200-room hotel stands to his right; a 700-room resort to his left. In fact, along this stretch of shore south of Cancún called the Mayan Riviera, developers are devouring land in a boom that has made this region, by many accounts, the fastest-growing in Latin America.
Once a swath of small fishing communities made up of simple, palm-covered homes like that of Mr. Mezo, this coastline has become the trendy new vacation spot as Cancún has morphed into a concrete jungle of high-rise hotels. Now the number of hotel rooms along this strip on the Yucatán Peninsula's eastern coast has surpassed that of Cancún.
Critics say the transformation is threatening fragile ecosystems (such as the region's mangrove forests), exceeding the capacity of the current infrastructure, and forever changing the area's tranquil way of life. Tourism and local officials say they are planning responsibly and providing an alternative to Mexicans who might otherwise head to the US in search of employment.
Developers come to Mezo's 700-by-100-meter slice of land every few months, he says. "They always say, 'It will be so much money, you will be able to take your family and live abroad, or wherever you want,' " he says, driving his blue motorboat to pick up his 6-year-old granddaughter from school on a recent day. "I don't want to live anywhere else. This is where I want to live."
Most people Mezo knows, including most of his siblings and aunts and uncles, sold their properties, and in their place have risen massive resorts. In 2004, the Mayan Riviera, a roughly 60-mile stretch, counted 23,502 hotels, according to the Riviera Maya Tourism Promotion Trust. Last year that number increased to 30,705, and officials say they expect to add some 3,500 rooms by year's end.
Much of the investment is from European developers – particularly Spanish – and the market includes everyone from those seeking destination weddings to second-home purchasers. All along Highway 307, which connects Cancún with Tulúm, billboards advertise mortgage alternatives and new resorts on the rise.
More tourists, more jobs
The growth has created jobs. The city of Solidaridad has grown an average of 22 percent per year for the past five years, says its mayor, Carlos Joaquín. Nearly 95 percent of the residents aren't originally from the region, but come to work as maids, gardeners, souvenir hawkers, dishwashers, and drivers. "Why would they go to the US, when they can come here?" he says. "We generate so much employment."
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