A protest took place Saturday outside the Sunscape Hotel, where demonstrators demanded public access to the beach through a right-of-way they claim is being blocked by the hotel.
The group argued that the hotel is obstructing access to the federal maritime land zone, effectively denying residents and visitors the ability to reach the beach freely.
However, the protest overlooks a key detail in Article 127 of the General Law on National Property, which guarantees public access to beaches only when no existing public routes are available. According to the law:
“…If there are no public roads or access from public roads, the owners of properties adjoining the federal maritime-terrestrial zone must allow free access to it, as well as to maritime beaches, through points agreed upon with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), with compensation as outlined in the regulations…”
In this specific case, two accessible public routes are located near the hotel: one via the Pitillal River, less than 100 meters away, and another through the Los Tules Canal, about 200 meters away. These alternatives legally satisfy the requirement for public access.
The same law states that any new right-of-way through private land must be arranged with Semarnat and include compensation for landowners, reinforcing that property access is conditional—not absolute—under the law.