Cancún is preparing for the potential arrival of a large amount of sargassum seaweed during the Easter holiday season. The Municipality of Benito Juárez will soon announce a contingency plan, developed in collaboration with the State Government and the Secretary of the Navy (Semar). José Antonio de la Torre Chambé, the director of municipal public services, stated that the plan includes regular inspections of all public beaches in Cancún to ensure cleanliness and to establish effective responses to any significant sargassum accumulation.
Chambé explained, "We're preparing a contingency plan for a significant sargassum influx. We have set schedules for addressing the sargassum, with monitoring beginning at 5:00 AM."
Chambé also noted that sargassum collection efforts have increased since last week due to recent southern winds, which have resulted in a larger volume of the seaweed on the coast. In recent days, up to 80 cubic meters of sargassum have been removed, primarily from Delfines Beach, a popular destination for early-rising tourists.
Currently, Cancún employs a workforce of 250 dedicated to maintaining clean beaches. This includes 150 workers from the Public Services Directorate and 100 from the Federal Maritime Terrestrial Zone (Zofemat). Chambé emphasized that monitoring is ongoing and that while yearly alerts are issued about large sargassum arrivals, the intensity of the phenomenon is largely dependent on weather conditions. In 2025, a decrease in cold fronts has led to an increase in the flow of the seaweed towards the coast of Quintana Roo.
Chambé stressed that they are working in tandem with all levels of government to implement the established protocol and minimize the impact of sargassum during the peak season.
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