Cancún fines informal vendors 380,000 pesos in crackdown

Cancún, Quintana Roo — The Benito Juárez municipality’s Directorate of Commerce and Services on Public Roads conducted over 3,000 inspections of street vendors and semi-fixed stalls, resulting in more than 380,000 pesos in fines for violations of municipal regulations.

According to the official registry, the inspections covered just over 50 percent of the 6,100 registered vendors. From the procedures implemented, 3,079 verifications were carried out and 1,690 administrative records were filed.

The head of the department, José Gamaliel Canto Cambranis, reported that sanctions were applied to vendors operating without permits. Similarly, penalties were imposed on those who committed other infractions such as encroaching on roadways, lacking sanitary licenses, ignoring neighborhood complaints, or setting up in unauthorized areas.

Despite 1,690 records being filed, only 417 cases resulted in financial fines or the definitive suspension of permits, he noted.

The procedure applied initially involves a warning for vendors to regularize their situation; sanctions are applied only in cases of repeat offenses.

The total revenue from fines was 380,731 pesos, representing an average of 913 pesos per sanctioned vendor, although according to regulations, fines can range from 500 to 5,000 pesos.

Of the 3,079 verifications conducted during the year, 2,220 corresponded to semi-fixed stalls and street vendors, and 164 were at stalls located in schools. There were also 695 inspections carried out at 65 weekly markets operating at various points in the city.

The municipal department addressed 177 citizen complaints related to the invasion of public spaces, obstruction of roadways, and installation of new structures, primarily. Of the total complaints, 49 corresponded to educational institutions, as part of the new federal regulations on the sale of “junk food.”

Canto Cambranis emphasized that public spaces where abandoned or unauthorized stalls existed have been recovered. The reclaimed sites are located at Lak’in Avenue with Miguel Hidalgo (Route 5), and in the residential areas Villas Otoch Paraíso, Urbi Villas del Rey, Villas del Mar, and Paseos del Mar.

The municipal oversight is part of a program that began in 2024, when areas such as 135th Avenue and Guadalupana and Rodín were recovered. The program will continue in other areas of Cancún this year.

Finally, he reported that the Review Committee held eight sessions during the year, in which 196 files for new permits were analyzed. Of these files, 121 were considered viable and 75 were discarded for failing to meet requirements and regulatory provisions.