Cancún Plans $600 Million Beach Restoration Project for 2027

Cancún, Quintana Roo — A long-awaited project to restore Cancún’s eroded beaches could break ground in 2027 with an investment of roughly 600 million pesos, Mayor Ana Paty Peralta de la Peña told local business leaders this week.

The mayor announced the timeline during a meeting with the full board of the Caribbean chapter of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE del Caribe), where she also addressed mobility, urban development, business licenses and the city’s new one-stop permit office.

Alejandro Arvizu Contreras, president of the CCE del Caribe, said after the meeting that an environmental permit is already approved for a short stretch of beach and that authorities are now preparing an expanded environmental impact statement (MIA) covering additional kilometers. The new document is expected in four to five months and would clear the way for construction, he said.

Between 600 million and 700 million pesos have already been earmarked exclusively for beach restoration in the Fideicomiso del Derecho de Saneamiento Ambiental (DSA), a municipal trust funded by environmental sanitation fees. Arvizu said the trust holds more than 1.1 billion pesos in total, with the remainder allocated to infrastructure, sanitation and improvements to police facilities and working conditions.

Arvizu said he expected officials to announce a start date soon, noting the project is currently moving through the permitting process.

Business leaders also raised the issue of taxes and fees, agreeing with the municipal government to form a working group that will take part in drafting next year’s revenue law, with the aim of holding the line on increases in 2027.

Peralta said she remains committed to a permanent alliance with the private sector. “Being an ally of businesspeople will always be a priority for me, because they are the ones who drive the state’s economy, who take risks every day and who make Cancún strong through competitiveness, investment and job creation,” she said.

The mayor said the new Office of Attention to Your Business, which opened just over 10 days ago in response to a proposal from business chambers, has been effective in helping businesses regularize official documents, obtain permits and open new shops. All procedures are handled in person to reduce the risk of corruption, she said.

A second office will open at the Soriana Huayacán store, and 33 businesses have opened in the past two weeks, Peralta said. Her administration also launched two programs — “Pon al día tu negocio” (Get Your Business Up to Date) and a construction regularization program — that allow fines and surcharges to be waived, avoiding discretionary payments in administrative procedures.

The mayor said the municipal budget, including federal contributions, has grown from 4.4 billion pesos when she took office in 2022 to 8.4 billion pesos, an increase she described as historic that has come with an improved credit rating for the city government.

During the meeting, the CCE presented “Radar Empresarial,” a communication platform reserved for its board members, business chambers and affiliates that gathers information on member activities in one place. Arvizu said the council will hold an event on Dec. 4 with Banco de México deputy governor Jonathan Heath to review the economic outlook for 2027.

Peralta was accompanied by members of her cabinet, including the heads of the General Secretariat, the Treasury, Revenue, the Municipal Institute of Urban Development Planning (Implan), Civil Protection, Municipal Ecology, Public Works and Services, and Ecology and Urban Development.