Cozumel Confronts Decades of Unregistered Cemetery Plots

Cozumel, Quintana Roo — Municipal authorities are pushing ahead with a cemetery plot regularization campaign after discovering cases where families went up to 18 or 19 years without reviewing their paperwork, only to find their registered sites occupied or difficult to identify.

Eugenia Azcorra, deputy director of economic development, said the process aims to update municipal records and give families certainty about the spaces assigned to them.

“We want you to have the security that you have a plot, that you have the paperwork, and that we also have the paperwork in our files,” she said.

Azcorra said it is also important to update contact information when the person responsible moves or changes phone numbers, as well as when the plot is being handed over to another family member.

She noted that some cases go back years. “I have found several from previous years — I’m talking about 18, 19 years,” she said. In some instances, people “have seen that the spaces have been occupied or they have made a mistake,” prompting the municipality to review the records before determining what happened.

The official asked for patience from those affected, since checking background records and documents can take time.

Private transfers of plots between individuals are possible, Azcorra said, but she recommended that anyone considering such an arrangement first visit municipal offices to check the site’s status. “Go to the office so we can tell you whether the piece of space you want to sell is in order,” she said.

The municipality is also asking families to clean the plots of their loved ones, especially ahead of the rainy season. Azcorra said the city maintains common areas, while upkeep of individual plots falls to those responsible for them.

As for the availability of new burial spaces, she said the matter is still in the planning stage and no definitive announcement has been made.

People who need to update their information or check the status of a plot can visit municipal offices from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., she added.