Environmentalist Criticizes Royal Caribbean’s ‘Perfect Day’ Project in Mahahual

Mahahual, Quintana Roo — An environmental researcher has criticized Royal Caribbean’s proposed “Perfect Day” development in Mahahual, arguing that its environmental impact assessment lacks proper mitigation measures and fails to guarantee benefits for the local community.

María Luisa Villareal Sonora made the comments following a public forum in Mahahual to discuss the cruise line’s project. She said the Environmental Impact Statement (MIA) submitted by Royal Caribbean lacks a solid foundation and does not include adequate environmental safeguards for the area.

“We see they are only selling trinkets, because we have the bad experience from 25 years ago with the cruise ship pier development, which did not represent a benefit for the community or social development for the area,” Villareal said.

She expressed concern about what she called a short-sighted vision of the Perfect Day project. “They are trinkets, there are no conditions for its development; there is the idea that it will bring many benefits and many jobs, but the people of Mahahual remember they were promised the same thing 25 years ago with the cruise ship pier and it was not fulfilled,” she insisted.

Villareal also questioned where funds collected through the cruise passenger fee are being directed, noting they appear to be addressing needs in Chetumal rather than Mahahual. “And that’s why there is support from Chetumal business owners, and that is not fair for the community,” she said.

She stated that Mahahual currently needs at least 4 billion pesos to address improvements to road infrastructure, public lighting, garbage collection, and especially security. “They are supporting Perfect Day at the expense of Mahahual, because all the resources obtained via cruise ships are invested in Chetumal and not in the community,” she reiterated.

Regarding the MIA, which is under review by the federal environmental agency Semarnat, Villareal noted that its content—over 1,600 pages—takes a narrow view of a project of this magnitude. “When in reality it should be a broad perspective, with a regional vision, and not as if they were only building a hotel or a house, with a minor impact,” she said.

She added that the MIA lacks a solid foundation and does not even consider proceedings initiated by the federal environmental protection agency Profepa, which shut down adjacent construction work that was not included in the plans.

Villareal insisted that developers should not have begun any demolition without authorization and should have waited for authorities to verify that construction had not started.

She clarified that the investment announced for Mahahual is necessary, “but if we are going to be promoting the generation of mega-projects, we have to guarantee that there are conditions for them to really generate benefit for the community.”