Environmentalists Fear Royal Caribbean May Get Cozumel Beach as ‘Consolation Prize’

Cozumel, Quintana Roo — Environmentalists, activists and residents of this Caribbean island fear that after Mexico’s environmental agency rejected Royal Caribbean’s “Perfect Day” project in Mahahual, the cruise line may secure Playa Mía as a “consolation prize,” citing the company’s strong influence at the state level.

Noemí Guadalupe Martín, president of the Conservation, Research and Environmental Management of Cozumel (CIMAC), said in an interview that they are awaiting a response from the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) on the company’s “Royal Beach Club” project at Playa Mía. Her group has already delivered 19,000 signatures from people opposed to the beach club.

“These are 19,000 handwritten signatures, with full names, voter IDs and addresses — more than 10% of the community, collected in less than a month,” Martín said. She noted there is also a petition on Change.org open to all.

“We hope that Semarnat, which commendably canceled the fourth pier due to public pressure, and which denied the permit for Perfect Day in Mahahual, will also reject the Royal Beach Club. But we fear that due to pressure from the company, they will hand over Cozumel as a consolation prize,” she said.

Martín argued that the company has given large sums of money to government agencies, evidenced by its success in obtaining land-use changes without the required legal process. Just as the state government endorsed the 90-hectare Mahahual project, it now appears to favor granting the company these 17 hectares in Cozumel, she added.

If the project goes ahead, it would close the only public beach on the island, located 17 kilometers from the center. “We have to drive to get there, on a motorcycle or however we can, because it’s our only option,” Martín said. “We are on an island, isolated; we can’t go to Puerto Morelos or the Riviera Maya. Previous governments gave away the entire Cozumel coastline, and now it’s all a wall of construction with no sea view.”

The activist called on all of Mexico to help push Royal Caribbean out of Cozumel and to fight back if Semarnat approves the project.