Isla Mujeres Residents Demand Land for Cemetery, Market and Slaughterhouse

Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo — Residents of the mainland portion of Isla Mujeres are pressing the municipal government to hand over the plots earmarked for a cemetery, a public market and a slaughterhouse, saying the land should be formally transferred so the projects survive into the next administration rather than dying as unfulfilled promises.

Orlando Cahuich, a local resident, said the request dates back to 2021, when the municipality’s Development Plan included a market and a cemetery for that part of the municipality. He added that a slaughterhouse for processing animals is also long overdue.

“During Atenea Gómez’s campaign these needs were raised and she committed to addressing them within the first three years. She didn’t. Now the second stage is about to end and there isn’t even a groundbreaking stone for any project,” Cahuich said. “That is why we are asking that, at the very least, the plots be defined so the next government can take on these demands.”

Pedro Velázquez said the delay has already cost the community time. Pointing to strong local tax collections, he questioned why no money — even a modest sum — had been set aside to prepare a cemetery site. “It would cost less than the other projects. Barbed-wire fencing, two posts, an electricity supply and a small 25-square-meter chapel would be enough to start operating,” he proposed.

Arnoldo Tun argued that the 12 months remaining in the current term would be enough to deliver on all three commitments if the political will existed, describing them as basic services that residents have waited years to receive. He said sports facilities are needed as well, and called for a larger share of the municipal investment budget to be directed to the mainland zone, noting that its voter roll has grown to roughly match the island’s.

According to INEGI, Mexico’s national statistics agency, Ciudad Mujeres had 6,668 residents in 2020, and a local official said the steady arrival of workers from elsewhere in Mexico means the figure could shift when the next count is taken in 2030. The official estimated that at least 40 percent of the population arrived since the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the local elections of June 2, 2024, the municipality — which covers both the island and the mainland — recorded 14,947 valid votes for mayor, with at least 45 percent cast in the continental zone, according to official estimates.