Mayan families face 500% tax hike amid tourism promotion

Lázaro Cárdenas, Quintana Roo — Mayor Nivardo Mena Villanueva promoted a “100% sustainable” tourism project at the Fitur 2026 fair in Madrid, Spain, while Mayan families in Kantunilkín and Holbox face property tax increases of up to 500%.

The mayor first raised the property tax for local residents and then traveled to Europe to present the new project called “Mundo Sagrado” (Sacred World) as an alternative for visitors to Holbox. “It’s community tourism, alternative tourism, 100% sustainable. Tourists can visit and see what the great Mayan culture does, not to mention the gastronomy, which is rich in every sense,” he said.

The international promotion of Holbox is dressed in bioluminescence and flamingos, while property tax bills are filled with unpayable figures. There was no prior consultation, no citizen participation, only the heavy hand of a City Council that decided to place the tax burden on the most vulnerable.

The official discourse, the “Messiah of Holbox,” spoke of “community tourism,” but the real community organizes itself into neighborhood committees to defend its heritage. The municipal government opens doors to cooperatives for Europeans, but closes windows of dialogue with Mayan inhabitants.

It is not about citizens evading taxes, but about abuse: the simulation of development that privileges the international showcase and marginalizes daily life. Because there is no possible sustainability if fiscal justice is uprooted.