Playa del Carmen Begins Regularization of San Judas Tadeo Neighborhood

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — The municipal government kicked off the regularization process for the San Judas Tadeo neighborhood on Tuesday, when the city’s joint Finance and Urban Development committees began their work. Although several procedural stages remain, the city is already in talks with other landowners in hopes of extending the same status to additional informal settlements.

Rusbel Pat, secretary of Social Justice and Citizen Participation, said the San Judas Tadeo case moved quickly because the neighborhood sits on land owned by the Playa del Carmen ejido, and the municipality was able to reach an agreement with the communal landowners.

“It sits on an ejido plot, which is a great advantage,” Pat said. “In other settlements, the owners hadn’t even approached us.”

With the regularization process now underway, he added, those property owners have reached out to the municipality, so he is confident they will soon begin the same process.

Pat said some 1,300 families are settled in San Judas Tadeo and will benefit from the regularization.

“We’ve discussed this with residents and there is good acceptance. I think we’re doing very well,” he said. “The first step was approval by the city council; now the working group has been set up. A census will follow, through the Housing Department, to verify that everyone is properly established.”