Playa del Carmen’s environmental fine overturned for volleyball event

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Quintana Roo — The Specialized Chamber for Environmental and Regulatory Matters has overturned a fine imposed on the Morena-led government of Playa del Carmen for violating environmental laws by placing 14 geotubes without authorization on the beach to host the World Beach Volleyball Tour last March. The event was promoted by the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sports (Conade), headed by Rommel Pacheco.

Environmentalists point to these structures as one of the main factors exacerbating erosion on the beaches of the Riviera Maya. However, Conade approved their placement.

Despite warnings, Morena Mayor Estefanía Mercado Asencio also did not reject their installation due to the urgency of organizing the tournament, which was announced only a month and a half earlier by Rommel Pacheco and Governor Mara Lezama Espinosa.

After the placement of the 14 geotubes, which occurred before the competition that concluded on March 30, inspectors from the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) arrived and sealed them off.

This led to an economic sanction of 400,063 pesos against the Playa del Carmen government. This followed the demonstration that federal legal provisions were not respected because this type of work, which immediately impacts the coastal ecosystem, requires mandatory environmental approval from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), a process that takes at least two months.

However, for the Specialized Chamber for Environmental and Regulatory Matters of the Federal Court of Administrative Justice (TFJA), the procedure was declared null because it had a defect in the placement of the closure seal, despite the evident ecological violation, as pointed out by environmentalists from Sélvame del Tren, opponents of the Maya Train.

The judicial body determined that at the time of the inspection, no municipal authority received the inspectors, nor did they appoint witnesses to testify to the verification, as established by the relevant regulations, according to the ruling by Judge Luis Edwin Molinar Rohana, head of the Specialized Chamber for Environmental and Regulatory Matters, based in Mexico City.

In the ruling with case number 3468-25-EAR-02-6 consulted by Proceso, it is evident that the judge only studied one argument presented by the Playa del Carmen government, without delving deeper into the environmental damages caused and the ease with which a municipality disregards environmental regulations.

“This Judge omits the study of the remaining grounds for challenge raised by the plaintiff, since such analysis leads to nothing practical, given the illegality for which the plain and simple nullity of the act brought to trial is declared,” stated the ruling.

Although it left open the possibility for Profepa to exercise new inspection acts against the Playa del Carmen government, more than a month after the case was ruled, it remained closed because it was also not challenged through direct amparo, which provides a 15-day period for a new claim.

Proceso consulted the ruling on December 3, when the document was made public.

FLAWED TOURNAMENT

Playa Fundadores, where these structures were placed, is the most visible coastal stretch of this locality, the heart of the Riviera Maya, the largest hotel corridor in the country with more than 58,000 hotel rooms.

According to data from Raymundo Tineo Celaya, the city’s chronicler, this beach stretch is where Playa del Carmen was founded over 100 years ago, when it was only a fishing village.

However, the site suffers from severe erosion, an unpredictable aggravating factor that becomes visible at various times of the year. It is attributed to climate change and the permits granted years ago to build tourist establishments on the beach dune.

Despite the degradation of the beach, last February, Rommel Pacheco and Governor Mara Lezama announced the celebration of the World Beach Volleyball Tour.

Playa Fundadores was chosen as the venue. According to Proceso data, Conade entrusted the organization to the company ProEventos, owned by Jalisco native Enrique Aranda.

Logistics began immediately, but the erosion at Playa Fundadores began to disappoint the event’s organization.

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) established a width of eight meters for beach courts, a length established at its 2024 World Congress.

But the Playa del Carmen government, instead of renouncing the venue, decided without permits to place the structures to not lose the event.

The World Beach Volleyball Tour was also part of the attractions with which this government sought to reactivate tourist attraction in the city, after a nearly 40% drop in hotel occupancy, not seen since the pandemic.

The event brought together athletes from several countries and was announced on the International Olympic Committee’s electronic portal.