Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — A power outage early Saturday morning left residents of four neighborhoods in Playa del Carmen without electricity for about five hours, sparking renewed frustration over frequent blackouts and what they describe as a lack of response from authorities.
The blackout began around 1:00 a.m., affecting the subdivisions of Villas del Sol, Villas Plus, Misión de las Flores, El Edén, and part of the Ejidal neighborhood. Power was restored roughly five hours later, but residents say the outages have become a recurring problem.
“My children woke up because the fans stopped working in the heat. It was a sleepless night. The blackouts are constant, and we don’t know what’s happening,” said Rosa Pérez, a resident.
Others echoed her frustration, noting that municipal authorities have not intervened with the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) to address the issue. Several residents accused local politicians of focusing on upcoming elections rather than solving basic service problems.
“We pay very high rates, but we don’t get quality service. We’re asking the authorities to help solve this,” said Juan Aguilar Soto, a local merchant.
Residents also reported spoiled food due to the extended outage. “The food I always keep in my refrigerator went bad. I had to throw it away this morning. It’s dangerous to eat spoiled food,” said María Soledad Tun.
Graciela Salazar added that she now avoids storing prepared food because of the heat and frequent outages. José Agustín Dzul, another merchant, criticized state lawmakers for prioritizing early campaign activities over addressing the power problems.
The CFE has not issued a statement regarding the cause of the outage.
