Protesters Lift Blockade at Cancun’s Main Access Points After Nearly 24 Hours

Cancun, Quintana Roo — Authorities reopened Cancun’s main access roads Friday morning after a nearly 24-hour blockade that paralyzed traffic, stranded hundreds of commuters, and disrupted work and school activities.

The protest, led by residents of the Santa Cecilia, La Amistad, and other irregular settlements in the Alfredo V. Bonfil area, blocked the José López Portillo and Gas Auto avenues. Demonstrators demanded immediate attention to unpaved streets that have deteriorated due to rain, leaving them full of potholes and sinkholes, and complained of years of neglect.

The conflict ended after several hours of dialogue between protesters and Benito Juárez City Council Secretary General Pablo Gutiérrez Fernández, who personally negotiated with residents to establish a work plan.

During the meeting, Gutiérrez explained that the municipal administration faces legal limitations on investing public funds in roads that lack legal certainty, as doing so would constitute misuse of the budget. He noted that the process depends on land regularization and collaboration with the Ejido Alfredo V. Bonfil to obtain the necessary documentation.

Nevertheless, he assured that the city council will continue to arrange machinery, stone material, and maintenance work to improve street conditions while legal procedures advance. He also announced that permanent working groups will be maintained with residents to follow up on commitments.

Authorities highlighted that maintenance work is currently underway in various irregular settlements across the municipality and that resources have been allocated in recent years for infrastructure projects in areas that had been neglected for decades.

During the blockade, officers from the Municipal Secretariat of Public Safety and Transit, with support from state forces, implemented an operation to transport citizens in patrol cars to points where they could board public transportation, aiming to reduce the impact of the road closures.

Around 10:30 a.m., both lanes of José López Portillo and Gas Auto avenues were reopened to traffic, gradually restoring mobility into the city.

Although the blockade has been lifted, residents warned they will monitor compliance with the agreements reached and expect the working groups to produce concrete solutions to a problem they say has remained unresolved for years.