Quintana Roo Hoteliers Propose Tax Mechanism to Fund Sargassum Fight

Cancún, Quintana Roo — Hotel industry leaders in Quintana Roo are exploring a proposal to create a fiscal mechanism that would channel a portion of their income tax payments into a dedicated fund for combating sargassum, similar to existing tax incentives for film, arts, and science.

David Ortiz Mena, president of the Mexican Caribbean Hotel Council (CHCM), said that neither private nor public resources currently suffice to address the challenge, making such mechanisms necessary to finance a long-term strategy.

“There are tax schemes that allow individuals to allocate up to 10% of what they pay in income tax to film, arts, or science. We could probably propose something similar for sargassum,” Ortiz Mena explained.

The primary goal, he said, would be to fund offshore sargassum collection, as the only effective way to prevent the algae from reaching beaches and impacting tourism is to intercept it at sea.

The proposal follows a meeting between the CHCM and Beatriz Paredes Rangel, the European Union’s consultant in Mexico, to map out a strategy for combating and utilizing the algae.

Ortiz Mena described the legal possibility of treating sargassum as a fishery resource as progress, but stressed the need to move from reactive shoreline cleanup to comprehensive solutions that prioritize offshore containment.

“We cannot view the beaches only through a legal lens; we must recognize the reality that they are the state’s economic engine. The goal is to prevent the algae from degrading on the coast and the consequent erosion of our beaches,” he said.

During a previous visit to Cancún in 2024, when she was a senator, Paredes Rangel chaired a European Union forum that called for an integrated strategy to treat sargassum not as waste but as a valuable resource.