Beach Access Blocked by Playa del Carmen Restaurant

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Quintana Roo — The restaurant Dick & Willys, located adjacent to the Portal Maya and the fiscal dock, has been accused of “privatizing” the beach by cordoning off its concessioned area for exclusive use. Using wooden posts and ropes, staff sectioned off the zone, including the access and exit points to the establishment, effectively impeding the free passage of local, national, and foreign visitors. The business operates under a palapa structure as a restaurant-bar, with additional wooden and palm-thatch shades installed across the sand.

Mexican law is explicit in its protections of public access to beaches. Article 27 of the Constitution defines beaches as national assets that cannot be privatized, while the General Law of National Assets (Ley General de Bienes Nacionales, LGBN) stipulates that access to beaches and the adjacent federal maritime zone cannot be restricted, obstructed, or conditioned. Signs posted by the restaurant, which prohibit outside food and beverages, have fueled further complaints from residents who argue such rules contradict the principle of free and open access.

This is not the first time a beachfront business in Quintana Roo has drawn criticism for encroaching on the federal maritime zone. Playa del Carmen’s Mamitas Beach Club has been at the center of repeated disputes for years, accused of fencing off beach areas, charging for access, and aggressively expanding its footprint in ways that limit the public’s right to enjoy the shoreline.

In Puerto Aventuras, the Hotel & Beach Club recently faced backlash for putting up barriers in the federal zone and rolling out membership schemes and day-pass systems that many residents viewed as thinly veiled attempts to privatize what should remain open to all.

Similar controversies have arisen in Tulum, where beachfront hotels and clubs frequently rope off stretches of sand, and in Cancún, where high-rise resorts are often criticized for making public access routes difficult to find or use.

Local residents, through anonymous complaints, are once again calling on environmental and municipal authorities to enforce the law and compel Dick & Willys to restore unrestricted access. Activists and community leaders argue that without stronger oversight, the creeping privatization of Quintana Roo’s beaches will continue unchecked, turning public spaces into profit-driven enclaves.

For now, the case joins a long list of disputes highlighting the tension between booming coastal tourism and Mexico’s constitutional guarantee that its beaches belong to everyone.