Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — Rodrigo Garcidueñas, a representative of the environmental collective Pulmón Verde, has filed an amparo — a federal injunction — after a state judge ruled against his attempt to claim ownership of the Chen Zubul coastal property in the Luis Donaldo Colosio neighborhood.
Judge Karina Ceballos Gómez of the First Instance Civil and Family Oral Court in Playa del Carmen declared Garcidueñas’s voluntary jurisdiction petition for information ad perpetuam unfounded, effectively rejecting his bid to be granted title to the 40-hectare plot.
Garcidueñas has occupied and maintained the land for several years, taking advantage of a legal dispute over the property. The now-defunct developer DERIMAYA had previously transferred the land to another private party. Despite Garcidueñas’s public stance that the area should be declared an eco-tourism park with zero density — a position he voiced during Earth Day celebrations in April — the court found that his petition was essentially an attempt to claim the property for himself.
According to the ruling, Garcidueñas has been in open, peaceful, continuous, and good-faith possession of the land, performing cleaning, maintenance, and minor improvements. He stated that he initially received financial support from the person who entrusted him with guarding the property but later continued living there with his partner and child at his own expense. The ruling also notes that the land lies within a zone of irregular properties and lacks formal ownership documentation.
Despite witness testimony in his favor, the judge deemed his claim unfounded. Garcidueñas is now challenging the decision before the Ninth District Court under case number 518/2026. He specifically contests the January 29, 2026 ruling that upheld a previous October 22, 2025 decision rejecting his voluntary jurisdiction proceedings.
The amparo seeks to have the property awarded to him rather than to the community, which has called for the land to be declared a natural protected area or ecological park where no construction is allowed. Previous attempts to develop the site have been made, and Garcidueñas continues to oversee environmental activities there, particularly on weekends.
