Stall Disputes Delay Puerto Juárez Market Reopening in Cancun

Cancun, Quintana Roo — Legal disputes over how to assign market stalls are holding up the full reopening of the Puerto Juárez market in Cancun, a municipal official said, though the building could be operating by late 2026 or early 2027.

Josué Armando González Vázquez, coordinator of municipal delegations for Benito Juárez, said the conflict stems, in part, from former tenants who previously controlled several stalls and want to keep a similar number under the new operating plan. The municipal government intends to distribute the stalls among more merchants, rather than allowing a few tenants to hold multiple spaces.

“Some of them had five stalls and want to have five again,” González Vázquez said.

He said the building contains roughly 22 stalls, though assigning them is no longer his office’s responsibility. He estimated the process could advance in the final months of 2026 and said the market could be fully operational by January 2027.

The reopening will also change the market’s focus. Rather than returning to its traditional role as a daily supply market, the facility will lean toward arts, crafts and tourism. González Vázquez said the aim is to help turn Puerto Juárez back into a draw for visitors with a different commercial offering.

The old market operated in Puerto Juárez for decades, but its activity dwindled over time until only a few stands remained.