Cemex Gets Tulum Stone Permit Denied to Calica

Playa del Carmen, Q. Roo — The administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum has authorized the company Cemex to extract stone materials in Tulum, despite concerns from environmentalists about potential harm to a nearby Mayan community. The approval comes despite omissions in Cemex’s environmental impact assessment, which failed to detail the underground river systems at risk beneath the proposed extraction site.

Environmental and Community Concerns

The Mayan village of Francisco Uh May, home to 1,200 residents and adjacent to the extraction zone, began witnessing dump trucks transporting materials through their community as early as March. However, Cemex maintains that extraction activities have not yet commenced.

The permit was issued in December, just over two years after the government of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador shut down operations of Calica, a subsidiary of U.S.-based Vulcan Materials Company, for similar activities in Playa del Carmen—located only a few kilometers from Cemex’s new site. López Obrador accused Calica of causing severe ecological damage and took multiple measures against the company, including designating its operational area as a Protected Natural Zone.

Contradictions in Policy

While Sheinbaum has publicly stated that Calica will not resume extraction in Playa del Carmen, her administration’s approval of Cemex’s project has drawn sharp criticism from environmental advocates. The project, titled “Change of Land Use in Forested Areas for the Establishment and Operation of a Materials Bank with Crusher and Screening Plant,” began its permitting process in February 2024, still under López Obrador’s government.

Critics highlight the inconsistency in allowing Cemex to engage in the same type of extraction that was prohibited for Calica, particularly given the ecological sensitivities of the region.