Supreme Court Takes Up Xcaret Maya Cultural Appropriation Case

Playa del Carmen — The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) will resolve the dispute between Maya communities and the company Xcaret over alleged cultural appropriation, involving the use of indigenous symbols in its attractions such as ecotourism parks, hotels, and websites.

The court’s intervention was approved after, in early October, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo requested a review of the alleged cultural appropriation case involving the company owned by magnate Miguel Quintana Pali.

Following the president’s remarks in her morning conference, the president minister of the SCJN, Hugo Aguilar Ortiz, requested to exercise the power of attraction, aiming to remove a definitive suspension of an indirect amparo trial, a resource that benefits Xcaret in continuing to use Maya symbols in its attractions.

In the session of October 16, there were nine votes in favor and one against from Minister Yasmín Esquivel Mossa to take up the case, which was initially resolved by the Sixteenth District Court in Administrative Matters of Mexico City.

Minister Lenia Batres Guadarrama stated during the attraction vote: “It refers to the rights of indigenous communities, in this case specifically regarding acts of protection of their cultural heritage, specifically of the indigenous peoples and communities of the Maya zone of our country.”

Proceso published in its March issue a report that described the situation of this controversy, initiated in 2022 by the Gran Consejo Maya of Quintana Roo, against the non-consensual use of Maya symbols in various Xcaret attractions, such as Hanal Pixán (Day of the Dead), the ball game, the sacred Maya journey, dance of the owls, among others.

The Gran Consejo Maya invoked the rules of the Federal Law for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Indigenous and Afromexican Peoples and Communities.

The members of the communities obtained a measure imposed by the National Institute of Copyright (Indautor) against Xcaret to refrain from continuing to use these symbols during the legal process.

At the end of October 2024, just as the company was preparing to celebrate its famous Festival of Traditions of Life and Death at Xcaret Park, Indautor inspected and detected the refusal to comply with the suspension, so it reiterated the order not to use the symbols.

In February of this year, the company obtained a definitive suspension against these measures through an amparo request in Mexico City, which allows it to continue using Maya symbols without any setbacks.

It is precisely this amparo suspension that the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation seeks to resolve in favor of the Maya communities.

Despite President Claudia Sheinbaum’s remarks, Xcaret has not made any statement; although in February it sent a position to Proceso in which it affirmed that it acts in accordance with the law.

Currently, the company represents one of the most important employment centers in Cancún and the Riviera Maya, where it has built various ecotourism parks, hotels, and has dominated other segments, such as tours and commercial exploitation of cenotes.