Mayors of Tulum and Felipe Carrillo Puerto Seek Multimillion-Peso Loans Amid Bids for Federal Seats

Cancún, Quintana Roo — The mayors of two Quintana Roo municipalities are seeking tens of millions of pesos in new credit, just as both pursue the ruling party’s nomination for a federal congressional seat.

In Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Mayor Maricarmen Candelaria Hernández Solís returned from a week of leave to lead a council session that approved a request for a 30 million peso advance on federal revenue-sharing funds. In Tulum, Mayor Diego Castañón Trejo convened a session by video conference to approve a request for a bank loan of up to 75 million pesos.

Both mayors are among the contenders for Morena’s nomination for federal deputy in District 02, which covers the municipalities of Othón P. Blanco, Bacalar, Felipe Carrillo Puerto and José María Morelos.

Felipe Carrillo Puerto approves request in four minutes

Hernández Solís called the 19th ordinary session and the 40th extraordinary session for Thursday, Nov. 5, hours after returning from leave she requested on Oct. 26 to travel the district campaigning for the party’s district committee.

During the extraordinary session, the council authorized the mayor to formally ask the Quintana Roo state government for the 30 million peso advance, to be repaid over six months beginning in January 2027 and ending June 30 of that year.

The request was justified by the municipality’s financial situation. Eight council members — one had left the room — the municipal legal officer and the mayor approved the measure in under four minutes with no discussion, backing the mayor’s argument that the sum is smaller than last year’s.

“It is a smaller amount than last year’s, this is to cover year-end obligations; every year we request this advance on revenue-sharing funds from the state government, it is not a loan,” the mayor said. The municipality requested 35 million pesos in 2025.

Tulum council meets over Zoom

In Tulum, less than a year after requesting a 50 million peso loan that must be paid off by Nov. 15, the council led by Castañón met at 10 a.m. on Nov. 5 by video conference on Zoom to approve a new borrowing request of up to 75 million pesos.

The 52nd ordinary session, attended by all 12 council members, listed as its fifth item authorization for the mayor to contract a short-term credit of 75 million pesos. Secretary General Bernabé Pech Ramírez joined from a moving vehicle, and the mayor repeatedly turned off his camera during the meeting.

Officials justified the borrowing with population growth and rising demand for public services, along with a drop in tourist traffic and the sargassum problem.

“These factors reduce revenue tied to tourist occupancy, such as the Environmental Sanitation Tax and real estate investment,” the financial report stated. It added that as of Oct. 29, the municipality had collected 546.5 million pesos in own-source revenue, equal to 56.2% of the amount estimated in the revenue law and a shortfall of 258.9 million pesos against the expected pace.

The measure passed with the lone dissent of municipal legal officer Rifka Renee Queruel Nussbaum, who said that a month earlier the treasurer had reported healthy finances and guaranteed municipal operations, and who called for greater transparency.

The financial report said the loan was needed to “guarantee the continuity of public services and the administrative stability of the municipality” and to prevent payment delays that would affect the city.

Days earlier, during his leave, Castañón toured several municipalities seeking supporters.