Beach Access: It’s Complicated
ALL OF MEXICO’S BEACHES ARE PUBLIC, BUT ACCESS TO the Federal Zone, can be difficult. TFor example, there is no public access to the large apartment complex of Vivo Resorts in Palmarito, Bajos de Chila, San Pedro Mixtepec.
Outside of that part of Puerto Escondido that was privatized by the federal government in 1970, all land in San Pedro Mixtepec and Sta. María Colotepec is communal, not private, and land holders are given actas de posesión, not clear titles (escrituras públicas). None of the land in Chila was privatized.
Nonetheless, the District of Juquila has issued escrituras on communal land with which foreigners can get fideicomisos (bank trusts). These escrituras are not, however, proof of ownership, since the land is communal.
Beginning in 2013, Bienes Comunales of San Pedro, under the presidency of Saúl Cerón, started envisioning a boardwalk (malecón) that would extend from the Barranca Honda lagoon, through the Agua Dulce lagoon, to the tip of Palmarito. In 2017, the assembly of comuneros voted to reserve this 7.3 km strip, measuring 40 meters inland from the Federal Zone, for the boardwalk.
Freddy Gil Pineda Gopar, who was then municipal president, did not recognize the rights of Bienes Comunales and allowed building permits to be issued on the land set aside for the boardwalk. Houses were allowed to be built on properties with escrituras, without their having actas de posesión. He even opened a bank account to collect property taxes (prediales) on these lands. This account has since been closed.
Things have changed since Javier Cruz Jiménez took office in 2022. Now the plan for the boardwalk, under the leadership of Gilberto Santiago Venegas, Director of Public Works and Urban Development of the Municipio of San Pedro Mixtepec, includes a pier, playgrounds, and other amenities According to Venegas, buildings in the zone, including part of the Origen Beach Club, will face destruction to make way for the project.
Meanwhile, some people who have bought apartments in Vivo Resorts have expressed their unhappiness on learning that they cannot get legal title to their properties. What they do have is irrevocable power of attorney. Presumably this only exists for the life of the corporation and is no guarantee against bankruptcy. Also, it should be noted that Vivo Resorts is not a registered condominium and there is no yearly assembly of condo owners to decide on roads and infrastructure, or even whether to allow Starlink internet connections to the individual units.
To be clear, Vivo Resorts, which is owned by Éxito Resorts S.A. de C.V., never was rezoned by Bienes Comunales from forest land to urban land. Thus, there are no clear titles or actas de posesión on the apartments. It’s also why most realtors will not sell the properties.
