Editor\u2019s note:<\/p>
Mexican authorities announced on 19 May that the Perfect Day water park would not be approved.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Some residents now fear that \u201cunspoiled\u201d status is in jeopardy. The all-inclusive cruise company Royal Caribbean<\/a> has unveiled plans to develop a huge water park in Mahahual, named Perfect Day Mexico. It could attract millions more visitors to the town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mahahual\u2019s corals are a key part of the second largest barrier reef in the world, the Mesoamerican Reef<\/a>. The reef is already threatened by rising temperatures and waves of sargassum<\/a>, as well as pressure from visitors. The plans for a water park threaten to destroy mangroves and release reef-damaging wastewater, according to environmentalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey don\u2019t care about the environment, only the economic benefits for a few players in that destination,\u201d says Guillermo D Christy, a water treatment consultant and president of SelvameMX<\/a>, an environmental protection NGO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perfect Day Mexico<\/a> promises an investment of nearly a billion dollars, and a boon for the local economy from an estimated 15,000 daily cruise ship visitors. But there are concerns it could simply replicate a type of tourism dubbed<\/a> the \u201cCanc\u00fan model\u201d, which prioritises a large number of visitors by lowering prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perfect Day Mexico is inspired by Coco Cay<\/a> in The Bahamas, another beach club with a water park owned by Royal Caribbean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it announced<\/a> the plans in 2024, Royal Caribbean promised \u201ca modern and sustainable destination\u201d and said it would be \u201ccaring for the planet [and] empowering communities\u201d. Mara Lezama, governor of Quintana Roo, was quoted saying she would be \u201cworking closely with the company to ensure a sustainable destination that brings shared prosperity to the region\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perfect Day would overhaul the town\u2019s Casitas neighbourhood and an existing cruise ship pier. Local opponents argue the town will be strained by the development and fear it will impact areas of ecological importance, including forests and mangroves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Caribbean coast of Mexico is known globally for its sun-and-sand tourism. This started half a century ago, with the construction of the city of Canc\u00fan on Quintana Roo\u2019s northern coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Development in Canc\u00fan was replicated down the coast in the following decades; first Playa del Carmen and the island of Cozumel, then Tulum and now Mahahual. Most of these destinations are now connected by the Mayan Train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This spreading rapid development has prompted criticisms that the focus on all-inclusive holidays brings little benefit to some communities and contributes<\/a> to environmental damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Mahahual proposal is eliciting similar concerns. \u201cThe Canc\u00fan model failed along the coast and Mahahual represents Quintana Roo\u2019s last chance for redemption. We cannot continue generating vast revenues for the Mexican federation [central government] at an excessive cost to the environment,\u201d says Irma Morales Cruz, a lawyer with the NGO Defending the Right to a Healthy Environment (DMAS<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mahahual has grown on tourism. Most current residents migrated there from other parts of Mexico, or from further afield, for the economic opportunities as well as the beauty of the surroundings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But many of those who arrived during earlier waves are set against this latest development, saying it is a big step too far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One resident, who wished to remain anonymous due to tensions over the plans, told Dialogue Earth she belongs to the first generation of migrants who arrived in Mahahual in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She fears for the mangrove jungle, where toucans and tapirs live, saying it could be threatened by the arrival of so many more visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The influx of new residents required for the development could risk changing the peaceful way of life in Mahahual that largely coexists with nature, she says. Not to mention, straining the town\u2019s existing public services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPerfect Day will require approximately 2,500 workers to operate the project. This new wave of migrants arriving in Mahahual [won\u2019t] care about the sea or nature, and they\u2019ll soon start complaining about the lack of public services,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another Mahahual resident, Luis Fernando Amezcua, arrived in town 16 years ago and works as a diving instructor and guide for ecological excursions. He says the plans he has seen for Perfect Day will not foster a connection to the local culture and environment, and do not properly balance society, nature and the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amezcua particularly fears the impacts on the ocean and coastal mangroves. He says the reef is already feeling the effects of tourism, climate change and sargassum. He is betting that popular resistance can prevent the park\u2019s planned opening in 2027, despite the municipal and state governments modifying urban development plans to accommodate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Royal Caribbean has pledged<\/a> to conserve 45 hectares of existing mangroves and protect the Mesoamerican Reef. It also promises to \u201csafeguard native species, including sea turtle nesting sites, construct a new wastewater treatment plant and a solid waste treatment plant, achieve 100% green energy to power the site by 2040, restore impacted areas, and more\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur vision for Perfect Day Mexico seeks respectful integration and a net benefit for the ecosystem,\u201d the company tells Dialogue Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cruz says action on this pledge has so far failed to materialise. The company promised to carry out basic infrastructure work at a nearby housing project to support the community. According to Cruz, this has not happened. And she claims the application to use a patch of tropical jungle to facilitate the water park was pushed through without public consultation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Royal Caribbean says changes to urban planning policy are a matter for local government. A spokesperson says the company \u201cacted, and will continue to act, in strict and complete accordance with all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations in Mexico. Every step of this process has been conducted with the utmost transparency and adherence to legal due process\u201d. The company also said a waste facility and water treatment plant are planned, to support the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Greenpeace Mexico is also opposing the plans, arguing Perfect Day is part of an extractive tourism model that is unsustainable in the long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe cannot continue to allow a handful of companies to enrich themselves at the expense of ecosystems and people,\u201d Ornela Garelli, Greenpeace\u2019s campaigns director, tells Dialogue Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In its own environmental impact assessment, Royal Caribbean acknowledges<\/a> the project could have a negative impact. It claims this will not be direct however, because the development would not lead to total habitat loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Greenpeace submitted its own, rival analysis to Mexico\u2019s environment ministry (Semarnat). It claims the developer\u2019s assessment \u201coverlooks\u201d the cumulative impact of large structures on environmental factors, such as water quality. A spokesperson says Semarnat is currently evaluating the assessment, and insisted it would \u201cstrictly\u201d adhere to regulatory procedures. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Greenpeace has raised concerns about the Mexican Caribbean biosphere reserve, located<\/a> a stone\u2019s throw south-east of the project site. The reserve is home to endemic, threatened and endangered species such as ocelots and spider monkeys, as well as white turtles that nest on these beaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRoyal Caribbean\u2019s environmental impact assessment is misinforming the community about the true impacts of Perfect Day,\u201d says Garelli. \u201cAt the same time, the company has reinforced its commitment to social impact activities to buy people\u2019s support, with gestures like cleaning sargassum from the beaches and building roads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Royal Caribbean says it has \u201cplanned significant and tangible investments in the community\u201d and that its \u201cactions to benefit the community are a demonstration of our long-term vision to be a responsible and value-adding partner, independent of any single project\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\nQuestioning the Canc\u00fan model<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Residents\u2019 resistance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"diver](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Puerto-Morelos-Reef_Alamy_G9XM3P-scaled.jpg\")
<\/div>Benefits in question<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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