Grupo Xcaret decided not to go ahead with the mega-tourism development that included nine hotels in the town of Santa Elena, near the Archaeological Zone of Uxmal, which could deforest almost 160 green hectares in the Mayan jungle.
This was reported by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) when issuing a resolution that concluded and archived the Environmental Impact Assessment and Change of Land Use Procedure on Forest Land requested by the company Alto Comercializadora y Operadora Turística S. DE RL DE CV whose property is registered in the name of the children of Miguel Quintana Pali, director of Grupo Xcaret.
According to the resolution that was made public in the Semarnat Ecological Gazette on August 2, 2024, the authority concluded the procedure because the company decided not to go ahead with its destruction project through a document presented on July 26.
According to Greenpeace, the mega tourist development would house a maximum capacity of 16,200 guests, that is, four times the current population of the town of Santa Elena.
More environmental impacts
The development of macro lots in various sections of the land was also contemplated, to develop more tourist projects and residential spaces over 100 years of operation, which would imply greater future environmental impacts.
On July 19, Greenpeace presented a document to Semarnat in which it issued several alerts about the environmental impacts of the project in question, including that authorizing it would represent opening up the Mayan jungle to urbanization, risks for endangered species, effects on the aquifer and the incompatibility of the project with a long-term policy that ensures the preservation and conservation of areas of environmental value in the context of the climate crisis.
In light of this, the NGO asked the Yucatan State authority not to grant the authorization for a change of land use to the promoting company.
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