Three weeks into an online petition seeking to separate the Jaguar Park from the Tulum archaeological zone, organizer Valeria Blanco acknowledged that public response has fallen short of what she expected, though she said the effort continues to move forward.
Blanco, a businesswoman and content creator, launched the Change.org campaign to build enough citizen backing to support a legal strategy that would divide the two spaces administratively. The petition is the citizen-facing front of a wider complaint, shared by parts of the local business sector, that the combined access scheme has raised costs and pushed visitors away.
By June 20, the campaign had gathered around 3,000 signatures. Blanco called the figure low for a municipality of Tulum's size.
A petition that has gathered about 3,000 signatures
Blanco said the goal of the signature drive is to raise awareness and create momentum behind the separation of the Jaguar Park from the archaeological site. She framed the count as a measure of how far the cause still has to travel.
"If we take into account that we are a fairly large population, we don't even have one percent of the signatures from the population," she said.
For Blanco, the numbers point to limited public interest in a question she considers central to the future of Tulum. She described the level of local engagement as marked apathy and urged residents to add their signatures.
Why Blanco blames politics for the weak turnout
Asked what was holding participation back, Blanco pointed to the political reading that has attached itself to public debates over beach access and related issues.
"I think it has been because the issue of free beaches and so on has been politicized in many ways. So people are also a little reluctant to believe that this really has no political aims," she said.
She insisted the campaign is not partisan and said the perception that it is has discouraged some residents from signing. The framing matters because the access dispute has run alongside a separate confrontation between Tulum's municipal government and the federal operators of the park.
The access fees driving the Jaguar Park dispute
The petition responds to a fee structure that bundles entry to several jurisdictions. Visitors heading to the Tulum ruins pass through the Jaguar Park, where access is administered by the federal company Grupo Mundo Maya and by the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas, before reaching the archaeological site managed by the National Institute of Anthropology and History.
The institute lists an independent tariff of 100 pesos for the archaeological zone, with free Sunday entry to INAH sites, though the park and protected-area charges still apply. Park access is free only for Tulum residents who present a voter credential.
The business chamber Coparmex Riviera Maya has made the same demand. Its Riviera Maya president, Carlos Marín Morales, said in late May that combined entry costs rose from roughly 150 to 450 pesos, a jump the organization linked to fewer visitors and falling sales for guides, artisans, and small businesses near the site.
What Blanco attributes to the park
Blanco has tied part of Tulum's tourism slowdown to the park's operation, citing access costs and restrictions along the coast. She has acknowledged a broader global economic deceleration while arguing that local measures added a negative effect on their own. These remain her assessments rather than confirmed causes of the decline.
Where the legal effort stands
Blanco said the campaign has entered what she described as important stages with lawyers, with several proposals under discussion. She characterized the pace as slow but steady and framed the work as incremental.
She said the campaign would keep promoting public participation and strengthening the legal work behind the proposal, with the expectation of adding more support in the coming weeks. Whether the signature count climbs closer to the threshold she considers meaningful, and whether the legal proposals reach a formal filing, are the open questions as the drive enters its second month.
Would you sign a petition to separate the Jaguar Park from the Tulum ruins, or do you think the combined access scheme should stay? Join the conversation and share your perspective with us on Instagram and Facebook at @thetulumtimes.