Three weeks after the Parque del Jaguar seizure that sealed off Cinco Tulum and Las Palmas, workers in the protected area say official silence has left them fearing they are next.
No authority has explained why the two beachfront businesses were taken over, and for the merchants, guides, and vendors still operating inside the park, the absence of information now weighs as much as the operation itself. Their livelihoods depend on a strip of coast whose rules appear to be changing without notice.
A Predawn Operation Still Unexplained
Agents of the Fiscalía General del Estado (FGE) secured the two properties in the early hours of June 26. Personnel placed official seals on the entrances and ordered security staff to leave, according to press accounts from the scene. La Jornada Maya reported that the operation was carried out by the state's specialized prosecutor's office for kidnapping and extortion crimes.
Since then, the FGE has not announced charges, named any target of the investigation, or given a timetable. The properties remain under state custody as part of case file FGE/QROO/SOL/10/8208/2025.
Cinco Tulum promoted itself as a beach club and restaurant-bar, and it also offered lodging in glamping units. At Playa Las Palmas, operators rented cabins and glamping accommodations. Although the park sits on federal land, state prosecutors were asked to assist with the seizure.
Parque del Jaguar, decreed a federal protected natural area in 2022, wraps around the Tulum archaeological zone and much of the town's beach corridor. Since its creation, access rules, entry fees, and the terms under which businesses operate inside its boundaries have shifted more than once, and each change has drawn resistance from the people who work there.
Workers Fear the Parque del Jaguar Seizure Is Only the Start
An employee in the area, who requested anonymity out of fear of reprisals, said workers read the operation as part of a longer pattern of displacement inside the park.
"They already removed the artisans, they took out the taxi drivers, little by little they are displacing the boat operators, and now it is us. There is fear, because we are inside a protected area managed by the government, and we think that at some point they could come after us too in order to keep this whole zone," he said.
The worker said those still operating face a double bind: legal uncertainty on one side, and a weak tourist season on the other.
"We are among the few still surviving. We hope it does not go that way and that, instead of hurting us, they help us, because our families' livelihoods depend on this," he said.
His concern is not abstract. The businesses that were sealed employed staff who lived off the same visitor flow that sustains the vendors, boat crews, and beach concessions still working the corridor.
A Tourism Slump Compounds the Pressure
The seizure landed in the middle of one of Tulum's weakest stretches in recent memory. For the week of June 27 to July 3, the destination registered hotel occupancy of 48.8 percent, according to figures from the state Secretaría de Turismo.
"The truth is we have no sales; there are practically no tourists. Sales have dropped drastically, and we hope the state, municipal, and federal governments support us so this area can get back on its feet and Tulum recovers the activity it had before. Today it looks like a deserted zone; practically the only work there is, is picking up sargassum," the worker said.
Low occupancy cuts both ways for those inside the park. Fewer visitors mean thinner income today, and they also mean less economic weight behind any argument for keeping small operators in place if authorities decide to reorder the zone.
Calls for Legal Certainty
What workers are asking for is concrete: a public explanation of why Cinco Tulum and Las Palmas were secured, clarity on whether other establishments are under investigation, and support to keep their jobs through the slow season.
None of that has arrived. As of this week, the FGE had issued no public statement on the case, and the investigation continues under seal. Until prosecutors speak, every business still operating inside Parque del Jaguar works under the same open question that has hung over the beach corridor since the morning of June 26.
Do you work or run a business inside Parque del Jaguar, and has the silence around these seizures changed how you operate? Join the conversation and share your perspective with us on Instagram and Facebook at @thetulumtimes.