Reporting on permits, construction, regulation, and major development decisions shaping Tulum’s urban growth and investment climate.
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Water up to four degrees warmer and a record sargassum season have put hard numbers on the Riviera Maya climate crisis and on the limits of Mexico's cleanup plan.
Quintana Roo and Tulum authorities urged the public to avoid any purchase, sale, or rental tied to Ocean Tulum, a development they say operates without required permits.
Shop and restaurant owners say a camera connection required for Tulum business licenses costs them 1,200 to 1,500 pesos. City Hall says the step is free.
Quintana Roo's urban development agency says the Mayab Tulum project lacks the permits required by state law and warns that any purchase or rental agreement there could carry legal risk.
Around 70 Tulum businesses have suspended operations in recent months. The municipal enforcement director points to commercial rents, not permits, and asks landlords to adjust.
Eleven Quintana Roo beaches carry excessive seaweed, and Tulum's sargassum levels rank among the worst, as hoteliers warn that cleanup now costs three times their electricity bill.
Oceana wants the federal Tulum sargassum plan grounded in science and regulated harvesting, warning that the alga already carries an environmental, economic, and social toll on the coast.
Zofemat says it has collected more than 2,800 metric tons of sargassum in Tulum this season, and its director calls the arrivals atypical for the Quintana Roo coast.
The Tulum tourism decline has business leaders demanding urgent fee deferrals and zero-interest credits as sargassum, high lodging costs, and security concerns keep visitors away.
One resident argues that fixing Tulum does not start at the beach. It starts with reliable power, a pause on empty building, and travelers who stay all year.
Tulum's Anticorruption Commission says more than 50 public servants have been removed over corruption complaints, while the municipal treasurer faces a separate federal case.
Faena Tulum has spent months courting Manhattan's luxury buyers through an exclusive alliance with Serhant, a marketing move rarely seen from a Riviera Maya development.
IMOVEQROO brought driver's licenses, permits, and training to Tulum, letting transport workers skip the long trip to Chetumal for routine paperwork.
A developer was arrested in Nuevo León over a Tulum real estate fraud estimated at 57 million pesos, while his business partner remains free on a contested amparo.
A developer tied to a stalled Tulum luxury project sits in Apodaca prison as a 57 million peso Tulum real estate fraud case moves forward in Nuevo León.
Tulum gets a sargassum concrete plant this Friday. The technology has already paved the Maya Train station, but how much of a record seaweed season it can absorb is an open question.
Tulum vacation rentals have reached 5,119 active units, nearly half the city's hotel inventory, just as demand cools and oversupply, high prices, and sargassum strain the market.
State prosecutors sealed two Tulum hotels inside the national park before dawn, offering no official reason. The tourism sector now waits for the Fiscalia to explain the operation.
Why the economic pressures reshaping the American middle class could create an unexpected opportunity for Tulum, and why we should stop measuring our future solely through tourism statistics.
Cemda, Greenpeace, and Sélvame MX filed legal complaints over a 16-kilometer army road they say crosses Sac Actun, the cave system feeding the Riviera Maya's water.
Buyers of Ocean Tulum say Grupo VINSA never delivered their apartments or returned their money, with some waiting over three years and now turning to Profeco and the courts.
