Mahahual, Q.R. — Municipal officials say the Mahahual change of land use granted to Royal Caribbean was done legally. The clarification was made Tuesday by the Citizen Planning Council of Othón P. Blanco after an environmental group filed a legal complaint.
Jaime Aguilar Cheluja, who heads the Council, said pseudo-environmental defenders are trying to stop the Perfect Day Royal Caribbean project, which is a large historical investment for the southern zone.
He made the comments after a local environmental group, DMAS, filed a legal complaint against the municipality for failing to hold a public consultation prior to approving the change of land use request made by Royal Caribbean.
According to Defendiendo el Derecho a un Medio Ambiente Sano (DMAS), Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day is “A project based on a LAND USE permit granted by the Othón P. Blanco City Council without complying with the LEGAL procedure,” they posted on social media January 20.
Aguilar Cheluja defended the modification and December 2025 approval of the Urban Development Plan (PDU) of Mahahual by the Chetumal City Council to Royal Caribbean.
According to Aguilar Cheluja, the municipality was not obligated to hold a public consultation prior to granting permission. He said it “is mandatory only when the municipal planning programs and instruments established in its Article 31 are formulated for the first time or are fully updated.”
He said that in the case of Mahahual, the change of land use for the Perfect Day project is only on a fraction of the project, 107.67 hectares “which represents 3.19 percent of the total of 3,373.25 hectares of the Mahahual PDU.”
The complaint filed against the municipality by DMAS resulted in a legal suspension of the Royal Caribbean Perfect Day Mahahual project.
“We are concerned about publications that suggest opacity in the authorization of a change of land use for Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day Mexico project due to the alleged lack of public consultation in the process and the provisional suspension granted by a federal judge for the most important private investment project in the history of southern Quintana Roo,” he explained.
He said studies were conducted using LiDAR technology and high-precision drones that allowed, among other things, the correct delimitation of the wetland, correcting flaws in the current Urban Development Plan (PDU), which was last updated in 2021.
That outdated PDU, he said, is what has allowed the construction of irregular homes within the mangrove, something that has plagued Mahahual for years.
Aguilar Cheluja said that they are concerned about the Royal Caribbean project being called into question. Not only the decision of the Othón P. Blanco City Council to support it, but also the prestige of the Royal Caribbean group, which is number two globally in the cruise industry.
He says they are concerned that some environmental activists are opposing and hindering the largest private investment project in the history of southern Quintana Roo, an investment project,he says, is needed to boost southern development.
On January 21, Defending the Right to a Healthy Environment (DMAS) filed an injunction against what they said was the illegal reconfiguration of land use on more than 107 hectares in Mahahual for the Perfect Day tourism project.
According to Antonella Vázquez, DMAS President, the ruling implies the suspension of certificates, permits and licenses that were based on this reconfiguration. She also said the organization is not against development, but rather against its implementation without respecting the law, urban planning and the community’s right to a healthy environment.
On January 25, a federal court granted the injunction to DMAS over their claim of the irregular change of land use approval to Royal Caribbean for the Mahahual project.
The environmental group filed the complaint against the government of Quintana Roo and the municipality of Othón P. Blanco for the irregular modification of the Urban Development Program of 107 hectares.
The hearing to analyze the definitive suspension will be held in the coming days.
