Holbox, Q.R. — The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) has denied a building permit request for Holbox. The General Directorate of Environment rejected the request for Pradesa SA de CV to build their Biocentro Isla Grande project.
The project consisted of a stilt-style hotel on Isla Grande de Holbox. The request was denied after applying the 20-year forestry ban resulting from a fire that occurred in August of 2025.
The Biocentro Isla Grande project consisted of 49 stilt houses on more than 331 hectares within the Yum Balam Flora and Fauna Protection Area.
According to Semarnat, not only was the hotel project not in line with regulations regarding density, it was also with the preservation zone of the protected natural area.
In August of 2025. a wildfire fire consumed nearly 700 hectares of low-lying forest, mangroves, and shrubland. Although official investigations ruled out arson, it automatically triggered the building ban.
