Tulum, Q.R. — A judge from the Eighth District Court of Quintana Roo has ordered Profepa to finish what it started. Profepa (Federal Attorney’s Office for Environmental Protection) has been ordered to collect two outstanding fines and return 731 square meters of Tulum land to its natural state.
The August 14 ruling was made regarding an under-construction condominium complex in Tulum’s Soliman Bay where, on four occasions, the real estate project had been shut down by Profepa inspectors for a lack of permits.
The last inspection by Profepa (Procuraduria Federal de Proteccion al Ambiente) was in June of 2025 when, according to a Profepa statement, the project was again closed due to a lack of permits. After appeals, a judge has ruled that the federal agency fulfill its duties by ensuring the land be returned to its natural state.
According to attorney Mónica Huerta from the organization Defending the Right to a Healthy Environment (DMAS) who filed the initial complaint against the condo developer Desarrollos Tulum Dieciséis, SAPI de CV, the recent August 14 ruling stems from an Amparo lawsuit filed by a Tulum resident against Profepa for failing to comply with a ruling ordering they ensure the site returned to its original state.
Although Profepa claimed it had fulfilled its duties, the judge ruled that there had been an omission, improperly delegating compliance to the company without proper verification. Now, Profepa must collect more than 1.4 million pesos in outstanding fines and verify that the 731.8 square meter area that condo Adamar currently occupies, is restored.
Between legal proceedings the real estate developer requested from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) the environmental impact authorization that it should have processed at the beginning of construction, not while the project was being built, but Semarnat denied the permit to the developer for having violated the Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure.
The Eighth Court determined that the Attorney General’s Office must actively and ex officio carry out the ordered environmental restoration, which includes the demolition of the construction, as there is no other way to return the property to its original condition.
At a press conference, Huerta explained that the matter must be addressed as follows: The resolution must be notified to Profepa who must then notify the developer of the court’s ruling so that it can submit a demolition request and obtain the corresponding authorization from Semarnat.
Once the building is demolished, the lot surface will return to its original condition but left damaged by the construction, so the environmental restoration of the site must be guaranteed. She added that the court ruling emphasizes that the right to a healthy environment, established in Article 4 of the Constitution, must be protected through immediate and effective action by the competent authorities.
In June after the Profepa inspection, Mariana Boy Tamborrell, the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa), said the government was moving forward to reverse damage caused by real estate developments built without environmental impact or land use change authorization.
She said part of the damage reversal could include building demolition since the goal is to return land back to its original condition. “This involves demolishing, leaving the land, the property, as it was before the illegal activity was committed,” said Tramborrell.
She also acknowledged that fines are no longer a deterrent since developers have incorporated those fees into their financial projections. Profepa has 10 days to appeal the ruling.
