by Donald Wood
Last updated: 3:38 PM ET, Wed July 8, 2020
Travelers heading to resorts in Quintana Roo will continue to have private access to beaches as locals continue to be barred from visiting the sandy hotspots along the Mexican Caribbean.
According to The Riviera Maya News, Comunicacion del Gobierno del Estado de Quintana Roo general coordinator Carlos Orvananos Rea said only guests at local hotels and resorts would be permitted on the beaches until the region enters the green phase of reopening.
The decision to ban locals from the beaches has drawn the ire of officials in Mexico, including President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who addressed his concerns to local government leaders.
Orvananos Rea said it would be nearly impossible for the government to regulate all beaches in the country, so leaving it up to local municipalities and the hotel properties along the ocean would help control the spread of coronavirus.
Officials said the decision was temporary during the viral pandemic and not meant to privatize the coastlines.
"What has been established very clearly is that the hotels that have reopened are very responsible in the use of their public spaces," Orvananos Rea told The Riviera Maya News. "It is not only the beaches, but their common areas such as swimming pools and food areas where hotels have invested a good amount of time and resources to train their employees."
Cancun Hotel Association leader Roberto Cintron Gomez said last month that the opening of beaches to tourists staying at hotels is necessary:
"We have fought for visitors to have access to the beaches with certain restrictions such as avoiding groups of more than 10 people, which is working," Cintron Gomez said. "They come to go to the beach and we must keep that in mind."
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