Tijuana’s Municipal Sindicatura has forwarded roughly 12 case files on public officials to the Baja California Attorney General’s Office (FGE) over alleged irregularities in the renovation of the Playas de Tijuana malecón. The referrals target members of the previous city council, known as the XXIV Ayuntamiento, and mark the probe’s escalation from an internal audit to a potential criminal investigation.
The Sindicatura, the city’s internal oversight body, detected that construction crews carried out work that differed from what had been authorized. Officials also found that updated studies were not completed before the project moved forward. Former Mayor Montserrat Caballero has been explicitly excluded from the investigation.
Environmental Violations at the Heart of the Case
According to the Sindicatura, the previous administration repeatedly ignored observations from the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (PROFEPA). That agency had specified that only minor rehabilitation work was permitted on the malecón because of endemic species in the coastal zone. Instead, more extensive construction took place.
The malecón sits partly on federal land, which means any intervention requires authorization from federal authorities. Those authorizations appear to have been bypassed or mishandled during the prior administration’s renovation push.
Reconstruction Remains Stalled
Residents and business owners along the Playas de Tijuana boardwalk have pressed the current city government to finish the malecón, which remains incomplete. The current administration said it is preparing a new Environmental Impact Assessment (MIA) for submission to federal authorities. That document took between seven and eight months to prepare, and there is no defined timeline for federal approval.
Until those federal permits come through, reconstruction of one of the most popular stretches of coastline in western Tijuana will stay on hold. The Sindicatura has called on residents and city employees to file formal complaints if they identify additional irregularities related to the project.
The Playas de Tijuana malecón runs along the Pacific Ocean at the neighborhood’s western edge, drawing walkers, joggers, and families on weekends. Its partial closure has been a source of frustration for both locals and the area’s growing community of foreign residents.
This story was first reported by Semanario ZETA.