Residents of El Sargento, a small community on the East Cape south of La Paz, have spent nearly five years trying to reclaim public access to Agua Caliente beach and its natural hot springs. Since a private developer purchased the surrounding land from the local ejido in 2021, physical barriers including metal shipping containers, gabion walls, and earth mounds have blocked the historically used road. Nearly 2,000 people have signed petitions. Complaints have reached municipal, state, and federal offices. Yet Agua Caliente beach access remains closed, and residents say new blockades appeared this week near arroyo entry points.
Mexico’s Constitution Guarantees Public Beach Access
Article 27 of Mexico’s Constitution declares all coastal land within the Federal Maritime Terrestrial Zone (known as Zofemat) to be federal public property. Zofemat extends 20 meters inland from the high-tide line on all Mexican coastline. No private entity can legally own, fence, or restrict passage through this strip. The General Law of National Assets reinforces this by requiring that all beaches remain open to the public at all times.
Enforcement falls to SEMARNAT (Mexico’s federal environment ministry) and its enforcement arm, PROFEPA (the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection). Municipalities also play a role: local governments administer Zofemat concessions and collect fees from businesses that operate within the zone. In La Paz, the municipal government is responsible for ensuring that roads providing access to Zofemat remain open.
On paper, the legal framework is clear. In practice, enforcement is another matter. Across Baja California Sur, private developments have repeatedly encroached on public beach zones with little consequence. In Los Cabos, the tourism development corridor between San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas has been a recurring flashpoint, with luxury resorts accused of discouraging or physically blocking beach access. Zofemat violations are common enough that PROFEPA maintains a formal complaint process, but residents and advocacy groups frequently report that complaints go unanswered for months or years.
Developer Purchased Ejido Land in 2021 and Proposed Resort Project
The conflict at Agua Caliente traces back to 2021, when the El Sargento ejidal committee sold the land to Conciencia Ambiental Devangari AC. The organization submitted an Environmental Impact Statement to SEMARNAT proposing a tourism and residential development called Mountain Bike, which included plans for a private beach club.
Soon after the sale, residents say, access to the beach was cut off. Public palapas within the Zofemat were removed without authorization. Large metal shipping containers appeared, blocking the road to Agua Caliente, the hot springs, and the neighboring community of El Jacalito. The community collective, Acceso y Conservación de Playas El Sargento, filed its first complaint with PROFEPA that same year.
In 2022, the collective gathered nearly 2,000 signatures from residents of El Sargento, La Ventana, and La Paz. They petitioned for Agua Caliente to be designated as a protected “Destination Agreement” area, a classification that would formalize its public use. Devangari responded with a legal challenge, filing an invalidation lawsuit (case file 1737/24-EAR-01-2). That case remains unresolved.
Pavel Castro, now the La Paz city comptroller, previously led inspection efforts at the site while serving as municipal secretary under Mayor Rubén Muñoz Quiroga’s first administration. Those inspections documented the barriers. Federal authorities under former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador acknowledged the case and urged the La Paz government to expedite the process. But no resolution came before that administration ended in late 2024.
Two Years Since Officials Confirmed Violations, No Enforcement Has Followed
Xóchitl Nolasco, a member of the collective, said representatives from Zofemat, the La Paz municipal government, PROFEPA, and SEMARNAT visited the site roughly two years ago. They confirmed both the physical blockage and environmental damage, including the removal and alteration of native vegetation such as torote and palo verde trees, species endemic to the region. No enforcement action resulted from that visit.
“They manipulated torote and palo verde trees, many endemic plants. Everyone reported it, but nothing has been done,” Nolasco said. She added that conditions continue to deteriorate. “It stays the same and gets worse every day. This morning I spoke with a neighbor, and it appears Devangari blocked another access point near the arroyos.”
The collective has commissioned new boundary surveys to determine the precise line between Devangari’s private holdings and the federal Zofemat zone. Residents allege the developer is also attempting to incorporate land reclaimed from the sea and adjacent surplus parcels into its property.
How to Report Zofemat Violations in Baja California Sur
Anyone can file a complaint with PROFEPA regarding illegal construction, barriers, or environmental damage within the Zofemat. Complaints can be submitted online at profepa.gob.mx or in person at the PROFEPA delegation office in La Paz on Boulevard Forjadores de Sudcalifornia. The complaint should include the GPS coordinates of the violation, photographs, and a description of what was observed. PROFEPA is required by law to investigate and respond, though the Agua Caliente case shows that timelines can stretch years without action.
At the municipal level, the La Paz Zofemat office handles concession permits and can be contacted about access restrictions. Residents can also file requests through Mexico’s national transparency platform (INFOMEX) to obtain records of any concessions granted to developers operating within the zone.
The collective has formally incorporated as a legal entity and is working to obtain tax-deductible donation status from SAT (Mexico’s tax authority), a process Nolasco said can take up to two years due to anti-money laundering scrutiny. The group is preparing for a meeting with SEMARNAT to request an update on enforcement status. Raúl Rodríguez, who served as SEMARNAT’s delegate in Baja California Sur during the previous federal administration, declined to comment publicly.