Baja California’s Secretary of Government Juan José Pon Méndez visited the Monte Carmelo neighborhood in the Camalú zone of San Quintín on April 27 to announce free land titling and a funded electrification project for families who have waited years for basic services.
Pon Méndez said Governor Marina del Pilar Avila Olmeda has directed INDIVI (the state housing institute) to issue a decree eliminating all fees for land regularization and titling in San Quintín. The move targets families, many of them agricultural workers, who occupy homes without legal property titles.
12.6 Million Peso Electrification Project Approved
The state also approved a 12.6 million peso (roughly $630,000 USD) electrification project for Monte Carmelo. Officials said construction work would begin this week. The government committed to waiving the so-called “triple zero” connection fee, a charge typically passed on to households when new power lines reach their area.
San Quintín, located about 300 kilometers south of Tijuana along the Transpeninsular Highway, became Baja California’s sixth municipality in February 2020 after separating from Ensenada. The region is a major agricultural hub, producing tomatoes, strawberries, and other crops for export. Thousands of migrant farmworkers, many originally from Oaxaca and other southern Mexican states, have settled in colonias like Monte Carmelo over the past several decades.
Water and Infrastructure Meetings Planned
Despite its economic output, the San Quintín valley has long struggled with gaps in electricity, running water, and legal land tenure. Many families built homes on parcels without completing the formal titling process, which can cost thousands of pesos and take years to navigate through federal and state agencies like INSUS (the federal urban land institute).
Pon Méndez also committed to follow-up meetings with CESPE, the state water utility, and INSUS to address water access and broader infrastructure needs in the area. No specific dates for those meetings were announced.
The free titling decree, if implemented as described, would remove a financial barrier that has kept many San Quintín residents in legal limbo regarding their property. Without a formal title, homeowners cannot access government housing improvement programs or use their property as collateral for loans.
This story was first reported by The Baja Post.