Excavators are already tearing into Cañada Azteca, a designated conservation zone in Playas de Tijuana, to make way for a massive real estate project called Civantia. The development by builders Musa and Ruba calls for nine residential towers of 20 to 25 stories, a 10-story hotel, and a shopping center on land that residents say functioned as a natural wetland and biofilter. A neighborhood collective called Defendamos Playas de Tijuana has fought the project since 2021 through protests, legal challenges, and public pressure, but construction has moved forward. A court ruling on the first of two active lawsuits is expected soon.
Cañada Azteca Served as Natural Drainage for Playas de Tijuana
Cañada Azteca sits at the outlet of a micro-watershed that collects rainwater runoff from the hillsides above Playas de Tijuana. Despite pollution from illegal sewage connections, the canyon still held wetland characteristics and supported native plant species that provided habitat for small animals, including some endemic species. Migratory birds used the corridor as a rest stop.
Collective member Gabriela Guinea told local media that developers stripped all native vegetation from the site. Workers then buried the natural arroyo channel under fill dirt. Guinea called that decision reckless, because the arroyo had acted as a biological filter. Water flowing through the channel’s soil and plant roots reduced contamination before runoff reached the ocean.
“The Civantia people claimed there was only trash and sewage there, but that was a minority of the flow,” Guinea said. “It should have been cleaned up, and the stormwater system should have been repaired, instead of burying the arroyo.” With the channel gone, she warned, untreated wastewater will now flow directly to the beach and accelerate coastal erosion along the Playas shoreline.
Playas de Tijuana already struggles with beach water quality. Sewage spills from the Tijuana River watershed have triggered hundreds of beach closure days on both sides of the border over the past decade. CESPT, Tijuana’s municipal water and sewer utility, operates aging infrastructure that regularly fails during heavy rains. Losing a natural filtration system at Cañada Azteca removes one more buffer between sewage and the surf.
Zoning Rules Allegedly Changed to Legalize the Civantia Project
The legal fight over Civantia goes back to 2021, when neighbors first filed amparos (constitutional injunctions) to block construction. That case has wound through federal courts for four years and is now close to a ruling. In 2023, the collective filed a second lawsuit after the first case stalled. That second case is in the expert evidence phase, with urbanists reviewing the project’s compliance.
At the center of both cases is the question of whether Civantia should have been allowed on this land at all. IMPLAN, Tijuana’s municipal planning institute, had previously committed to demarcating specific construction and conservation boundaries within Cañada Azteca after residents protested. That commitment was not honored.
Residents allege something more troubling than a broken promise. They say developers pushed for changes to Tijuana’s urban planning regulations after the original project did not comply with existing land use and density rules. Once those rules were amended, the project became legally permissible. The collective has not named specific officials or council votes tied to the amendments, but the pattern they describe is one where regulations were tailored retroactively to fit a project that broke them.
If that allegation holds up in court, it raises serious questions about the reliability of zoning designations across Tijuana. Property buyers in Playas de Tijuana, a neighborhood with a significant population of American and Canadian residents, often rely on uso de suelo (land use) classifications when evaluating purchases. A conservation designation that can be rewritten to accommodate a developer’s plans is not much of a guarantee.
1,600 Units and 4,000 Cars on Paseo Playas
The Civantia project at full buildout would add up to 1,600 housing units to the Playas de Tijuana neighborhood. Residents estimate that translates to at least 4,000 additional vehicles on Paseo Playas, the main coastal road. Paseo Playas is a two-lane road for most of its length. It already backs up during weekends and holidays when visitors from other parts of Tijuana head to the beach.
The construction site sits across from Parque Azteca and is currently fenced off with wire. Excavators and earth-moving machines are visible through the fence. CONAGUA, Mexico’s national water commission, and SEMARNAT, the federal environmental ministry, have not acted on complaints filed by residents about the burial of the arroyo. Guinea described their inaction as one of the collective’s biggest frustrations.
The collective has stressed that it does not oppose urban growth in Playas de Tijuana. Its objection is to a project built on a conservation zone, approved through what members call a rigged regulatory process, and carried out without protecting the natural drainage that kept sewage off the beach.
A federal court ruling on the first amparo could come within weeks. The second case remains in its evidence phase with no announced timeline. This story was first reported by Punto Norte.