Tijuana Mayor Ismael Burgueño Ruiz ordered heavy machinery removed from the Cañada Azteca canyon in Playas de Tijuana on Wednesday, May 20, fulfilling a promise made the night before to hundreds of residents. By 11 a.m., city officials from the Playas de Tijuana delegation and the public works department had escorted construction workers onto the site to extract the equipment. Closure seals on the gates of the Civantia megaproject were reinstated.
The machinery had reappeared on the site Sunday, despite active closure orders first placed on May 11. City inspectors originally sealed the project after finding construction activity that deviated from approved permits. The equipment itself also bore closure seals, and oversized cranes were brought in solely to haul the machines out, according to local reports.
Residents Confront Mayor at Public Meeting
The removal followed a Tuesday evening meeting between Burgueño Ruiz and roughly 300 to 500 residents organized under the collective “Defendamos Playas de Tijuana.” The group opposes a large commercial and residential development planned for the ecologically sensitive canyon, located next to the La Perla subdivision.
During the session, collective member Adriana Álvarez presented the mayor with maps from Tijuana’s Atlas de Riesgo (risk atlas) and technical arguments about the zone’s vulnerability to flooding and landslides. The collective argued that the proposed megaproject would damage the area’s natural drainage and alter the character of the coastal neighborhood long favored by expats and Mexican families alike.
Burgueño Ruiz responded with a direct commitment. “As a first action, I commit to not lifting the closure seals on the Cañada Azteca property and to removing the machines,” the mayor stated, according to Tijuana en Línea. He added that his obligation was “to make everything transparent and do things the way they should be done.”
Technical Review and Zoning Plan on the Horizon
The city government agreed to convene a technical review session on May 24, forming an analysis and citizen consultation body. Any future decisions about land use in Playas de Tijuana must include both scientific review and neighborhood input, city officials said.
The dispute now involves multiple agencies. The case sits before PROFEPA (Mexico’s federal environmental enforcement agency), federal prosecutors, and the courts. Permits for the site date back to 2016, and the project will remain closed until judicial proceedings are resolved and those permits are fully reviewed.
Burgueño Ruiz also pledged to bring the proposed Tijuana Urban Development Program 2023 to 2040 before citizens for public comment, giving residents a formal window to challenge zoning changes that could reshape growth in Playas de Tijuana for years to come.
This story was first reported by Jornada BC, with additional details from Uniradio Informa Baja California, El Imparcial, and Tijuana en Línea.