Tenacatita Reopens to Locals & Cruisers

Easter Sunday was especially festive at Jalisco, Mexico’s Tenacatita Beach, as federal officials finally removed fences that had blocked public access to this formerly popular beachfront for nearly five years. Nearby lagoon anchorages, which had been immensely popular with cruising sailors prior to the August, 2010 shutdown, were also reopened. 

According to American expats familiar with the area, public rights to the beach and anchorages had been embroiled in a lawsuit for years, as local interests fought with a development corporation called Rodenas for control of the beach and lagoon. With that suit now having been settled in favor of the residents, Mexican vacationers and tourists flooded the beach on Easter, with some camping overnight as they had done in years past.

The abrupt shutdown of the area in 2010 was a shocker to former local residents as well as to cruisers, as modest waterfront homes and businesses were bull-dozed, and mariners were ordered to exit the adjacent lagoon anchorages immediately.

Issues surrounding property rights here have been thorny and contentious for decades. According to the news organization MasPorMas, the first lands endowed under the Mexican ejido system date back to 1942, and a previous eviction of beachfront merchants and fishermen took place in 1991. In 2010, after all businesses and residences within the disputed area were demolished, the Auxiliary Police insured, via an electrified fence and guard posts, that no tourists, boaters or locals could access the beaches or anchorages. Although the courtroom battle has been concluded, given the area’s contentious history, we suspect we have not heard the last about the longtime struggle for control of Tenacatita.