If Cancun has become a money-making machine thanks to tourism, what will happen in the medium term with this destination, whose water tables are contaminated and which has grown in such a disorderly way, is cause for concern.
A similar situation is occurring in Cabo San Lucas, which today is threatened with becoming a victim of its success.
Last week, the advisory council of the main businessmen of Los Cabos met with the main topic of influencing the new Municipal Development Plan that Óscar Leggs, the municipal president, is about to launch.
In the last three years, the pandemic has catapulted this destination as an attractive option for Americans and Mexicans who have “heated up” the real estate market to levels not seen for many years.
In addition, the latest figure for the average hotel rate exceeds $400 and is by far the highest of any destination in the country.
In the residences of the St. Regis, in the Quivira development, there is a 15 million dollar mansion, where the price per square meter was sold at almost 30 thousand dollars, which does not happen anywhere else, including Santa Fe in Mexico City or in San Pedro Garza García, in Nuevo León.
Meanwhile, at Los Cabos international airport, operations with private planes already represent half of those carried out with commercial flights.
Obviously, the former carry much fewer passengers, but it is unusual for there to be that proportion with respect to the devices used by travelers with the highest purchasing power, who are those who have or can rent a plane.
Security is the other great asset and, according to the latest perception survey by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), of tourist destinations, Los Cabos is only below Mérida and Campeche.
On the other hand, water can become a problem: currently, some private developments that have treatment or desalination plants are giving away tens of thousands of liters of water daily to the municipality to meet the needs of the inhabitants.
While, in San José del Cabo, the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (Fonatur) did a good job of planning, San Lucas, which concentrates economic activity, already has traffic problems during peak hours.
Not to mention the lack of parking spaces, at least a third of its streets have not been paved, something that tourists do not see, but that is part of the daily life of the inhabitants.
The advisory council of businessmen, the same one that supported the design and obtaining resources to support the Secretary of the Navy to solve the security problem, now has urban planning as a priority.
There is awareness that it is not sustainable for growth to continue in an anarchic and contrasting manner.
So far, businessmen have found both in the municipal president, Óscar Leggs, and in the governor, Víctor Manuel Castro Cosío, both from Morena, two leftist politicians willing to dialogue and work with investors.
Designing an inclusive urban plan that works for everyone is essential for Los Cabos to continue developing for a long time to come.
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