While clocks in most of the United States were set forward one hour Sunday March 12 to begin Daylight Saving Time, in Yucatan and Campeche states Daylight Saving Time won’t begin until April 2.
However, in five northern Mexican states, many cities along the U.S.-Mexico border made the Daylight Saving Time switch on March 2.
Confused? Here is a bit of background.
Time changes can be confusing. (PHOTO; chron.com)
Mexico adopted daylight saving time (Spanish: horario de verano) nationwide in 1996, even in its tropical regions, because of its increasing economic ties to the United States. Although the United States changed the schedule for DST beginning in 2007, only the municipalities located less than 20 km from the border have adopted the change. Daylight saving time for Mexico begins the first Sunday of April and ends the last Sunday of October.
A bill was proposed by Rep. Francisco Saracho (PRI) in September 2015 to reduce confusion by modifying the DST start and end dates, observed by the rest of the country, to match those observed by the border municipalities. The bill was discarded by congress on June 29, 2016.
Quintana Roo
The state of Quintana Roo has decided to not observe DST from February 1, 2015 onward. However, the state moved from the Central Time Zone to Eastern Time Zone.
The main reason behind the special Quintana Roo time zone reportedly was to add an additional hour of daylight during the winter tourist season.
“We have a new time zone for Quintana Roo that will not move throughout the year. There will be no delays or advances,” Alcayaga Cristina Nuñez, a represetnative with the Tourism Business Council, explained at that time.
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