Sisal locals reject the “Magic Town” distinction

YUCATÁN, (July 06, 2021).-  In the last appointments made by the Ministry of Tourism, Maní and Sisal, in Yucatán, were designated as “Magic Towns”, however, the inhabitants of Sisal demonstrated on Monday, July 5th, to request the distinction to be revoked, It will not benefit them at all, with the exception of businessmen who do business in the area, in addition to denouncing that there is permanent mangrove felling as a result of the developments that are being built.

As part of the demonstration, dissatisfied people blocked the passage to the Puerto de Abrigo, as a way of requesting to be heard and exposing the situation they face.

Manuel Hernández Canul, representative of the Sisal Community Alliance, indicated on behalf of the inhabitants of the port that this distinction granted by the Ministry of Tourism will only attract a detonation of development that is not environmentally friendly, since they have identified that there is mangrove logging to give way to real estate developments.

In this sense, he mentioned that they have identified investors who carry out deals with the government to detonate luxury real estate developments in the area, where most of the inhabitants live with a lack of services and unpaved streets.

The affected people pointed out that since Sisal received the appointment of Pueblo Mágico, most services have become more expensive, which is not fair for the locals.

The Sisal commissioner, Miguel Antonio Ek Pech, commented that he agrees with the requests of the people who live in this coastal town, for which they warned that the protests will continue.

“The Pueblo Mágico designation does not bring any benefits for the people of Sisal, but only the entrepreneurs who come to invest here, they are the ones that will be benefited. The small businesses here cannot compete with the big companies that are coming”, he indicated.

The people of Sisal stated that they demand to have a meeting with Governor Mauricio Vila Dosal to let him know about the situation they are facing and try to reach an agreement.