Environmentalists Win Fight to Preserve Beach

A three-year battle to save a sea turtle nesting beach from development on Mexico’s Caribbean coast ended in a victory for environmentalists and local residents after a Spanish firm was told that it could not build luxury hotels on the site.

The Xcacel beach is one of the last pristine beaches on the coast, which is undergoing rapid development. The hotel project threatened not only to close the Xcacel beach to the public but also to disturb the nesting habits of protected sea turtle species.

The Spanish hotel firm Sol Melia appeared to accept the decision by authorities and, according to sources close to the company, will ask that it be allowed to trade the Xcacel lot for another coastal property.