the government should expend tax payer funds on replenishing an
area that only benefits a select few. The hotels on Playacar beach have
unsuccessfully tried to convince the government to implement a coordinated
and centralized beach restoration system. The government’s
reluctance to support this project was in part due to previous expenses
incurred to finance a macro beach restoration operation in Cancun in
which $200 million US dollars was invested to recover the shoreline
which then disappeared again within six months. Faced with the government’s
passivity in the matter, Playacar hotels began their own
beach replenishment projects ignoring the illegality of their actions.
In fact, government officials (i.e., SEMARNAT—Secretarı´a del Medio
Ambiente y Recursos Naturales) have routinely fined the tourism operators
but have done little to remove the illegal dredging tubes and sand
bags. Notably, throughout this transformative process, dissemination of
pristine beach imagery continued.