Busy Tenacatita for the holidays

The main beach

The Aquarium

The place is really packed but will probably thin out a lot tomorrow. Kids don't go back to school for another week but adults have to work. Not quite sure why the Aquarium is popular for swimming because you dodge coral, it's shallow and too many sting rays. Still very few facilities and no restaurants or stores.

Tenacatita really open?

Lots of excitement over Semana Santa with the Military and Federales telling the "rent-a-cops" to take a hike and don't bother anyone using the beach or area for the vacation weeks. Upwards of three thousand people were reported on the beach the first week of Semana Santa. Not sure how sanitary it is with no facilities but nobody seemed worried. We'll see next week if the rent-a-cops come back like before but the rumor is the beach will remain open.

Tenacatita Libre

Posted by dobie on June 3, 2013, 12:45 pm

An amazing turn of events. Unbeknownst to almost everyone, representatives of the governor's office, the Julian, the president of La Huerta, accompanied by lots of people and several truckloads of State Police (what a switch to have them on our side), came yesterday and after showing an order, began to dismantle the gate and tear down the guard shack. Several people from town helped while everyone else waited at Chito's restaurant where Julian asked us to stay until all the debris was cleared so no one would get hurt. 

Obviously the other side must have known what was going to happen because they accepted it and many gathered their stuff and left. 

Julian spoke to the crowd that had gathered at Chito's and explained that the concession at this time is only for a free beach, recreation and a malecon. For now no camping and no commercial use. Also people need to be responsible for their trash, and not bring lots of booze. There are still many details to be worked out. Yesterday cars had to park at the glorieta (the entrance ) but Julian asked for us to walk if we could since there were so many people. 

What a glorious afternoon. Kids playing in the waves, families hanging out, big smiles on everyone's faces. This is just the beginning and just about the federal zone. The land disputes still haven't been resolved and so Rodenas' security people are guarding "their" part.

News on Tenacatita

As much as I hesitate to post this because of past dissapointment over the progress toward opening Tenacatita and giving the beach back to the Ejido ... here it is.  Still a wait and see game.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to the day when there will once again be free access to Tenacatita beach. The concession (right to develop the beach) has been given to the County of La Huerta as a tourist destination. Rodenas' concession was revoked for non payment of taxes and it wasn't renewed because at the time Rodenas applied for renewal, they no longer had a concession to renew because it had been revoked earlier. La Huerta has said they will return possession of the beach to the ejido.

Ultimately it looks like Rodenas/Villalobos may lose everything, even his supposed 42 hectares. The ejido lawyer, Everardo Rojas Contreras came to a meeting yesterday in El Rebalsito to give an update on what's happening legally. Although the woman Villalobos bought the land from in the early 90's, won a Supreme Court decision against the community of El Rebalsito, she never took possession of the land. Villalobos assumed her decision would apply to him too, but with legal decisions, you can only get what you ask for and it turns out Villalobos never asked for possession of the land, he just took it. Another mistake Villalobos made is in 2006, when property titles, signed by the President of Mexico, were given to the individuals (Mexicans and foreigners), who were in possession of the land Villalobos is claiming, he never contested them. Now he's saying they're not valid; but titles in Mexico are meant to be the ultimate security that the land is in fact yours and no one can take it away (except, of course, the government if they want to expropriate it for a road, airport, etc.)

The State Supreme Court justices ruled in favor of the ejido in October, saying the beach was to be returned to the state it was in before the eviction on October 4, 2010. Rodenas appealed. The appeal was heard on Dec. 28 and the decision should be forthcoming soon. Rojas says he's 99.99% certain we'll win the case.

In July, Mexicans will go to the polls to elect a new president, residents of Jalisco will elect a new governor, and locally we'll be voting for a new head of the county of La Huerta. All these positions are now occupied by members of the PAN party (the party of businessmen and the rich). Fernando Guzman Perez is running for governor. As secretary to the present governor, Emilio Marquez, he was instrumental in allowing Villalobos to violently evict residents and tourists from their homes and businesses on Tenacatita beach. When leaders of El Rebalsito went to Guadalajara (capital of Jalisco) to try to reach a compromise with Villalobos, Guzman Perez took Villalobos' side and didn't even let the people present their case.

Now that elections are coming, he seems to have changed his tune. He knows that in order to win the election, he needs votes from the coast. Rojas says he's working with Guzman Perez, who is now inclined to help get the beach opened. Of course it's hard to trust a turncoat, but at least he won't be actively fighting against us. Rojas has been meeting with other state officials and there's lots of support for opening the beach and allowing people to go back to work. With the bleak economic picture in Mexico, taking away jobs is not a very popular subject. Rojas said they're trying to get the beach open before Semana Santa (Easter time), when Mexicans take to the beaches in droves.

Rojas began the meeting in town by thanking me and all of the extrajeros (foreigners) for our help in the struggle. That includes all of you (this email goes out to 100 people) who have contributed financial, emotional, moral and physical support to the people of El Rebalsito. In Mexico they say, "la union hace la fuerza" which means theirs strength in unity. I do believe that ultimately justice will prevail.

dobie

Ron, Dora and I drove up over Christmas just to see and have a quick swim.  This was the first time we'd been there since the closure.  Guards at the gate want to see the drivers ID and confiscate any alcohol.   Guards on the beach were pretty cool but won't allow fotos of anything but the beach itself.  Probably about 40 cars parked along the beach road.  People were having fun but it's definately not the place we've loved so much in the past.   Remember there are no restaurants and no bathrooms.

Still a beautiful beach

Looking east

Looking west

Demonstration for Tenacatita in Long Beach CA

The governor of Jalisco, Emilio Marquez was in Long Beach California and Diputado Salvador Caro and people from Temacapulin and Tenacatita were there to greet him. When they said they wanted to speak with him, he said he wasn't prepared for a conversation. They waited outside the Mexican Consulate, but he never came out - he left through another door.

Lorena Sahagun said (paraphrased) that he saw them and didn't have the guts to speak with them; but what counts is that he knows that they haven't forgotten.

Camping Tenacatita 2011

Idea for the adventurous or for some tour group. Hire a boat, camp over and bring whatever you need (including booze).

The area they stayed looks to be much further down the beach from the old palapas and snorkeling beaches

Tenacatita, Jalisco, Mexico, 2011

Picnic Dec. 27th

Just back from an organizational meeting for the picnic on Monday, Dec. 27. People will be meeting at Restaurant Cato in La Manzanilla at 10 AM. Boats will take people to Tenacatita beach. All the boats leave at the same time, so there will be a mass landing of at least 150 people. Several diputados are planning to attend as well as media people (reporters for radio, newspapers and tv).

We'll be bringing tacos and agua fresca, but everyone should plan to bring their own water and something to eat. Some tarps will be set up for shade and there will be a band, to add to the festivities.

This is an adults only, peaceful picnic. Remember: NO ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES!

See you there!
dobie

Juan Frost after a beach landing a few days ago

November 30th video of Tenacatita beach

From Dobie:

Sorry to report that the gate is still there. Yes, the beach is open if they feel like letting you in, and you show your I.D. (so they can write your name down) and you don't take a camera or a cell phone, and they'll watch you the whole time, and there are no services, and, and, and....

In yesterday's Jornada article it says that Villalobos "could" sign the agreement this week, (which would open the beach, but with many conditions) and then he would have 5 days to get his guys out of there, or at least only on his supposed 42.5 hectares. But the conditions include days use only, no camping, no one can build palapas or open restaurants, only vendedores ambulantes (with permits, of course). Doesn't sound much like free access to me. Most people here think it's unacceptable; others feel like it's a first step.

Mesa de Dialogo

Posted by Dobie on November 23, 2010

Hi -

We left at 11:00 pm on Sunday for another all night bus ride to Guadalajara, for the mesa de dialogo that the federal diputados were planning for noon on Tuesday (Nov. 22). About 75 people from El Rebalsito attended the event, along with maybe 100 (or more) others. It was quite a big deal - tarps set up for shade, a low platform for the diputados, several big tv screens that showed 2 videos from Tenacatita (including the one from the day the diputados came and pulled down the fence); the diputados had boxes with thousands of bumper stickers - EMILIO Regresenos Tencatita (Emilio - Give us back Tenacatita) and fliers. Before the event started we were in groups on all the nearby street corners - handing them out as vehicles stopped for red lights, and to people passing by.

There were 7 federal diputados (from 3 political parties - PRI, PRD and PAN), one local diputado and a representative of the Human Rights Commission. No one from the governor's office came (even though it's right across the street), and he said that he never received an invitation. But the diputados had a copy of the letter inviting him and with a stamp and signature showing it was received by his office. SEMARNAT (environmental agency) sent a letter saying they couldn't send anyone but supported the diputados in opening the road and the beach. And no surprise, no one from Rodenas showed up. So how can you have a dialogue, when two of the main parties involved aren't willing to meet?

For the first time since the desalojo, I think everyone felt like the diputados really understood, and really wanted to see justice prevail. Each one spoke to a different effect of the desalojo, from the loss of homes, belongings, jobs, a whole way of life, to the insecurity, the lack of peace and justice, the effect on the children, to the condition of the state of Jalisco, where the governor is incompetent and does whatever he wants.... They were quite impassioned and almost all mentioned that this was a political issue, but not a partisan one. That the commission (composed of 10 diputados) wanted to uphold the constitution and the laws of Mexico, and they would take the issue to the Supreme Court if necessary. One lamented the fact that we came all the way from El Rebalsito, and no one from the governor's office would cross the street to take part in the dialogue.

There were two very welcome pieces of news. One is that the government of La Huerta is going to get the concession to the beach (and the ocean beach), and soon. The other is that the diputados assured us that the beach will be open in time for Christmas vacation so that people can come and camp and enjoy the beach, and everyone here can get back to work, however they can - setting up tarps, umbrellas, whatever... You can imagine how happy everyone was to hear that news! It's changed the whole vibe of the town. Everyone feels more hopeful

Don't privatize the beaches of Jalisco

Don't privatize the beaches of Jalisco
Don't privatize the beach of Tenacatita

Slice of paradise becomes nightmare for Canadian

Slice of paradise becomes eviction nightmare for Canadian in Mexico

Surrey resident Siegfried Schiffmacher purchased land near the beach in Tenacatita, Mexico, for $30,000 in 2006, but is unable now to access the property because of a titling dispute. He thought the title was good because it was endorsed by the Mexican president's office.

Photograph by: David Agren, Postmedia News

LA MANZANILLA, Mexico — Siegfried Schiffmacher thought he had found an idyllic slice of paradise in 2006 when he purchased a large lot at Tenacatita, a spit of land in Mexico with spectacular oceans views to the front and a calm bay with clear water and a golden-sand beach to the back.

He thought he had found a sound investment, too: The 1,007-square-metre property — once part of a communal farm known as an "ejido" — came with a title validated by then-president Vicente Fox.

Those illusions were shattered Aug. 4, when more than 150 state police officers raided Tenacatita, acting on an eviction order won by a Guadalajara-area businessman, Andres Villalobos, who claimed title to 42 hectares of land — including Schiffmacher's lot — that he purchased in 1991 from the widow of a former Jalisco state governor.

"When you buy with a title signed by the president, it feels secure," said Schiffmacher, a retired telecom entrepreneur from Surrey, B.C., whose wife, Margarita, is a Mexican national. "We never thought this would happen."

Schiffmacher's plight highlights the perils of investing in paradise and, he estimates, affects at least 15 Canadians.

It also highlights the problem of purchasing in a country with lingering conflicts over land and titles — two key grievances that fuelled the Mexican Revolution, the centennial of which is being observed this year — and how these unresolved squabbles are affecting foreigners a century later as they move south in increasing numbers and unwittingly into areas with histories of property disputes.

Complete Vancover Sun Article

March for Tenacatita in Guadalajara

March for Tenacatita in Guadalajara

Around 1,000 people march on the state palace in Guadalajara to protest the land takeover at the Tenacatita beach by a wealthy businessman.

More from the Guadalajara Reporter

State police evict homeowners in beach community of Tenacatita

Villalobos has been trying the get the low-income families evicted from the land for two decades, ever since he purchased 42 hectares of Tenacatita beachfront land from the wife of a former state governor in 1991. (He apparently obtained the federal beach concession rights in 1993.) Many of the businesses on the undeveloped beach are palapa seafood restaurants that have been serving tourists and locals for more than 40 years.

Francisco Martinez Flores, the ejido (local land commune) commissioner for El Rebalsito, said the ejiditarios own the 42 hectares and have the land titles to prove it.

La Huerta Mayor Carlos Ramirez Nuñez called the eviction "unfair" and said municipal authorities would do all in their power to help the families return to their homes.

But if they get ever back to their homes and businesses, there may be nothing left of them. After the families left in pick-up trucks with their belongings – some making as many as 10 trips to and from the highway – police brought in heavy machinery, presumably to demolish the palapa huts and homes, and blocked the only road leading to the beach. None one was allowed in without an "official" escort. Both the La Huerta municipal secretary and a Puerto Vallarta-based Jalisco Human Rights Commission observer had to give up their cellphones and cameras to police before they were allowed to enter the area, according to reports from Spanish-language daily Milenio. La Huerta municipal cops who turned up to provide "additional security" were also barred from entering. The area resembled "a war zone," commented one foreign resident at the scene.

Guadalajara Reporter article

Tenacatita eviction

Wed, 04/08/2010 - 12:06

Guadalajara .- In an operation that began early this day, dozens of riot elements of the State Bureau of Public Security have carried out the eviction of residents from the beach of Tenacatita in alleged support of the rights of the Real Estate Rodenas, which headed by businessman Jose Maria Andres Villalobos, which currently has enraged those affected, denounced Salvador Magana, a former member of the council of La Huerta.

"There are at least 800 people affected among fishermen, restaurateurs and merchants, is the third time in 20 years that an eviction is violent, but people are not willing to be put in relief the PRD militant.

This is a surprise with only elements operating state, on the side of the City of La Huerta, no surprise and concern. According to the activist told him, the municipality has requested support from police in other municipalities to ensure the security of the population, but farmers are outraged, and analyze federal block the road to avoid consuming eviction.

Those affected are in possession of the area since 1960. Then the small landowner neighbor was the former governor Jesús González Gallo, who always respected them. In 1991, the president's widow, Paz Gortázar, sold the estate was left to businessman Jose Maria Andres Villalobos, owner of the property Rodenas. The following year, the fishermen had their houses burned by a party of rural allegedly the service of his opponent. The key to what they suffered is that in 1993, the federal maritime-terrestrial zone, which traders had held since almost 25 years ago, he was awarded the real estate entrepreneur, being the owner of the neighboring properties, but ignoring disregard of a concession granted to Francisco Montelongo Aguayo, one of the restaurateurs of the site. Based on that element, Rodenas denounced the arrests and led landholders in 2006. And now the facts are repeated, with the general indignation.

Agustin del Castillo

Kids playing on the beach

Tenacatita is a great beach for kids - and adults

Tenacatita Sunday trip

Ron just spent a week with me in Melaque and as a treat to all of us we spent Sunday at Tenacatita. The 'all of us' included 7 kids. We picked up two whole roasted chickens with all the trimmings before we left to keep costs down and only bought beer and pop in the restaurant.


Our favorite restaurant is next to the new 'hotel' that has been under construction forever and I see the For Sale sign is down so maybe new money is working. That end of the beach is calmer, good snorkeling and a closer walk to Playa Mora.

The beach hotel and restaurant is getting near completion

Good swimming in clear water

Playa Mora from the bluff

Tenacatita beach from the bluff