A group of electricians work on a utility pole in the city of Cancun. JANET SCHWARTZ (Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The state of Quintana Roo, one of Mexico’s tourist enclaves, is groping in the dark. The Cancun, Puerto Morelos and Islas Mujeres Hotel Association has made a claim to the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) for the few power outages it has suffered in recent days amid high temperatures of up to 40 degrees. “The direct impacts come in a variety of aspects, including the disruption of drinking water supplies, which rely on high-voltage electricity to operate. “The requirement of the CFE is to provide an immediate solution and to modernize its equipment and facilities,” the agency said in a statement.
They also call for the intervention of the state governor, Mara Lezama Espinosa, with the federal authorities to promptly solve this problem that is affecting the economy and the tourist image that they work daily for the well-being of the general tourist destinations. “We emphasize that we are a premier tourist destination, as must essential electricity and water services,” the letter concludes.
This strong appeal complements earlier statements by Eduardo Martínez, Chair of the Caribbean Business Coordinating Council, who saw the problem of power outages, which are occurring both in Quintana Roo and in various parts of the country, as a red flag. “In fact, it is a red light that must be addressed not only because of the problem of heat waves, but also because of the problem of productivity, because to be productive you must have guaranteed energy,” commented the company manager last Wednesday. to local media.
The Quintana Roo Business Association has estimated losses of 500 million pesos over the past 10 days due to the state’s power disruption. The entrepreneur assured that in addition to the technical defects, the business operations of the companies would also be affected, as they would not be able to provide the products or services they sell normally.
The heat wave and the use of electric air conditioning and cooling units thus led to a state of emergency in the transmission network of the National Center for Energy Control (Cenace), whose reserve margin in the event of a power failure was reduced to the operating minimum of 6%. The optimum must be maintained at at least 10% in the network . The CFE has not released any further details on these power outages.
With the arrival of more than 2.5 million international tourists each year, Cancun and the rest of the Yucatan Peninsula are one of the country’s tourist gems. Paradoxically, this area is also one of the most vulnerable areas in the country when electricity needs are high, due to the few transmission lines compared to other regions of the country such as the Bajío or the center of the territory.
The area is shaken from time to time by serious problems that affect tourism, such as the long-ago war that unionized taxi drivers waged on the platforms offering mobile phone services. Taxi driver failures temporarily paralyzed the city in January, leading to standoffs with tourists who needed law enforcement to get to the airport. The matter escalated, forcing the US government, whose citizens make up the majority of visitors to the peninsula, to warn of the danger posed by tensions between taxi drivers and the government in the region.
Violence is another reason threatening a region that thrives on tourist income. In recent months, local news reports have reported shootings in luxury hotels and on beaches. The drug trade, with all its fire potential, is encroaching on what was once an oasis in Mexico.
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