Aerial Photo of
Playa Del Carmen

 


Riviera Maya
Hotel Occpancy Rate

Hotel Occupancy as of 3/08/02:
Available Rooms--43,983
Occupied Rooms--32,600
Rate of Occupancy--74.1%
Same Time Last Year:
Available Rooms--40,293
Occupied Rooms--33,497
Rate of Occupancy--86.6%
Difference in Occupancy:-2.68%

The Second Largest Wedding
     Just over a week ago the second biggest wedding in the history of the Riviera Maya occurred at Xcaret. Since Xcaret does not normally host events of this type, it had to be something big.      The groom is a King of cruise ship corporations, Carnival and the bride is the queen of the Mayan Riviera eco-cultural theme parks, Xcaret. The nuptials took place in the park offices just 4.5 kilometers down the beach from Playa del Carmen.
     The groom brought a ton of promise in a cruise passenger tourism plan and the bride is providing the home port for the big ships with the construction of a deep water harbor for off loading the folks that want to visit the Riviera Maya's paradise playground.
     That the impact of this union on tourism in the Riviera Maya is probably only second to the development of Cancun is undeniable. The initial investment for the development of port and associated facilities is $35 million dollasr. The numbers are these: 1300 construction and 3900 operation employees by 2003. By 2006 the projection is for 11,300 operation employees. The projection for passengers or guests is 50,000 in 2004 and 192,000 in 2006. The expected return on this investment is 46.5 million dollars in 2004 and 90 million dollars by 2006. That is only the beginning.
     The impact on the local economies of Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Akumal and others will be thunderous. There has been a rumor for the last few years of an international airport being planned about 10 kilometers or so outside of Playa de Carmen that will probably come to fruition and take the strain off of the Cancun International Airport. There is excess hotel room capacity in towns up and down the Mayan Coast that will soon be filled. The many restaurants, bars, shops and related tourist businesses that have been singing the blues will be on the good foot if they can hang on about a year and a half longer as the tourists are on the way.
     The only question is whether the impact of this ingression of new humans that need water, food and drainage treatment throws the local ecology out of balance. Or, will the developers be sensitive to this emerald paradise and resist the urge to turn it into another Cancun or Cozumel and let it develop as the ecological wonder of Mexico that it already is.
      Also, what makes the Riviera Maya more interesting than many tourist venues is the mystery of the land and the ancient Mayan civilizations. The Mayan culture has been embraced as part of the tourism experience and not as a sideshow. The key part of that cultural experience is the land, because the land shapes the way people live and behave. As long as the developers and politicians hold that thought in mind the Riviera Maya will be a sweet ripe fruit that will last a long time.
     (By the way, the biggest wedding was between the developers of Cancun Island and the poor folks who sold their land to them.)
---------------------------------------

Blood and Sand in Cancun
     A matador survived a serious attack by a very talented Spanish Fighting bull. The matador was was knocked down and gored by the raging animal. Toreros rapidly came to the felled matador's assistance and distracted the animal. The matador was quickly taken to the American Hospital where he underwent surgery to repair his damaged left leg. He is expected to fully recover.
     In the 12 year history of La Plaza de Toros Bonampak Bullfight Ring in Cancun there have only been 4 incidents of gored toreros. No toreros have been killed. Many bulls have.
     If you are interested in seeing a direct connection with Spain's colonial influence on Mexico and a beautiful pageant surrounding a serious blood sport, then La Plaza de Bonampak is the place to be on Wednesdays. Any, taxi driver can tell you where to find La Plaza de Bonampak and would be glad to take you there. If you arrive before 11:00 am you should have no trouble finding a seat. It is not for the faint of heart or squeamish.
     If after a day at the bullfights you still have an appetite, then you should cross the street to the famous Yucateco (Yucatan) restaurant of Los Almendros. Try the Panuchos de Cochinita and a cold Montejo beer, and you will thank yourself for being in Cancun. No, bull.

Photos by Voz del Caribe

News & Reviews
     Here is where we post local news and possible points of interests, if you are planning to visit the the Riviera Maya and Cancun area. We will also have occassional reviews of restaurants, beach clubs, nightclubs, beaches, cafes, musical events, shops, stores and just about whatever grabs our interests here in the Land of the Maya. Some of the news or reviews will be posted as a window link from the related places of interest. We will at all times try to keep a sense of humor.

Don Emilione Restaurant


"Dinner with the Don"

     OK. It's used to often and you have heard it before and it loses something from over use. But, I have to say it again. "I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse." And, at Don Emilione Restaurant it is true.
You are on vacation in a small town on the Mexican Caribbean Coast. It is tropical, peaceful, and cosmopolitan and has many places to eat good food. But, your time is limited and you want to make the most of your moments of pleasure. So, where do you go for a sumptuous food experience in Playa del Carmen? The offer is very easy: Don Emilione Restaurant.
     We had dinner with the Don and he put on a feast that was close to indescribable in quality and flavor. We started with drinks and appetizers of mushrooms sautéed with garlic and guajillo sauce, spinach and cheese empanadas and seafood tostadas. You may say that that is a meal. Well, we say you only live once (as far as we know) and remember your time in Playa del Carmen is limited, so mangia, mangia.
     The soup course was a delectably light seafood soup of shrimp, calamari and cucumber. The main course was rib-eye steak in a tarragon/mushroom sauce and a fillet mignon in a rich red wine mushroom sauce with sautéed vegetables and garlic potatoes. The dessert was a white chocolate cheesecake topped with a chilled fudge frosting. The Don Emilione menu is a broad strong mix of Mexican classics with numerous seafood and/or meat dishes to the point that it would easily classify as a Mexican Caribbean style surf and turf restaurant. There are also pastas and salads on the menu, but the variety of seafood and meat dishes are absolutely incredible. The Don told us that he wants to change the menu a bit. We only hope he doesn't change it too much.
     Feeling as if we were too close to heaven we gladly accepted the Don's call to the bar. After all, this is a moveable feast. We moved to the lit glass block bar with high stools that is stocked to the nines with top shelf quality brands. (This isn't an all-inclusive resort bar. This is the real deal.) Don Emilione also keeps a well-stocked wine cellar with French, Californian, Italian and Spanish brands. We had a sampling of the house mixed drink specialties. First the Bahama Mama went down smoothly. Then the bartender mixed up his Don Emilione cocktail special that lit up the lights. Next, to refresh the palette, we had mango strawberry daiquiris that did the trick.
     Finally, as a "digestivo" (digestive) as they say in Mexico, we had a few tequilas to top off a great evening with the sounds of the piano player tinkling jazz in the background. We thanked the Don for a remarkable time and floated down the street well aware that in Don Emilione we had just enjoyed one of the top restaurants in Playa del Carmen. Indeed, life is beautiful. Enjoy.

     Don Emilione Restaurant is also open for breakfast and serves deli style sandwiches from 10 PM to 5 PM.
      Don Emilione restaurant is located on 5th Avenue North #7, between Avenida Juarez and Calle 2.

Don Emilione Restaurant Grades
Atmosphere: A | Food: A+ | Service: A+ | Music: B
Mexico Unveils A Change in Agrarian Land Policy
by Mark Stevens--Associated Press (1-30-02)
MEXICO CITY - President
Vicente Fox has unveiled new
policies that mark the most ex-
plicit admission to date that an
80-year-old land reform - a pro-
gram that came to symbolize the
1910-1917 Revolution, and one
that caused endless headaches
for people trying to buy land in
Mexico - was finished.
     Fox announced a six-year
farm policy Monday aimed at
clearing up problems in land
titles, and his administration de-
clared an end to an agrarian re-
form program that handed out
millions of acres since 1917.
     "The time came, as it had to,
to declare an end to the handing
out of land," Agricultural Re-
form Secretary Maria Herrera
Tello said. With most arable land
already doled out - and peasant
farmers increasingly slashing in-
to protected forests - she said it
was time to recognize that "the
land does not expand by presi-
dential decree."
     After landless peons rose up
in arms in the Revolution, the
new government rewarded them
with small, often communal
farms scattered like a patchwork
over much of Mexico. Many of
the farms were barely viable, and
the same land was often handed
out twice, creating community
conflicts that persist to this day.
     "History and experience sho-
wed us that land reform, by itself,
did not solve rural problems or
lead to development," Herrera
Tello said. "The shadow of po-
verty fell over rural Mexico, as
the mark of an era that had to
end."
     Some here say that Fox never
much liked the agrarian reform.
Fox's grandfather, an Irish-
American immigrant who bought
a ranch in northern Mexico,
apparently had to maneuver hard
to keep his property from being		 doled out to landless peasants
at the height of the program in the
1930s.
     But Fox said the new policy -
which aims to clear up land title
problems, rather than hand out
parcels - was driven by reality.
     "As all of us who have wor-
ked the land know, the starting
point is to achieve legal assuran-
ces for land titles ," Fox told a
ceremony at the presidential
residence in Mexico City.
     Fox said that only about half
of Mexico's approximately 250
million acres of rural properties
had clear titles, a situation that
has led to land disputes and diffi-
culties for farmers in getting pro-
duction loans.
     "This will allow us certainty
and confidence in planning our
production, and allow us to give
our children a secure future
when they legally inherit the land,"
Fox said.
     The confusion over rural pro-
perty - much of which is commu-
nally owned, unclearly marked
and the subject of dispute - has
caused headaches for both Mexi-
cans and Americans.
     In the most recent case, do-
zens of U.S. homeowners were
evicted from their beachside
community in Punta Banda, Baja
California, 100 miles south of
the U .S .- Mexico border. The
communal farm that purportedly
owned the property gave long-
term leases to the foreigners to
build homes there - but it turned
out the farmers didn't have title
to the land, and a court decided it
belonged to a Mexican company.
     The new owners offered to
negotiate new lease terms with
some of the residents, at a higher
price.
     In 1991, former president
Carlos Salinas announced he
was ending the land handouts,
and enacted reforms to allow

individuals farmers title to pieces
of the communal farms. There
has been talk ever since of dis-
banding the Agrarian Reform
Secretariat, which spends its time
now sorting out land dispu-
tes.
     Briefly, in 1994, the govern-
ment returned to its old ways,
promising to dole out land again,
after landless Indians joined the
leftist Zapatista uprising in Chia-
pas and began taking over thou-
sands of acres of private ranches
and plantations there.
     Those promises proved lar-
gely empty. But farmers conti-
nue to stage protests in front of
government offices in Mexico
City - the most recent in Decem-
ber demanding they be given a
piece of the decades-old dream:
free land.

For more informaition on buying land in Mexico:
Purchasing Property in Mexico
 Buying Property in Mexico:
 (Articles in Adobe Acrobat)

 1. Buying Land in Mexico

 2. Ejido versus Private Land

 3. Land Trusts or Fideicomiso

 4. Market Update

 5. Buyer Be Aware

 6. US Financing

 7. Subdivisions in Sonora

 8. Texas Realtors & Mexico

 9. Closed Deal

Get Adobe Acrobat:

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