Restricted Zone Rules for Foreign Buyers
Understanding the 50km coastal and 100km border restrictions
What Article 27 Establishes
Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution establishes that foreign nationals and foreign-owned companies cannot directly own land within the Restricted Zone: 50 kilometers from any coastline and 100 kilometers from any international border. This provision has been in place since the 1917 Constitution and reflects Mexico's historical sensitivity about foreign land ownership near strategic coastal and border areas.
The Riviera Maya — including Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, and all points between — lies entirely within the Restricted Zone. There are no exceptions based on property type, purchase price, or visa status.
Permitted Ownership Structures
Foreign buyers have two legal paths to ownership in the Restricted Zone. The fideicomiso (bank trust) is the standard mechanism for personal/residential ownership — the bank holds title while you hold beneficiary rights. A Mexican corporation (Sociedad Anónima or Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada) can hold direct title to property in the Restricted Zone if the corporation's bylaws contain a Calvo Clause — a provision in which the foreign shareholders agree to be treated as Mexican nationals with respect to the property.
The corporate structure is typically used for investment properties, development projects, and commercial real estate where the liability and tax treatment of a corporate entity is advantageous.
Misconceptions About the Restriction
The restriction applies to direct ownership only. A foreign national holding beneficiary rights through a fideicomiso has functionally equivalent control over the property — the right to use, rent, improve, sell, and inherit. The distinction is legal title, not practical control.
Some buyers mistakenly believe that obtaining Mexican permanent residency or citizenship removes the restriction. Mexican naturalized citizens are not subject to the restriction, but permanent residents (non-citizens) remain subject to it.
Outside the Restricted Zone
Properties more than 50km from the coast and more than 100km from international borders can be directly owned by foreign nationals. In practice, almost no real estate of interest to international buyers in the Riviera Maya falls outside the Restricted Zone — the corridor's entire appeal is its coastal location.
Some interior Yucatán properties (Mérida, for example) fall outside the zone and can be directly titled to foreign buyers, though fideicomiso structures are still commonly used there for administrative simplicity.