Mexico's restricted zone: 100 km and 50 km explained

The definition in the texts

Two federal texts say the same thing. Article 27, section I, of the Constitution speaks of “una faja de cien kilómetros a lo largo de las fronteras y de cincuenta en las playas”. Article 2, section VI, of the Foreign Investment Law (Ley de Inversión Extranjera, LIE) repeats it as the legal definition of “Zona Restringida” and adds nothing else: no map, no list of states, no formula for measuring from the shoreline.

Two points follow.

• The 100 km figure is about borders (the plural appears in the text) and the 50 km figure about beaches. The two strips are measured from different lines and have different widths, so a plot 70 km from a beach can be outside the zone while a plot 70 km from a border is inside.
• The texts read do not define the word playas or say from which line of the shore the 50 km start. That is the reason the doubt procedure below exists.

Who decides whether a plot is inside

Article 6 of the LIE Regulation puts it in one sentence: when there is doubt about whether a property is inside or outside the zone, the SRE decides “previa consulta” with INEGI, the national statistics and geography institute.

Article 10 A of the Law adds a municipal layer. INEGI must publish in the DOF, and keep up to date, a list of municipalities that are:

• entirely outside the zone;
• partly inside the zone;
• entirely inside the zone.

The list matters because the federal clock changes with it. For a plot outside the zone in a municipality entirely outside, the permit to buy is deemed granted unless the SRE publishes a refusal in the DOF within five business days of filing. For a plot outside the zone but in a municipality partly inside, the SRE must decide within thirty business days. (The procedure itself is in buying outside the restricted zone.) The current published list was not among the pages read for this guide, so check a municipality’s status with INEGI or the SRE.

The trust application also records the geography. The Regulation (art. 9, section VII) requires the bank’s request to state the distance of the property from the border or from the federal maritime-terrestrial zone, the strip of public beach land along the coast (Zona Federal Marítimo Terrestre). The SRE therefore receives a measured distance with every trust request.

What changes inside the zone

For the details, see the bank trust, the SRE agreement and buying through a Mexican company.

What the zone does not do

• It does not stop a foreigner from using, living in or renting out a home in the strip. The trust law defines “use and enjoyment” (LIE art. 12) as the rights to use the property and also to receive fruits, products and “any return” from its lucrative operation through third parties or through the bank.
• It does not change with the buyer’s immigration status. Article 3 of the LIE treats investment by a permanent resident as Mexican investment but expressly leaves out the matters of Titles One and Two, so the restricted-zone rule continues to apply to permanent residents.
• It does not set the price, the taxes or the notary tariff, which stay local.

Which professional to consult

A notary (notary) must demand the SRE permit, or proof of the filing where approval is tacit, before signing (Regulation art. 4). A real estate lawyer (real estate lawyer) can ask the SRE to resolve a doubt about a plot. A surveyor (topógrafo) can produce the measures and boundaries that the application requires. Ask each professional how their registration can be checked.