Mexico protects turtles

The Mexican government has withdrawn permission for hotel companies, including Spain's Sol Meliá, to go ahead with a coastal hotel project which environmentalists feared would harm endangered sea turtles.

The Xcacel-Xcacelito project would have involved construction of five hotels on 408 acres of beach near the tourist resort of Cancún, along the Maya Riviera.

A spokeswoman for Sol Meliá said an ecological study was commissioned shortly after the land was bought from the Mexican authorities in 1998 by Meliá Inversiones Americas, which has since merged with Sol Meliá. Although the authorities approved the project last September, political changes had led to the about-turn. While this may not mean a permanent cancellation, Sol Meliá may no longer want to proceed, as it already has hotels in the area.

The company owns a Meliá-branded hotel in Cancún where, each year, staff help the hatching baby turtles reach the sea safely before they are eaten by predators.

Meanwhile, Sol Meliá is to build a new 500-bedroom, five-star resort between Cancún and the Maya Riviera, expected to open by the end of the year.