Beachfront property in Rosarito and the federal maritime zone

Mexican federal law sets aside a strip of land along the sea called the zona federal marítimo terrestre, or ZOFEMAT. It is the 20-meter strip of land running inland from the high-tide line, and it belongs to the nation. It cannot be owned, sold, mortgaged or placed in a fideicomiso; it can only be used under a concession from SEMARNAT (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, the federal environment ministry). It does not become private through possession, however long someone has used it.

Seaward of the ZOFEMAT is the beach itself, the strip the tide covers and uncovers, which is also federal and open to the public. Behind the ZOFEMAT is land that can be privately owned. In Baja California, foreigners hold that land through a fideicomiso, because the whole state lies within the restricted zone of Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution.

The edge of a beachfront lot is not always where the deed seems to put it. Older deeds often describe the boundary as the sea, the beach or the federal zone, or give measurements taken many years ago. Beaches move. Storms, erosion, sand loss and sea walls shift the high-tide line, and the 20-meter strip moves with it. A lot may be shallower today than when it was surveyed, and part of a garden, deck or pool can end up inside the federal zone without anyone changing the paperwork.

The official line is set by SEMARNAT through a survey called a delimitación (delimitation) of the federal zone. On rocky coasts and cliffs, where there is no beach, the federal strip is set within the 20 meters next to the shoreline, and only where the slope there is 30 degrees or less (Reglamento for the federal maritime zone, Art. 4). Your lawyer should compare the deed, the catastral plan, any SEMARNAT delimitation and a current survey on the ground.

No. Beaches in Mexico are public, and the public has the right to use and reach them. An owner can hold a concession for the federal zone in front of the house, but that does not give the right to close the beach, fence it, or stop people walking along it. Private lots and gated communities cannot legally block access to the beach. Where there is no public road or path to it, the owners of the adjoining land must allow access through points agreed with SEMARNAT, with compensation, and anyone who blocks access can be fined 3,000 to 12,000 UMAs (Ley General de Bienes Nacionales, Arts. 8, 127 and 154). PROFEPA, the federal environmental enforcement agency, inspects the federal zone.

For buyers, this means: do not pay extra for a private beach, and expect people on the sand in front of your home. If a seller or agent describes the beach as private, ask what document supports it, and have your lawyer read it.

To use the federal zone, for example for a terrace, a garden, stairs to the beach, or simply to keep it as an open front area, the owner of the adjoining land applies to SEMARNAT for a concession. When several people apply on equal terms, the regulation sets an order of preference, and adjoining owners are on that list. The concession title states the holder, the area in square meters, the permitted use, the term and the conditions.

The holder pays annual federal fees (derechos) for the area under the Ley Federal de Derechos; the amount per square meter depends on the zone (Playas de Rosarito is in Zone VIII) and the use. Playas de Rosarito has a coordination agreement with the federal government for these fees, so ask the municipality where and how to pay them. Paying on time keeps the concession in good standing.

A concession is a federal permission, not ownership. It is granted to a named holder, so it does not pass automatically to a buyer with the house: a transfer of the rights, or a new concession, needs SEMARNAT's approval. It can be revoked if the holder breaks its conditions, builds without authorization or stops paying.

Ask for these items early and make the closing conditional on them:

Beachfront in a listing is a marketing word, not a legal description. A listing may count the sand, the federal strip and even a sea wall as part of the property, and the deed may carry measurements from decades ago. Only a survey by a qualified surveyor, tied to the current high-tide line and to the official delimitation where one exists, shows how much of what you see you will own, how much you can use only under a concession, and how much is public beach.

A survey also protects you later. If a neighbor, the municipality or SEMARNAT questions a structure or a boundary, a dated survey made at the time of purchase is evidence of what you bought and what was already built. Make the closing conditional on a survey whose result you accept.

Many coastal homes have something in the federal zone: a terrace, a wall, the edge of a pool, a stairway. If the concession authorizes it, the structure is lawful as long as the concession stays in good standing. If it does not, the structure can expose the holder to fines, an order to remove it, or the loss of the concession, and the buyer takes on that problem with the house.

Before you buy, list every structure inside the 20 meters, check each one against the concession title, and decide with your lawyer whether the seller should regularize it before closing, lower the price, or remove it. The promissory contract should say what happens if SEMARNAT refuses to transfer the concession or objects to a structure.

Foreign buyers in Baja California hold residential property through a fideicomiso: a bank trust under the Ley de Inversión Extranjera (foreign investment law), with a Mexican bank as trustee and the buyer as beneficiary (fideicomisario). It needs a permit from the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE); the 2026 fee for that permit is MXN 21,648.83, plus MXN 596.29 for examining the application (Ley Federal de Derechos Art. 25, DOF 07-11-2025).

The trust holds the private lot only. The federal zone cannot go into it. The concession is a separate federal document in the holder's name, reviewed and transferred on its own track, in parallel with the trust. Whether the concession should be in your name or the trustee bank's is a point to settle with your lawyer before closing. For how the trust itself works, see the fideicomiso guide.

From our office at Blvd. Popotla 3009, Playa Encantada, a short distance from the beach, Galarza Legal reviews beachfront purchases on the Rosarito coast: the title and chain of title, the survey against the deed, the SEMARNAT concession and its payments, and the structures in the federal zone. Lic. Pati Claudia Galarza (Cédula Profesional 15176510) drafts the conditions in the promissory contract and coordinates the concession transfer alongside the notary and the trustee bank.

Book a consultation, call +1 619-568-2424 or write to info@galarza.mx.