Waves keep undermining a Mexican beach condo tower that a court ordered torn down

New photos show more damage at the base and a sharper lean toward the ocean, according to the Tribuna report. The retaining wall and the pile cap are cracked and shedding concrete, debris is heaped around the footing, and first-floor balconies sit roughly two meters above the water. The tower holds more than 20 apartments, and waves have pounded it for over a month. In early October, José Santos Salas Hernández, who runs Civil Protection for the municipality, said the sea had scoured a hole about four meters deep beneath two towers and exposed their piles; the complex was closed on Oct. 2 and 13 Canadian and American guests were evacuated, Sol Mexico News reported. Part of the development gave way on Oct. 21.

The legal fight is older than the storms. San Pancho residents first complained to Profepa, Mexico's federal environmental enforcement agency, in 2017, Causa Natura Media reported. After a December 2021 inspection, Profepa ruled in August 2022 that developer Pacific Lifestyle Properties had to demolish the works and restore 1,466 square meters (about 15,800 sq ft) of land reclaimed from the sea. A federal administrative court upheld that ruling in May 2025, and in October 2026 a collegiate court rejected the company's last appeal, leaving the demolition order and a fine of 96,220 pesos in place. The developer has said it held the permits it needed, according to an N+ report cited by Sol Mexico News.

On Oct. 30, the Bahía de Banderas council voted 11 to 0, with one abstention, to move ahead with demolishing Tower 1 at an estimated cost of 8.932 million pesos, Tribuna and Vallarta Hoy reported. Mayor Héctor Santana said the town would try to recover the money from the owners as a tax debt and that Semarnat has approved the job as emergency work, Meganoticias reported. The town's legal director, Marcos Parra Becerra, said crews cannot start until the parties are notified and given time to respond. No start date has been announced.