Scandal in Costa Rica: “They’re Going To Destroy Pavones”

It pains me to write this but Pavones is currently being demolished against the will of the locals to make way for mega-developments that will not only erase the fabric of the community, but also destroy one of the greatest waves in the world. It should come as no surprise that this grand scheme is all being orchestrated by a former politician, none other than Costa Rica’s former Minister of Tourism, now founder of Enjoy Group Hotels & Resorts, Ruben Pacheco Lutz. 

Police arrived at local businesses in central Pavones at 4 a.m. this morning with body armor, rifles, and gas masks to protect the demolition crews from the local residents who had to rally to simply empty the buildings of the food and goods that were still inside. The local municipal government of Golfito is defending those demolishing the town rather than the citizens who they were elected to serve. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Surfline (@surfline)

While the Surfline post is very helpful to spread the word (thank you Surfline!) the information isn’t complete, read on for more of the story. We’ll be updating this article as the situation evolves.

This isn’t just sad, it’s illegal. Although their website is awash with bullshit claims of “sustainability” and “thoughtful expansion”, all of this destruction is happening at a rapid speed  to make way for Marina Bahia Golfito, Enjoy Group’s mega project designed to cater to super yachts and the über rich. See image below for language from the Enjoy Group website.

According to a statement from the Rio Claro – Pavones Integral Development Association–a formal association that serves as a liaison between the community and the government, the following has occurred. (The full statement is posted below at the end of the article)

“The Golfito Municipality demolished two supermarkets, one bakery, one restaurant, the residence of two households, two cabins, walls, and living fences. All of those affected were local people with 70 years of roots in Pavones. Several people were displaced from their homes and nearly 20 more were left jobless. They intend to continue with the demolitions affecting even more people, claiming that they do not have a concession and were built illegally, when the municipality itself has not processed their concession applications but has given them licenses and patents with which they have worked for years paying their municipal taxes, in addition to the fact that one of the demolished structures was one of the oldest structures in Pavones, it existed since before the regulatory plan was made and according to the law it had to be respected.”

Rio Claro – Pavones Integral Development Association

These actions are being done without due process and in a flagrant disrespect of human rights. Not to mention a lack of consideration for the sensitivity of a sand-bottomed wave such as Pavones that depends on the natural sediment flows that enable it to be the 2nd longest left in the world–and not just one long closeout.

These actions are being done without due process and in a flagrant disrespect of human rights. Not to mention a lack of consideration for the sensitivity of a sand-bottomed wave such as Pavones that depends on the natural sediment flows that enable it to be the 2nd longest left in the world–and not just one long closeout. 

There are a few projects being pushed through thanks to Enjoy Group Hotels & Resorts and the corruption of the municipal government of Golfito. Theses projects include, but are not limited to:

• Demolition of existing buildings under the guise of “reclaiming public lands” to expand the road and allow for further development (illegal)
• Expansion of Pavones Point to 60 luxury condos (greedy)
• Privatize the point (illegal)
• Build a marina and fishing pier in Pavones (stupid)
• Demolish the entire town to rebuild and rebrand as a “sustainable” luxury destination (disgusting and illegal)

In addition to the official community statement, we caught up with several locals to assist with reporting on this story, including Rodiney Rodriguez (Coco Drone), Tavo Rio, and Tara Ruttenberg, Ph.D. in sustainable surf tourism, and author of our recent story on Surfistas Locales, who shared this:

“What’s happening in Pavones is a blatant example of development interests strong-arming corrupt local governments to gentrify surf tourism destinations and exploit their local surf resources. Sometimes it’s quick and dirty like we’re seeing in Pavones, and sometimes it’s a few years in the making, as in Tamarindo, Nosara, and Santa Teresa. Surf communities in southern Costa Rica and elsewhere can learn from these examples and organize in resistance. Communities organizing against surf tourism overdevelopment, both private and government sponsored, is our only hope to save places like Pavones from becoming the next Santa Teresa.”

All around the world, local communities and iconic waves are under threat from development projects spearheaded by foreign investors who manipulate local governments to act in their favor and against the residents who call these places home. This isn’t new, it’s been happening for decades and is most noticeable in places that were first targeted like Southern California, Waikiki, and Bali–all places that are crumbling under their own “successful (over)development”. 

Very few places have managed to resist this sort of onslaught and degradation, the ones that have were either considered too dangerous or too isolated. Southern Costa Rica’s Golfo Dulce, home to both Matapalo and Pavones, had long been left alone due to its geographical isolation. While Matapalo is home to several millionaires and even billionaires, Pavones has remained low key aside from being home to such an iconic wave. 

Related: “Surfistas Locales”: Costa Rican Surfers Confront Gentrification

Up until very recently, the roads leading to these communities were unpaved and sometimes unpassable. Electricity was prone to power outages, the internet was unreliable, services were slim–and that’s exactly what visitors loved as they were reminders of our not so distant path where things moved slower and nature was left largely undisturbed. If given the choice between remaining on their family land and continuing their way of life or getting displaced so they can bus in to work as waiters, janitors, and housekeepers at luxury hotels, almost all of the locals would agree that development was not what they want.

For years, foreign development was wary of getting involved due to a convoluted legal situation in which very few legal land concessions exist. More information below in the full statement from the  Rio Claro – Pavones Integral Development Association

RESPONSE TO THE INTERVENTION IN PAVONES

Pursuant to the press release from the Municipality of Golfito regarding the intervention in Pavones, we believe that Mayor Freiner Lara Blanco is overlooking many important details of the events that occurred. Therefore, we are going to refer to the aforementioned topics to provide some context:

1. We wish to emphasize that the information that the Municipality of Golfito considers inaccurate refers to the concern about the future demolition of the entire town of Río Claro Pavones, since no residents or businesses have a concession This is because the only two concessions granted are for hotel zones belonging to corporations controlled by foreign investors. With the current municipal decision to implement outdated regulatory plans, considering that the precautionary measures have been rejected based on the lack of an active concession, there is a very real danger that the Rio Claro Pavones community will disappear. Regarding the buildings mentioned, the Golfito Municipality demolished two supermarkets, one bakery, one restaurant, the residence of two households, two cabins, walls, and living fences. All of those affected were local people with 70 years of roots in Pavones. Several people were displaced from their homes and nearly 20 more were left jobless. They intend to continue with the demolitions affecting even more people, claiming that they do not have a concession and were built illegally, when the municipality itself has not processed their concession applications but has given them licenses and patents with which they have worked for years paying their municipal taxes, in addition to the fact that one of the demolished structures was one of the oldest structures in Pavones, it existed since before the regulatory plan was made and according to the law it had to be respected.
2. The process being carried out is to relocate a street that was supposed to go according to the drawing of the regulatory plan, but it was built by the same Municipality of Golfito almost 20 years ago in the wrong location. Now they want to open a new path to move the street so that it fits with the regulatory plan from more than 20 years ago that has never been updated. If the regulatory plan had been updated, there would be no need to move the street. No one is invading the current road; it is 14 meters wide along the entire length. Regarding illegal constructions, no one can legally build a house for their children on the lot if the municipality does not process the concession application and they have been left without legal security for decades.
3. The evicted are developing in the Maritime Terrestrial Zone because when their grandparents gave a large part of their land to the municipality due to the implementation of the Maritime Terrestrial Zone Law in 1977, their families were already occupying said zone.
4. None of those affected have a concession granted, because the Municipality of Golfito has more than 500 active concession applications that have not been processed, the oldest of them 31 years old. Due process has not even been respected because the bidding process for the paving has not even been released yet, and the defense of the people has been ignored in the sessions of the Municipal Council and the so-called “Dialogue” Table
5. The offenders were served notices in November 2024 and appealed them, and were not notified when the demolitions would be carried out. From the previous clarifications, it is evident that no affected neighbor was trespassing on public domain property; rather, they have plenty of time to wait for their well-deserved legal security.
   Article 12 of the Maritime-Terrestrial Zone Law is mentioned, so it does not consider the patents and commercial licenses granted by the Municipality of Golfito itself, with which these premises have worked for years paying municipal taxes, as due legal authorization.
   Regarding Article 23 of the Maritime-Terrestrial Zone Law, they must build roads to guarantee access to the public area, but once built, there is no need to move them and waste road infrastructure that has been under construction and municipal maintenance for almost 20 years.
   Regulators have limited public access to the beach and public parking is almost nonexistent, which is serious when considering the large number of vehicles and tourists that currently visit the community. Regarding Article 6 of Law 9242 for the Regulation of Existing Constructions in the Maritime Zone
   On land, there are no buildings supported by a concession because the municipality has not processed concession applications for too long. On the other hand, some of the buildings existed before the regulatory plan, so they should have been included from the beginning. This is how they seemed to correspond in the drawing. However, when the topographic survey was done, the roads in the regulatory plan do not coincide with the reality of the terrain; they are completely out of step, in some places by up to 30 m, affecting pre-existing buildings. Furthermore, the current regulatory plan was approved in 2004 and has not been updated even once. According to the ICT and INVU Manual for the Preparation of Coastal Regulatory Plans, these must be updated every five years, and this has not happened even once. If the regulatory plan had been updated, the situation would have been regularized a long time ago, and nothing would have had to be demolished.
   Why does the Municipality of Golfito insist on implementing an outdated and outdated regulatory plan, in the midst of developing the Comprehensive Coastal Regulatory Plan, in which all the errors of previous regulatory plans can be corrected?
6. The Municipality of Golfito has not been notified of a precautionary measure because, to date, the precautionary measures have been conveniently rejected because the applicants do not have a concession.

Related: “Surfistas Locales”: Costa Rican Surfers Confront Gentrification Pt. 2