La Revista: Punta Mita
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CultureOctober 31, 2026

When the walls speak: the murals of Mita

October's Festival del Mural turned the town's walls into a conversation about wildlife, family, and who the coast belongs to.

Sea turtle and the Marietas Islands, Av. Las Palmas. Signed @stayseaart.
Sea turtle and the Marietas Islands, Av. Las Palmas. Signed @stayseaart.

A turtle moves through painted waves. A bird rests among pink flowers. A whale carries two words across a wall: PLAYAS LIBRES.

Across Punta de Mita, the murals invite us to look more closely at the place we call home: its wildlife, its families, its coastline, and the pressures shaping its future.

October's Festival del Mural, organized by Murales de Mita and Batalla por la Playa, brought art into the streets around a shared concern for community identity and the natural environment. The initiative grew alongside the defense of public access to Playa Las Cocinas.

The community wall, signed @estudioindependencia13 with @muralesmita and @batallaporlaplaya.
The community wall, signed @estudioindependencia13 with @muralesmita and @batallaporlaplaya.

One mural, signed by Estudio Independencia, brings that conflict into sharp focus. Families and coastal wildlife share the wall with construction machinery, gray buildings, a bird carrying a PROPIEDAD PRIVADA sign, and suited, pig-faced figures holding a scroll marked PLAYA COCINAS.

A pelican carries the PROPIEDAD PRIVADA sign.
A pelican carries the PROPIEDAD PRIVADA sign.
The excavator, the gray towers, the PLAYA COCINAS scroll.
The excavator, the gray towers, the PLAYA COCINAS scroll.

Read in the context of the beach dispute, the imagery offers a forceful critique of private interests taking control of a shared coast. It gives visual form to the fear of losing a place that holds everyday life, memory, and belonging. The figures are political caricatures; the painting does not establish the identities or conduct of particular individuals.

The real dispute has involved residents' concerns about public access, coastal works, and environmental harm. On July 20, 2026, Semarnat announced that it had revoked the federal coastal-zone concession granted to Cantiles de Mita, citing works and installations that had not been authorized. The agency also announced a new approach to restoration and free passage.

DINE, the company's parent group, maintained that its coastal-protection work had been authorized and that public access had remained open. The disagreement is part of the context these walls ask us to confront.

PLAYAS LIBRES. A whale on the wall at Casa El Encanto.
PLAYAS LIBRES. A whale on the wall at Casa El Encanto.

“Who gets to shape the future of this coast?”

In times of conflict, public art gives people a place to tell their own story. A wall can hold grief, anger, humor, and hope where everyone can encounter them. It can keep a question visible after the headlines move on.

A bird among pink flowers, La Huerta.
A bird among pink flowers, La Huerta.
A magpie-jay on the Hotel Meson de Mita wall.
A magpie-jay on the Hotel Meson de Mita wall.
Hands, a crocodile, a turtle, a ray.
Hands, a crocodile, a turtle, a ray.

For La Revista Punta Mita, these murals deserve attention as works of art and as expressions of community life. Walk the streets. Look closely. Listen to the people whose home appears in every painted stroke.

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