Opposition to the Bahía Papagayo development in Playa Panamá is intensifying after SINAC authorized tree cutting in the project area. The citizen group Salvemos el Bosque de Playa Panamá has called two demonstrations, one for Tuesday, April 21, at 4:00 p.m. outside the Constitutional Chamber in San José and another for Wednesday, April 22, at 4:00 p.m. in Playa Panamá, Carrillo.
The group said it filed an amparo asking Sala IV to order an immediate halt to any logging or other intervention while the broader legal disputes around the project continue. Activists say machinery has already been moved into the area to begin work.
The latest trigger was a forest permit granted to Enjoy Hotels & Resorts for the first phase of the project. That authorization allows the cutting of up to 700 trees and clears the way for construction to begin. Reporting on the permit says the first phase includes 94 hotel rooms, and that the authorization was issued by the Tempisque Conservation Area under resolution SINAC-ACT-OSRSCC-052-2026. Opponents argue the affected footprint goes well beyond those 700 trees and could ultimately involve thousands across the wider intervention area.
Bahía Papagayo is a planned $925 million tourism and real estate development in Playa Panamá inside the Golfo de Papagayo tourism hub. Project materials present it as a mixed-use destination with hotel, condominium, villa, and commercial components on more than 320 acres of land near the Gulf of Papagayo.
The project has been under pressure for more than a year. Critics have argued that the environmental review downplayed the presence of forest, wetlands, and waterways and have long objected to the lack of a public hearing. In June 2025, Sala IV rejected an earlier appeal over public participation, and in November 2025 SETENA rejected a motion seeking to void the project’s environmental viability.
Other legal fronts remain open. The Santa Cruz Environmental Prosecutor’s Office opened case 25-000008-1791-PE after an inspection tied to alleged logging and land-use change in the area, and the matter was still in preparatory investigation as of late February.
The dispute also drew national attention last year when Enjoy Hotels sought a preventive seizure of activist Juan Bautista Alfaro’s assets after he questioned the project’s permits in a video. Lily Cabezas and Javier Adelfang later reached settlements with the company, but Alfaro did not.
Enjoy Hotels and Bahía Papagayo have previously said the project complies with Costa Rican environmental law, that local consultation was carried out during the SETENA process, and that official reviews found no wetlands or mangroves inside the project area. The developer has also said the project is intended to bring jobs, infrastructure, and long-term investment to Playa Panamá.
