Mexico finally declared independence from Spain in 1822, but even with this newfound independence, most property in Mexico remained in the hands of a select few: the bourgeoisie Mexican elite, foreign investors and the Catholic Church. Most Mexican citizens were relegated to laboring on sprawling plantations owned by these select few elites for slavish wages that were hardly sufficient to sustain and nourish a family. Years of unrest deriving from the harsh and unfair treatment by the elite and their plantation honchos culminated to a head when their own President, Porfirio Diaz, sold nearly every remaining square kilometer of Mexico to foreigners during his 30 year term, liberating the proceeds for his own personal accounts.
The end result was the Mexican Revolution, in which over a million Mexican lives were sacrificed in the fight to finally free Mexico from over 400 years of abusive foreign control. The resulting Constitution of 1917 imposed new laws and restrictions on foreign ownership as well as the land holdings of the Catholic Church. In particular, Article 27 of the Constitution completely restricted foreign citizens from owning property within an established restricted zone (zona restringida). The restricted zone is composed of all land located within 100 kilometers from a national border and within 50 kilometers of the Mexican coastline. It is said that the U.S. played a major role in the establishment of this restricted zone in an effort to prevent foreign nations from establishing military bases along the U.S./Mexico border or along the Mexican coastline.
It wasn’t until the 1930's that the Mexican people truly saw property being returned to them. President Lazaro Cardenas disassembled the large property holdings and distributed them in the form of community farms or "Ejidos". Ejidos are common grazing pastures or community lands that were provided by the government to population centers in order to provide food for the members of the corresponding community. After suffering through years under the encomienda system, in which the Spanish conquerors and their inheritors were granted trusteeship over the indigenous people residing on their plantations, land reform was one of the principal objectives of the Mexican Revolution and the resulting Constitution of 1917.
Even though the people were allowed to farm the properties and profit from their work, it was not until Constitutional reforms of 1992, which were specifically designed to increase foreign investment in Mexico, that they were allowed to actually sell their land for profit. The 1992 Agrarian Law recognizes property rights within the Ejido and allows for the owner of record to sell or lease the property to a non-Ejido member. Now, property can be removed from the National Agrarian Registry and placed in the public land registry, allowing it to be sold or leased. Thousands of acres of ejido land are being removed from Ejido classification and added to the public registry every year.
Shane Lewis is a Mexican real estate specialist with Auhll & Associates Real Estate Investment Firm in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. He is also studying Mexican Law with a focus on real estate and property law. He has several years experience working and living in Mexico, and is happy to answer any questions foreign citizens in Mexico may have regarding the purchasing process in Mexico.
For immediate information regarding property in Puerto Vallarta feel free to visit his company website at http://www.puertovallartadevelopers.com/.
