Yes. Foreign buyers have been purchasing homes along Mexico’s coast for decades, and San Crisanto is no exception. The path is a bank trust called a fideicomiso, and it is the ordinary way beachfront property is held by non-Mexicans.
Mexico’s Constitution, Article 27, sets a restricted zone: land within 50 kilometres of any coastline, and within 100 kilometres of an international border, cannot be titled directly in a foreigner’s name. San Crisanto sits on the Yucatán coast, so it falls inside that zone. A deed that tried to put the title in a foreign buyer’s own name would not be recorded. The rule is in Article 27, section I, of the Constitution, and the zone is defined again in the Foreign Investment Law.
The fideicomiso is the structure the law provides instead. A Mexican bank holds legal title as trustee. You are the beneficiary. In practice that means the rights buyers care about stay with you: you may live in the home, rent it, renovate it, sell it, and name the people who receive it. The bank does not manage the property or approve how you use it. Its role is to hold the deed so the purchase complies with the restricted-zone rule. The federal procedure file for this permit, SRE-02-005, describes it the same way: the permit lets a foreign buyer acquire the use and enjoyment of property in that zone.
The trust is permitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and signed before a Mexican notary. The ministry’s own page for the permit to constitute a fideicomiso in the restricted zone lists what the application covers: the buyer, the bank, any successor beneficiaries, and the property. The bank files it. You do not apply on your own.
Each fideicomiso is set up for up to 50 years and can be renewed for further 50-year terms under Articles 11–14 of the Foreign Investment Law. Renewal is a filing, not a new purchase. You can also name successor beneficiaries in the trust, so the property can pass to heirs without a separate Mexican probate on the title. The current fee and timing for the permit are posted on the investor single window: MXN 21,650, with a stated response time of up to five business days.
If you later sell to a Mexican buyer, the trust can be cancelled and the title transferred directly. If you sell to another foreign buyer, the beneficial rights are assigned into a new or continuing trust. Either way, the property is saleable.
Our bilingual team arranges the trust with the closing and walks you through each step, from the permit to the notary signing, so you are not managing the paperwork alone. For a plain-language walk-through, two English guides are worth a look: Fideicomiso Mexico, a 2026 buyer guide, and how the fideicomiso works for foreign buyers in Yucatán. Both are brokerage pages, not official law.
To talk through a viewing, or how a fideicomiso would work for a specific residence, message us on WhatsApp at 705-499-4947 or email info@mexicobeachliving.com.
Ownership in the coastal restricted zone is governed by Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution and Articles 11–14 of the Foreign Investment Law. The permit to create the bank trust is issued by the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores. This note is a general explanation, not legal advice.
