MEXICO CITY — A government donation of land to the Roman Catholic church to build a chapel in the Mexican resort city of Cancun is drawing fire in a country sensitive to religious favoritism.
Local officials in other Mexican cities have drawn fire recently for publicly "dedicating" their cities to Jesus Christ and God at religious events, despite the country's long history of religious conflicts, including the 1920s Cristero war in which tens of thousands died.
But the Cancun donation especially angered some residents because the government-owned land was designated for public use, and some wanted to turn it into badly-needed park for a low-income neighborhood located several miles from the glitzy coastal hotels.
"People are angry, because they wanted a park," said Tulio Arroyo, an environmental and civic activist whose Ombligo Verde group has fought in the past to defend public spaces in real-estate hungry Cancun.
Arroyo said the land was listed as an "urban services" area, which meant it should be used for parks, schools, a fire station, or other public services.
But last week, residents got a surprise when a wire fence went up around the land, saying "Private Property, Cancun-Chetumal Prelature, Legitimate Owner."
Bertha Grajales, the spokeswoman for the housing authority in the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo, where Cancun is located, confirmed Friday that the land had been donated to the church, but she could not say when or why.
Mexican law says the government should be non-religious and not show any preference for any one faith.
