A prominent Dominican journalist, Sergio Carlo, has launched a formal legal complaint against the luxury Dreams Macao Punta Cana hotel over allegations that the property improperly blocked and restricted public access to a popular stretch of Macao Beach, drawing attention to longstanding tensions between private coastal resorts and public access rights in the Caribbean nation.
Carlo’s complaint has been distributed to multiple key government bodies, including the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Tourism (MITUR), the Higüey City Council, and the Specialized Tourist Security Corps (CESTUR). The filing centers on claims that hotel staff regularly force visiting members of the public to move their personal belongings and beach equipment, such as umbrellas and chairs, to clear sections of the shoreline for private commercial events like wedding ceremonies and professional photo shoots.
The incident that prompted the complaint directly involved Carlo himself, during a recent visit to the beach. While he was using an explicitly public section of the shore, he says hotel employees approached him and demanded he relocate his umbrella. Staff told Carlo the area was required for a private event, following orders from hotel management, even though the location fell within the public maritime zone that is protected from private restriction under Dominican law.
In his formal filing, Carlo lays out extensive legal backing for his position, citing multiple binding constitutional and regulatory frameworks that confirm public ownership of all Dominican beachfront and the 60-meter maritime coastal strip. These include Article 15 of the Dominican Constitution, Law 305-68 which governs the 60-meter maritime zone, General Environmental Law 64-00, a previous ruling from the Dominican Constitutional Court, and recent Environment Ministry Resolution 026/2025, all of which enshrine the right of unrestricted free public access to all beach areas falling within this public zone.
Carlo is calling on relevant authorities to launch a full, transparent investigation into his allegations. Beyond the probe, he is pushing for regulatory bodies to immediately halt any ongoing hotel practices that unlawfully limit public access to the beach, implement routine, unannounced inspections of the coastal strip in front of the Dreams Macao Punta Cana property, and levy appropriate legal sanctions against the hotel if the violations outlined in the complaint are confirmed.