Puerto Vallarta’s two-week Holy-Week safety operation closed without a single fatal accident or major rescue, municipal authorities confirmed on Tuesday—an outcome they hailed as a “saldo blanco” (clean slate) after one of the busiest holiday seasons in recent memory.
From 11 to 27 April more than 200,000 sun-seekers packed the bay’s beaches, malecón and riverbanks. While neighbouring Jalisco municipalities tallied 23 vacation-related deaths—including highway crashes and drownings—Puerto Vallarta itself reported none, a contrast officials attribute to heavy preventive patrolling.
Inspector Marco Antonio Cruz Bolaños of the 41st National Guard Battalion said 380 officers—augmented by cadets from the Guard’s academy—rotated through beach towers, checkpoints and tourist corridors, generating 250 “proximity-service” assists ranging from lost-child reunions to first-aid calls.
City civil-protection chief Jorge Misael López Muro detailed continuous patrols along Los Muertos, Playa de Oro and the Cuale River island, plus rapid-response teams positioned at Río Pitillal and Boca de Tomatlán. No serious water rescues or cliff extractions were recorded this year.
The holiday crackdown netted 73 arrests for public-order offences—chiefly alcohol-related disturbances—and four suspects for alleged felonies; officers also recovered four stolen vehicles, according to the municipal police commissioner’s after-action report.
On Good Friday, transit officers and paramedics guarded a dozen neighbourhood Via Crucis reenactments, rerouting traffic and providing hydration stations for some 8,000 faithful who processed through El Pitillal, Ixtapa and the city centre without incident.
Besides the National Guard and local police, the operation pooled resources from the Mexican Navy, Army, Jalisco State Police, tourist-assistance units and volunteer radio clubs. Joint mobile teams swept nightlife zones after 2 a.m., while FEMA-style “pre-hospital” tents treated 112 minor injuries ranging from jelly-fish stings to heat exhaustion.
Hotelier association president Susana Rodríguez called the zero-tragedy tally “the best marketing Puerto Vallarta could ask for,” noting that average occupancy hit 92 percent during Easter weekend. City hall said it spent 4.6 million pesos on overtime, fuel and temporary lifeguard contracts—money “well invested,” Mayor Luis Ernesto Munguía insisted.
Authorities plan a smaller but similar deployment for the upcoming Labour-Day bridge and summer break. “Prevention is cheaper than rescue,” López Muro told reporters, urging both residents and visitors to keep following basic beach-safety rules: swim near towers, respect flag warnings and moderate alcohol intake.
