Opening a business in Playas de Rosarito: permits and licences

In what order should you get the permits?

Rosarito's offices ask for each other's documents, so order matters. A practical sequence for a shop, office or restaurant (a suggestion, not an official checklist; each office confirms its own requirements):

• Before you sign a lease or buy, confirm that the land use allows your activity.
• Form the company, if you will use one, and get its RFC; see setting up a company in Rosarito.
• Obtain any construction licence the fit-out needs, and the municipal environmental licence before construction or before starting activities.
• Fire safety certificate and, where your type of business requires one, the programa interno de protección civil.
• Sign licence, before the sign goes up.
• Health notice (aviso de funcionamiento) for food, drinks, lodging, beauty services and the other listed activities.
• Licencia de operación.
• Alcohol permit, last, because it builds on most of the documents above.

Land use (uso de suelo): check it before you sign a lease

The municipal urban administration office (Dirección de Administración Urbana) grants or denies land-use authorizations through a technical dictamen (Reglamento de Edificaciones, Desarrollo Urbano y Habitabilidad para el Municipio de Playas de Rosarito, Art. 5, fr. III; Periódico Oficial, 3 December 2021). It compares your activity with the urban development programmes for the area.

Rosarito's 2026 Ley de Ingresos charges a technical opinion of land use (opinión técnica), valid six months, at 11.45 UMA for a lot up to 500 m². A larger lot, or one next to or inside the federal maritime zone (ZOFEMAT), pays 18.95 UMA, and in the federal zone the federal authorization must come first. A land-use dictamen for commercial or mixed use is charged by the area used, from 14.36 UMA up to 50 m² to 56.85 UMA above 5,000 m² (Ley de Ingresos del Municipio de Playas de Rosarito 2026, Art. 27, apartado S). A change of land use first needs a favourable opinion from the municipal planning institute (IMPLAN). The 2026 UMA is MXN 117.31.

The common mistake is a lease signed for premises where the activity is not allowed. Make the lease conditional on the dictamen; see commercial leases in Rosarito, and for oceanfront premises, beachfront property and the federal zone.

The licencia de operación

Many Mexican cities call it the licencia de funcionamiento; Rosarito calls its general business licence the licencia de operación. The municipal urban administration office reviews applications for licences and for changes to them, and grants or denies them (Reglamento de Edificaciones, Art. 5, fr. VIII). The 2026 Ley de Ingresos charges the fee through the Departamento de Imagen Urbana (Art. 27, apartado T). The fee depends on the type of business and its floor area; the same schedule applies to changes of address, owner, area, activity, name or hours.

While the paperwork is in progress, the municipality can issue a provisional operating permit valid 90 days, once only. It is not available to high-risk businesses, businesses that sell alcohol or casinos (Art. 27, apartado V).

Established businesses revalidate their permits every year by 30 June and must show that predial, the fire department certification and the sign licence are current. Revalidating late brings the penalty set in the Ley de Hacienda Municipal (Ley de Ingresos 2026, Art. 76).

Protección civil and the fire department

The fire safety certificate. The Dirección de Protección Civil y Bomberos certifies the safety devices of commercial and industrial premises. The 2026 fee runs from 9 UMA for a shop up to 50 m² to 23 UMA for a restaurant; annual revalidation costs 50% (Ley de Ingresos 2026, Art. 43, frs. I and IX).

The programa interno de protección civil is the business's own emergency plan: risks, brigades, evacuation and training. State law requires it, whatever the size, for restaurants, cafés, bars, night clubs, party halls, cinemas, swimming pools, clinics and childcare centres, among others, prepared by a person accredited by the state civil protection office (Ley de Protección Civil y Gestión Integral de Riesgos del Estado de B.C., Arts. 69 and 74). The municipal regulation also covers premises that pose a risk or receive many people (Reglamento de Protección Civil del Municipio de Playas de Rosarito, Periódico Oficial, 13 February 2026, Art. 158). Under that regulation:

• A new business that needs a programa interno must file it within 60 business days after opening (Art. 141).
• It is filed in print and digital form, with a copy of a current insurance policy (Art. 139).
• The office approves it or makes observations within 20 calendar days; if it does not answer, the programme is deemed approved (Art. 145).
• It is valid for one year and must then be updated and validated again (Art. 142).
• 2026 fees: 45 UMA for the first review and certification, 28 UMA for each revalidation (Ley de Ingresos 2026, Art. 43, fr. X).

Health: the aviso de funcionamiento

Establishments that do not need a sanitary authorization, but whose activity is on the official list, must file an aviso de funcionamiento (operating notice) with the Secretaría de Salud or the state government at least 30 days before they start operating. It states the owner, address, processes and activity, and declares that the business meets the rules (Ley General de Salud, Art. 200 Bis). Baja California's health law lists, among others, businesses selling food or drinks, lodging, beauty salons, swimming pools, event venues, funeral homes, childcare centres and tattoo studios. The notice must be modified when the business changes location, owner or name (Ley de Salud Pública para el Estado de B.C., Art. 153).

Some activities, such as surgery or applying pesticides, need a full sanitary authorization instead (Ley General de Salud, Art. 198). Separately, Rosarito's Reglamento de Salud Pública (last amended in the Periódico Oficial of 6 May 2025) requires people who work where food or drinks are prepared, sold or served to hold the municipal food-sector health card (Tarjeta Sanitaria CSA), kept on view at the business. It is valid two years, with medical and laboratory tests every six months (Arts. 33 to 35, 88 and 89). The 2026 fee is 4 UMA, about MXN 469 (estimate) (Ley de Ingresos 2026, Art. 42).

Selling alcohol: a separate permit under state law

Alcohol sales are governed by the Ley para la Venta, Almacenaje y Consumo Público de Bebidas Alcohólicas del Estado de Baja California (last amended 30 January 2026) and, in Rosarito, by the Reglamento que Regula la Venta, Almacenaje y Consumo de Bebidas Alcohólicas en el Municipio de Playas de Rosarito (Periódico Oficial, 20 April 2018). The municipality issues the permits. The main rules are below, and the 2026 fees for a new permit follow in the table:

• Selling, storing for sale or serving alcohol needs a prior permit, permanent or for a single event. Permanent permits are granted by resolution of the Cabildo (city council) (state law, Art. 10).
• Each permit is for a type of business (giro), such as grocery, restaurant, restaurant-bar, bar or hotel (Art. 6); changing giro, owner or address needs authorization.
• Drinking on the premises is not permitted in residential, school and factory zones, except in restaurants and fondas (Arts. 9 and 22).
• Where the main activity will be selling open drinks, the municipality posts a public notice at the site for 15 business days so that residents can give their opinion (Art. 21).
• Rosarito's regulation, in its 2018 text as posted on the municipal website, asks, among other documents, for a land-use dictamen for alcohol sales, the municipal operating permit, the sign licence, the fire safety certificate, the civil protection capacity certificate (certificado de aforo), a social impact study, a current predial receipt, a municipal no-debt certificate and a criminal-record letter no older than six months (Reglamento, Art. 33). Confirm the current list with the municipal alcohol department (Departamento de Alcoholes) before you apply.
• Permits are revalidated every year (state law, Art. 11; Reglamento, Art. 48).
• Sanctions run from a fine of 50 to 1,000 UMA to closure for up to 45 days, or revocation of the permit with permanent closure (state law, Art. 27).

Estimates only. Final amounts are set by each office, bank, notary or provider at the time of payment. Source: Ley de Ingresos del Municipio de Playas de Rosarito 2026, Art. 41, at the 2026 UMA of MXN 117.31.

Signs and the municipal environmental licence

Signs. Installing or changing a sign needs municipal authorization (Reglamento de Edificaciones, Art. 5, fr. VII), under Rosarito's Reglamento de Publicidad e Imagen. The 2026 fee is charged per square metre: for example, 2.50 UMA per m² for a wall sign or awning without lighting, and 5.00 UMA per m² for a lit one. Sign licences are revalidated by the end of June, and the building owner is jointly liable for the fee (Ley de Ingresos 2026, Art. 27, apartado W).

Environmental licence. Rosarito's environmental regulation requires a licencia ambiental before construction, remodelling or starting commercial or service activities. It sets conditions on wastewater, emissions, waste, noise and light (Reglamento de Protección al Medio Ambiente para el Municipio de Playas de Rosarito, Periódico Oficial, 13 September 2024, Art. 19). A business without significant environmental impact files an informe preventivo before it starts; others file an environmental impact statement (manifestación de impacto ambiental) (Art. 21). The 2026 fee for a new informe preventivo up to 500 m² is 50 UMA, or 56 UMA for a restaurant (Ley de Ingresos 2026, Art. 50). Larger works can need state environmental impact authorization (Ley de Protección al Ambiente para el Estado de B.C., Arts. 41 and 42), and real-estate developments that affect coastal ecosystems, or works on the coast or in the federal zone, can need federal environmental impact authorization from SEMARNAT (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente, Art. 28, frs. IX and X).

Permit table: who issues what, and when

Reference fees from Rosarito's 2026 Ley de Ingresos at the UMA of MXN 117.31; the office calculates the final amount when you apply.

Estimates only. Final amounts are set by each office, bank, notary or provider at the time of payment.

Renewals, inspections and fines

A Rosarito permit stays valid only while the business complies (Ley de Ingresos 2026, Art. 76), and the municipality inspects. The civil protection regulation provides for warnings, fines of 100 to 500 UMA (about MXN 11,731 to 58,655), administrative arrest, closure and cancellation of licences (Reglamento de Protección Civil, Art. 355). Acts of the alcohol authority can be challenged through the remedies in Arts. 33 and 34 of the state law. Keep a yearly calendar:

• By 30 June: revalidate the licencia de operación and the other permits of an established business, with predial, fire certification and sign licence current (Ley de Ingresos 2026, Art. 76), and revalidate the sign licence (Art. 27, apartado W).
• One year after each approval: renew the programa interno (Reglamento de Protección Civil, Art. 142) and the fire safety certification (Ley de Ingresos 2026, Art. 43, fr. IX).
• Every year: revalidate the alcohol permit (state alcohol law, Art. 11).
• Whenever something changes (address, owner, floor area, activity, name or hours): request the change of licence (Ley de Ingresos 2026, Art. 27, apartado T) and modify the aviso de funcionamiento (Ley de Salud Pública, Art. 153).

How Rosarito Legal can help

Rosarito Legal, the Rosarito office of Galarza Legal, reviews the premises and the lease before you sign, requests the land-use dictamen, prepares the file for the licencia de operación and the civil protection, sign, environmental and health filings, and prepares alcohol permit applications for the Cabildo. If an inspection ends in a fine or closure, we review the remedies. Lic. Pati Claudia Galarza (Cédula Profesional 15176510) works in English and Spanish from Blvd. Popotla 3009, Playa Encantada, Playas de Rosarito, B.C. 22713.

You pay every municipal, state and federal fee directly to the office that charges it; the firm does not receive or hold money for third parties. Call +1 619-568-2424, email [email protected], use the contact page or book a consultation.

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