Canadian tourists sheltering in place in Mexico recount burnt-out cars, lines for food

HALIFAX — The streets of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, were eerily quiet a day after fire and violence engulfed the popular tourist destination on Sunday, Canadians in the region said.

Marc Edge, a communications professor from Vancouver, said he saw billowing clouds of black smoke and burned out vehicles while walking on the boardwalk Sunday. He saw police on the street and “one of them had a machine gun and ordered us back to our hotel,” he said.

In order to comply, Edge said he had to wait until the flames blocking his way died down. “And then I gingerly picked my way past a couple of buses that had burned out.”

Edge said Monday afternoon he had been sheltering inside his downtown hotel for 24 hours.

The Canadian government issued a shelter-in-place order for tourists following the death by Mexican special forces of the notorious leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

Mexican officials said Monday that at least 73 people died in an attempt by special forces to capture Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho.” The dead included security forces, suspected cartel members and others.

Cars burned out by cartel members blocked roads at more than 250 points in 20 Mexican states, including in Puerto Vallarta, and sent smoke billowing into the air.

Global Affairs Canada said approximately 5,000 Canadians were in Jalisco State. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Monday that more than 26,000 Canadians had registered as being in Mexico, but the agency suspects the actual number to be higher.

Cathy Campbell, from Burlington, Ont., said she came to Mexico with family on Feb. 17 to stay in Nuevo Vallarta, which is about 15 minutes from Puerto Vallarta.

Campbell said she was in a taxi with family Sunday morning when the driver received a phone call then abruptly stopped the car. He told them they needed to go back to their hotel immediately, she said, because of fires and unrest nearby.

Campbell called it “a pretty scary moment.”

“We couldn’t believe it. We were like, what are you saying to us?” Campbell said in an interview Monday. “The look on his face, it was like he was stunned, and he was obviously scared.”

From their apartment balcony, they could see smoke billowing from different areas in Puerto Vallarta, Campbell said.

Their flight back to Canada isn’t scheduled until the 26th and hasn’t been changed, she said. She added they’ve registered with the Canadian consulate and they continue to follow shelter-in-place orders. So far on Monday, it’s been quiet and she hasn’t seen any more smoke, she said.

“There’s only very few people walking the beach, normally you see a fair bit more. People are kind of sticking to their own areas right now,” said Campbell.

Meanwhile, Kelly Konieczny and her husband Tim arrived in Puerto Vallarta from their home east of Edmonton on Valentine’s Day. They’ve been to the area many times on vacation, and said they’re considering moving there when they retire.

The couple said the condo they’re staying at is “blocks and blocks” from the centre of the violence and that they haven’t felt unsafe, though they could see plumes of smoke from their window and a burnt-out car about 100 metres from their building.

Orders to shelter in place disrupted Konieczny’s scheduled dialysis treatment at a nearby hospital on Monday morning. Security at their condo didn’t want to let the couple leave the building, but since the hospital was so close, they were able to negotiate their way out.

When they got to the hospital, however, the nurses who run the dialysis department weren’t there.

“Nobody was able to come in because there’s no public transit and no taxis, no Ubers are running,” Konieczny said on a video call, noting it’s no fault of the nurses.

She said she would return to the hospital in the afternoon in case nurses arrive by then.

“I haven’t had (a treatment) since Friday and it’s cutting it close. You can really only go a couple days — which, now I’m on my third day — so we really need to get a treatment and that’s our worry,” she said.

If she doesn’t get dialysis, she said she’s likely to experience pain and other complications that will take time to get back under control.

For Nakul Bhatia, a lawyer from Calgary, the most incredible part of being stuck in Puerto Vallarta has been the locals and staff still working at his resort in the marina district of the city.

Bhatia said the staff were not allowed go home Sunday evening, but even after staying at work overnight, they made sure all the visitors were taken care of.

“One woman at the front desk, we saw her at nine yesterday morning, and then again yesterday at 8 p.m. And then this morning, she’s there again,” Bhatia said.

Bhatia was not worried about running out of food at the resort, though he said the staff have “pared down” the offerings, with just one of three restaurants open Monday.

Edge said there have been long lines at the small corner stores that have remained open, and he’s not sure when he’ll be able to get a full meal.

Canadian Angela Kelleher, who has lived in Puerto Vallarta for a decade, said she spent Monday preparing meals for those in her community — pasta, beans and other non-perishables she had around the house. She said many of her neighbours only buy enough food for a few days at a time, so she wanted to share what she had.

Kelleher, who said she drove past burnt out cars and gas stations on her way home on Sunday, said the situation left her teary. “I was really sad for my Mexican neighbours,” she said.

Most flights into and out of Puerto Vallarta had been cancelled or diverted, though the airport authority said the airport remained open Monday afternoon. Air Canada, WestJet and Air Transat said later in the day that they were resuming service to Puerto Vallarta starting Tuesday.

Porter also announced on X it intends to resume service to Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday, with complimentary changes being through Wednesday.

Wendy Buelow and her husband Dave, who had intended to fly back home to Winnipeg, were stranded at the airport Sunday when the Mexican military shut it down as violence erupted.

“We managed to get some pieces of cardboard from a storeroom and those were our beds,” Buelow said.

Buelow was able to leave the airport Monday morning and found a hotel but said she was waiting to hear from WestJet on when they would be able to fly home.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2026.

— With files from Rianna Lim and Nicole Thompson in Toronto and The Associated Press.

Emily Baron Cadloff, The Canadian Press