Mexico Highway Blockades Enter Multi Day Phase

Published on Nov 26, 2025, 11:10 am CST

9 min read

Key points

Mexico highway blockades that started November 24, 2025 have continued into a multi day megabloqueo with dozens of points still affected
Mexican authorities and media report around 30 blockade points across roughly 17 states at peak, with some corridors fully closed and others opening only every few hours
Beach, colonial, and border routes such as Culiacan to Mazatlan, Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta, and approaches to Ciudad Juarez have all seen disruption
Talks between protest leaders and the Interior Ministry have so far ended without agreement, and some organizers say blockades could harden or repeat
Drivers and long distance bus passengers should treat cross country trips as high risk, avoid night driving, and be ready to reroute by air or add overnight buffers
Travelers can use toll roads, flexible routing through major airports, and extra time on transfers to lower the chance of being stranded at a rural blockade

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: Expect the greatest risk on federal corridors feeding Mexico City, Guadalajara, Pacific beach gateways, and northern border crossings where blockades and convoys keep appearing
Best Times To Travel: Plan unavoidable highway segments for mid morning to mid afternoon on non protest days and avoid night drives or predawn departures through rural or high risk states
Onward Travel And Changes: Move arrivals into key gateway cities at least one day early, keep bus and flight tickets flexible, and be ready to swap a driving leg for a short haul flight
What Travelers Should Do Now: Recheck route specific advisories, monitor Mexican traffic and news sources on the day of travel, and postpone non essential long road trips until blockades ease
Health And Safety Factors: Carry extra water, snacks, medications, and fuel range in case of extended stops, keep doors locked at checkpoints, and avoid confrontations with protesters or armed groups

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Mexico highway blockades that began on November 24, 2025, are now entering a multi day phase across central and northern Mexico, with slow moving lines of trucks and tractors reported near Mexico City, Guadalajara, and multiple border states. Mexican authorities and local outlets describe dozens of continued or renewed blockades on federal highways, some of them allowing convoys through only every couple of hours. Drivers, long distance bus passengers, and snowbird travelers heading to winter rentals now face a real risk of being stranded for hours, missing buses, or failing to reach airports in time for flights, so trips need backup plans and generous buffers.

In practical terms, the Mexico highway blockades have shifted from a one day protest into an evolving megabloqueo campaign that keeps key corridors unpredictable for anyone relying on long road segments.

Where Blockades Have Continued And What Routes Are Affected

Mexican officials and media report that at the peak of the action, around 30 blockade points were active across roughly 17 states, with trucks, tractors, and farm vehicles parked across toll lanes, interchanges, and bridges. Federal corridors feeding Mexico City, including the approaches used by traffic from Toluca, Puebla, and Queretaro, have seen renewed slowdowns and intermittent closures on successive days as protesters reposition.

On the Pacific side, roads in Sinaloa and Jalisco have been hit repeatedly. La Jornada and other outlets describe long jams on the Culiacan to Mazatlan route and the Benito Juarez highway, a key corridor for beach traffic into Mazatlan, with some vehicles released only in controlled intervals. Jalisco media highlight blockades near Guadalajara that affect traffic toward Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, and Colima, which folds disruption directly into popular colonial and beach driving itineraries.

In the north, some of the most sensitive impacts involve approaches to the United States border. Reports cite closures or heavy slowdowns near Ciudad Juarez, including around the Jeronimo Santa Teresa crossing, while earlier phases of the protest also affected routes in Sonora and Chihuahua. By contrast, coverage from the Laredo area notes that highways into Nuevo Laredo remained open during part of the campaign, underscoring how uneven the pattern can be from one border gateway to another.

Some blockade points are full closures where protesters refuse to let private cars, buses, or freight through, while others allow controlled passage every one or two hours. Local television and online briefings describe lines of trucks stretching for kilometers in both directions at certain toll booths, with personal vehicles and long distance buses trapped in the same queues. For travelers, that means even "open" routes can become hours longer without warning.

How Long The Megabloqueo Could Last

The November 24 action was announced as a single day nationwide protest, but it has clearly spilled over into later dates. On November 25, Mexican outlets were still describing second day blockades on highways in Sinaloa, Jalisco, Puebla, Michoacan, and other states, and by November 26, updated lists of "carreteras bloqueadas hoy" showed that truck and farm groups continued to hold or reestablish choke points in multiple regions.

Talks between protest leaders and the Interior Ministry have so far failed to produce a settlement that would end the blockades. N+ and Infobae report that a high level meeting in Mexico City concluded without agreement, after which representatives from the truckers association ANTAC and allied campesino groups signaled they would maintain or even reinforce blockades until they received concrete commitments on highway security, extortion complaints, and crop support. Some spokespeople have openly used the language of indefinite pressure, telling reporters that their base remains "en pie de lucha" and that new tactics or dates could be added if they feel ignored.

For trip planning, that means travelers should not assume the protest window closed on November 24. Instead, anyone planning a long drive in the next few days should treat the security and protest environment as fluid, with the possibility of further multi day waves if negotiations stall again.

Background: What The Megabloqueo Is About

The megabloqueo grew out of a joint campaign by freight carriers and farm organizations, including the National Association of Transporters and countryside advocacy groups that represent small farmers. Their main demands, as summarized by Mexican and international coverage, revolve around rampant highway robberies, allegations of extortion and abuse by police and National Guard officers at checkpoints, faster paperwork for plates and licenses, and more favorable prices and financing for staple crops such as corn and beans.

These grievances sit on top of long standing concerns documented in official travel advisories. The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia all warn about crime on Mexican highways, including armed robberies, illegal roadblocks, and kidnappings on some routes, and stress the importance of avoiding night driving, favoring toll roads where possible, and complying with official checkpoints without argument. The megabloqueo, in other words, is both a protest about these conditions and an additional layer of disruption on already risky roads.

Impacts On Beach, Colonial, And Border Trips

For beach routes, the most immediate impacts fall on Pacific corridors. The Culiacan to Mazatlan highway is a primary feeder for Mazatlan beach resorts and cruise embarkations, so hours long blockades there can strand both domestic road trippers and international travelers who flew into regional airports and then planned to continue by road. Around Guadalajara, blockades and slowdowns on routes toward Puerto Vallarta make classic "border to beach" drives from Texas or Arizona more fragile, since any closure in Jalisco can ripple down the chain of overnight stops.

Colonial itineraries, such as Mexico City to Puebla, Queretaro, San Miguel de Allende, or Morelia, also sit inside the protest map. Even when city centers remain calm, a single blockade on a toll road or bypass can trap cars and buses on exposed highway with limited services. That is especially challenging for travelers with mobility needs or families who were counting on predictable rest stops.

Border focused "snowbird" trips, where drivers take RVs or packed cars from the United States or Canada deep into Mexico for winter, are exposed in different ways. Some crossings, such as those around Ciudad Juarez, have already seen direct protest impacts, while others, like Laredo, have remained open but sit in states that carry higher baseline security warnings from foreign governments. A route that looked acceptable on paper a month ago may now involve passing near multiple potential protest zones and high risk stretches in a single day.

When To Reroute By Air Or Delay Travel

At this point, long highway segments that cross multiple states in one day should be treated as optional rather than default for international travelers. Where budgets allow, one of the safest pivots is to combine domestic flights with shorter drives instead of attempting a continuous border to beach or cross country road trip. For example, a snowbird traveler might choose to fly into Mexico City International Airport (MEX) or Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport (GDL), then rent a car or book transfers for shorter hops to Puebla, Guanajuato, or coastal resorts, rather than driving those stretches through multiple blockade prone zones.

If you already have a driving itinerary booked, the decision point is how essential the timing is. Travelers with fixed cruise departures, escorted tour starts, or medical appointments should strongly consider reshaping the trip so that they arrive in gateway cities at least one full day early, preferably by air or by bus on well monitored routes, and then keep local transfers short and flexible. Non essential scenic road trips that can be postponed by a week or more are better rescheduled than forced through in a period when protesters and authorities are still testing each other's resolve.

Long distance buses remain a viable choice, but they are not immune. Major bus companies can reroute or cancel services at short notice when highways close, and some routes may terminate early or bypass secondary towns. Passengers should book with larger, reputable operators, monitor company alerts on the day of travel, and carry enough medications, snacks, and warm layers in their hand luggage to handle an unscheduled overnight stop at a terminal or a prolonged hold on the road.

Planning Safely For Winter Road Trips

Even after this wave of blockades eases, the megabloqueo has shown how quickly Mexico's highway network can be constrained when protests, crime, and official checkpoints stack up. For the rest of the winter season, the baseline plan for foreign drivers should be to minimize exposure to long rural stretches, especially through states with higher security advisories, and to treat night driving on non toll roads as a last resort, not a convenience.

Adept Traveler's earlier article on the November 24 blockades offers deeper structural guidance on route selection, toll road use, and checkpoint etiquette, and remains a useful companion piece when sketching out detailed itineraries. As the situation evolves, Adept Traveler also plans to anchor this topic with a dedicated guide to Mexico highway safety and checkpoints in the Guides section so that advisory, protest, and risk information can be checked in one place.

For now, the safest stance is conservative. Build more time into transfers to and from airports, be ready to switch a driving leg to a flight or major bus route, and give yourself permission to pause or retreat if a route begins to feel unstable. Mexico highway blockades may continue to appear in waves over the coming weeks, but travelers who treat highways as a variable element instead of a fixed backbone will have more options when conditions tighten again.