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Foreign currency payment turns tourist visit into administrative impasse and exposes obstacles for refund to foreigners without registration in Brazil, after transfer thousand times higher than the ticket price at one of the most visited places in Rio Grande do Norte.
A 60-year-old Paraguayan tourist mistakenly paid about R$ 30,000 when buying tickets that totaled R$ 30 to visit the Cajueiro de Pirangi, in Parnamirim, near Natal.
The incident occurred on January 31, 2026 and remains unresolved because the refund depends on an administrative process that allows reimbursement to a foreigner without a CPF and without a bank account in Brazil.
Error in PIX and value thousand times higher than ticket
The visitor made the transfer via PIX in the amount of 40,500,000 Paraguayan guaranis, an amount equivalent to approximately R$ 30,000 based on the conversion reported by the news articles that covered the incident.
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The payment was therefore about a thousand times above the amount due for the tickets, which at that time totaled R$ 30.
The error was noticed during the billing process, both by the tourist herself and by the team responsible for managing the tourist site.
Impasse for refund without CPF and account in Brazil
The Institute for Sustainable Development and Environment of Rio Grande do Norte, Idema, confirmed that the refund could not be made immediately.
According to the agency, the difficulty arose because the visitor does not have the registrations normally required for operations of this type in the country, such as CPF and an account in a Brazilian financial institution, which blocked the automatic refund of the excess amount.
With this obstacle, the State opened an administrative process to seek a legally secure solution that allows for full reimbursement.
The measure has been treated as a necessary alternative to enable the refund within the rules applicable to public administration, since the operation involves money received by equipment managed by the state public authority.
Cajueiro de Pirangi is one of the main tourist attractions in RN
The episode drew attention because it occurred in one of the most well-known postcards of Rio Grande do Norte.
The Cajueiro de Pirangi is managed by Idema and appears in official materials from the state government as the Largest Cashew Tree in the World, a title by which it became nationally known and helps maintain a constant flow of Brazilian and foreign tourists throughout the year.
In more recent records from the Potiguar government itself, the tree occupies about 9 thousand square meters and has an estimated perimeter of approximately 500 meters.
The space is located in Pirangi do Norte, in the municipality of Parnamirim, and attracts visitors interested in both leisure tourism and environmental interest, as the structure of the cashew tree and its horizontal growth have transformed the site into a historical reference for the state.
Accessible tickets contrast with improper payment
The amount charged today for public visitation is below the amount mistakenly paid by the tourist in extreme proportion.
At the official ticket office of the monument and in recent communications from the state government, the full entry appears for R$ 10, while the half-price ticket costs R$ 5, prices compatible with the total of R$ 30 reported in the case, indicating the purchase of multiple tickets in a single transaction.
Case exposes challenge in international payments via PIX
Although the difference between the correct amount and the transferred amount is evident, the return of funds received by the public administration does not always occur simply when there are registration issues, especially in situations involving foreigners.
This point led the government to formalize the internal procedure, in an attempt to find a legal and operational basis to conclude the reimbursement without violating administrative requirements.
The case gained attention precisely for bringing together two unusual elements in the same occurrence: an error in conversion or typing in foreign currency within a Brazilian instant payment system and, at the same time, the subsequent difficulty in returning the money to someone without a local banking connection.
Although the problem was identified immediately, the solution was hindered by rules that go beyond the simple acknowledgment of the mistake.
Government seeks solution to return full amount
In the case of the Paraguayan visitor, Idema reported that measures have been taken since the improper payment was detected.
Until the public disclosure of the episode, the agency was still seeking a legally viable way to complete the full refund. There was no indication, in the sources consulted, that the reimbursement had already been finalized.
Meanwhile, the Cajueiro de Pirangi remains one of the main tourist attractions of the Potiguar coast, with regular visits and ticket prices at popular rates.
The tree is described by the state government as a notable natural heritage, recognized for its unusual size and the symbolic weight it holds in the tourism of Rio Grande do Norte.
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