State authorities said that Progreso’s boardwalk will remain closed over the Semana Santa holiday to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The malecón will remain closed to both vehicle and pedestrian traffic starting Friday and continuing through April 11. The restaurants operating along the boardwalk will be allowed to continue admitting customers, though it is…
More than 1,000 people in Campeche were inoculated with fake Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines, authorities said. The vaccines were administered to workers at Grupo Karim’s, a textile factory in Campeche, police told local media. The owner of the factory, Mohamad Yusfuff Amdani — a Pakistani national — is said to have close ties to high-ranking political…
Federal health undersecretary Hugo López-Gatell says that Yucatán is not yet ready for students returning to classrooms. The government official said that although Yucatán’s government has done much to contain the pandemic, the current rate of infections is still too high. López Gatell will spend the next several days in Yucatán and Campeche supervising the…
A new law requires all foreign-language movies shown in Mexico to be subtitled in Spanish rather than dubbed. This means that from now all on movies will show only in their native language, but always with Spanish subtitles. The only exception being animated films made specifically for children. Alhough the new law was supposed to…
Reaserchers point to pollution from rivers in South America and the United States as the likely cause of rapid sargassum growth. The sargasso sea was first observed by Christopher Columbus in 1492. However, since that time, that relatively small patch of seaweed has been transformed into a floating island of biomass spanning over 5,600 miles….
After years of unreliable service from Mexico’s power utility, power outages in García Ginerés continue to frustrate residents. A protest staged last Friday blocked traffic along Calle 14 in the neighborhood, just north of the historic center. Organizers said that they have made several reports to the CFE but that their complaints continue to be ignored. …
Scientists in Yucatán warn that within a couple of decades, saltwater could contaminate the drinking water supply of the entire peninsula. Because the water basin in much of Yucatán is so close to the surface, rising sea levels would be disastrous. The problem has already begun to manifest in some areas of the Riviera Maya,…
A couple of young men in Yucatán found an abandoned cemetery near the “ghost town” of Misnébalam. They said that they found the cemetery after a two-hour walk which began at the Misnébalam hacienda. In recent years, the former henequen hacienda of Misnébalam has drawn several visitors curious about reports of alleged ghost sightings. Some…
Cancún and the Mayan Riviera have had a relatively slow year due to COVID-19 but beaches, bars, restaurants, and nightclubs are far from empty. Even the largest nightclubs with a capacity for thousands of partygoers have reopened in time for spring break in Cancún and Playa del Carmen. The most conservative estimates indicate tens of…
When traveling east on the Mérida-Valladolid toll-free highway, about 20 kilometers before reaching Pisté, you will notice some disheveled old signs pointing you in the direction of the archaeological site of Yaxuná. The small towns you will pass on your way are quite beautiful, though a little run down. The area is full of old…
A family from Tekax is starring in an episode of a Chinese documentary series focusing on seeds. The series, “Once Upon a Bite,” looks at food from a Chinese perspective. Series producers arrived in Tekax to meet with Miguel Chab and his family in the Tixcuytún district where they work as traditional farmers in the…
Authorities in Yucatán are bracing for the second Easter holiday of the COVID-19 era. Known in Mexico as Semana Santa, Easter holidays are usually a very busy time of year in Yucatán, with beaches full to the brim and people cramming into bars and restaurants to escape from the heat. Despite higher rates of infections…
Testing for COVID-19 has become a very profitable business in Mexican resort destinations such as Cancún. But some testing sites are accused of price gouging or even administering phony tests. PCR tests in Mexico cost an average of 945 pesos but are administered to tourists in resort destinations such as Cancún for up to $US150,…
The United States is planning to send millions of COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccines to Mexico and Canada. AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has not yet been approved for use in the United States, so the Biden administration has opted to loan them to Mexico and Canada, preventing them from going to waste. Although some details still need to…
A team of speleologists and archaeologists have discovered a cave in Yucatán with 137 children’s painted handprints. Archaeologists believe the handprints to be about 1,200 years old and part of a Maya coming-of-age ceremony. The site is approximately one hour south of Mérida in an area where cenotes and cave formations are known to be…
COVID-19 vaccines will begin to be administered to Mérida’s seniors as early as next month, said Yucatán Gov. Mauricio Vila Dosal. “Once we have vaccinated all people over the age of 60, our state will be in a much better position to continue reopening the economy,” said Vila Dosal. Residents of Mérida over 60 make…
The jaguar cub born last December in Mérida’s Centenario zoo finally gets a name, Booxo. The name makes reference to the cub’s black fur, as boox in Yucatec-Mayan means black. The official announcement was made by Mérida Mayor Renán Barrera Concha at a ceremony held in the Centro Cultural Olimpo. The name was selected from…
Mexico’s federal education authority says that it is working on a plan to return students to in-classroom learning. The news comes a day after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called on the state of Campeche to return to in-person learning in late April, after the Easter holidays. “Returning to classrooms will be an enormous step…
Residents in Bacalar are complaining that motorized boats continue to violate navigation rules on the lagoon. Over last week’s long weekend, boats and jet skis made their way through restricted waterways at great speeds. Chetumal’s port authority is responsible for the area, however according to people in Bacalar, they rarely bother to show up. Motorized…
Pro-marijuana activists are offering free growing workshops in Yucatan’s rural communities. “It is all about fighting the stigma that surrounds marijuana and showing people the sorts of products that they could produce.” said a spokesperson from Frente Cannábico del Sureste. The group says that it will continue with its workshops and will always make sure…
Over the long weekend to commemorate the birth of Benito Juárez, several beach resorts across Mexico saw a considerable spike in hotel bookings from domestic travelers. The state of Quintana Roo says it received well over 100,000 tourists and achieved slightly over 50% hotel capacity in Cancún and Playa del Carmen. Other popular tourism destinations…
A well-dressed couple from Spain exchanged wedding vows 10 meters below the waters of a cenote in Yucatán. Barcelona newlyweds Ina Sapezanskaia and Rafael Guillermo García exchanged their vows while submerged in the Noh Mozón Cenote near Tecoh. Both the bride and groom on Monday opted for formal white traditional wedding attire instead of wetsuits. …
Mérida on Monday received the sculpture known as “Greetingman” as a gesture of friendship from the Republic of South Korea. The statue of a bowing man was created by Korean artist Yoo Young-Ho, and is six meters tall and painted blue. It is to be errected on the avenida República de Corea, in Mérida’s north. …
Authorities in Yucatán shut down three businesses in Mérida and another in Chabihau for not following COVID-19 health protocols. Government inspectors placed closure notices on the front doors of the establishments and notified administrators that they could be liable for fines of up to 18,000 pesos. The sanctions came after inspectors found the business to…
That’s all for now
That’s all for now