An American couple lost control of their car when it flipped on the Mérida-Cancún toll highway. Diario de Yucatán reported that according to police sources, after going off-road, the vehicle ran along the embankment until it hit a large boulder, which caused it to flip upside down. Both occupants were able to extract themselves from…
Mérida is chosen — with Montreal and Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula — to spearhead a new initiative to reduce food waste. North America’s Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) estimates that every year the USA, Canada and Mexico waste a combined 168 million tons of food. The CEC campaign encourages education and offers materials through its…
Both business owners and drivers are frustrated with Merida’s new bicycle lanes. Part of the problem is not knowing the rules. State and local governments have been mostly silent on the specifics of the infrastructure plan. “We have only heard complaints about the new bicycle lanes. The government has imposed this decision on us, but…
When thinking of the Yucatán, for many the first image to come to mind is the pyramid of Kukulkán in Chichén Itzá. Although Chichén Itzá is by far the most visited historical attraction on the peninsula, there are another 54 interesting archaeological sites spread across the Mexican states of Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Campeche. Located roughly…
Admission fees to Yucatán’s archaeological sites will rise Feb. 1. The confusion will remain the same. Mexican visitors to Chichén Itzá will now pay 239 pesos, up from 210. The fee for international visitors will now be 539 pesos, up from 497. This price hike comes exactly one year since the last increase. The price…
The Venados de Yucatán postponed Tuesday’s match against the Oaxaca Alebrijes after nine members of its team tested positive for COVID-19. The coronavirus screening was mandated by the Liga MX, Mexico’s professional soccer governing body. The Venados’ last game was in November before a nearly empty stadium. Players and fans expressed their disappointment, mainly with sad…
A fire that began around 10 p.m. Wednesday at the Jungle Market clothing store damaged several Tulum businesses and forced around 1,000 people to evacuate their quarters. Firefighters extinguished the flames by 1:30 a.m. but remained at the scene until 3:30. The store was a total loss, but no injuries were reported and the source of…
Has your evergreen worn out its welcome? Mérida City Hall has announced its 2021 Christmas tree collection drive. The city is encouraging residents to drop off their Christmas trees at one of seven locations every day from Jan. 7 to 31, between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. The collected Christmas trees will be composted and…
Despite encouraging news, the future of sports in Yucatán remains uncertain. Several leagues are moving forward with plans for a 2021 comeback, but it remains unclear if local, state and federal authorities will allow it. The Leones de Yucatán — Yucatán’s pro-baseball team — has scheduled a tentative return to the Kukulkán stadium on May…
A Mérida-based real estate development firm announced that it will begin building southeast Mexico’s first skyscraper in June. The mega-project will come with a price tag of 1.8 billion pesos (US$91 million), and will be located at kilometer 30 on Mérida’s Periférico Norte, northwest of City Center, said Sky Capital. According to the developer’s website,…
This year’s “fiesta de los Reyes Magos” is looking rather different. The celebration commemorates the arrival of three wise men from the orient — likely Persia — to attend the birth of Christ. This festivity is observed throughout most of Latin America and Spain. The reyes magos deliver gifts to children much in the same way…
A tourist from Tijuana raised the ire of security personnel in Chichén Itzá when she ascended the famous Pyramid of Kukulkán. According to security at the archaeological site, the woman showed signs of intoxication. Amongst boos and jeers from other tourists, the woman descended the pyramid and was quickly detained by security. She was then…
Police forces across Yucatán are facing public anger for alleged uses of excessive force. Several groups have called upon the state government to form a special commission to investigate cases of police brutality. According to Yucatan’s Human Rights Commission, 11 individuals lost their lives under police custody in 2020. Yucatan’s Commission on Human Rights and…
Residents of Mérida have reported locusts in Fraccionamiento Los Héroes. Known for their ability to reproduce and migrate extremely quickly, locusts are a species of grasshopper known for destroying crops and any vegetation when present in large numbers. The swarm in question seems to be relatively small and has only been spotted in the west…
The Visit Mérida Mx app and website offers tips for getting around, keeping cool and finding things to do. The application also uses augmented reality technology to provide users with information about the city’s attractions such as parks, monuments as sites of historical interest. The first of these to be available within the application is the…
Investors with Zenith Aero have announced plans to modernize and re-launch the Chichen Itza airport. In an interview with A21MX, Fernando Rodríguez, legal counsel for Zenith Aero, said the company was working to procure all necessary permits and a fleet of six ATR 72 aircraft. Mr. Rodríguez also noted that Zenith Aero was seeking partnerships…
Mexico’s national energy commission, the CFE, confirmed a power outage which hit 13 states including Yucatán and Quintana Roo. “On December 28th an error occurred in the national charging and power generation grid. This caused a loss of approximately 7500 megawatts,” the National Energy Control Commission @CenaceMexico tweeted Monday. The CFE reports that it received…
Among those taking part in a phase-three trial for a new HIV vaccine developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals are dozens of volunteers in Yucatán. This is the third time a HIV vaccine candidate has reached phase-three human trials since the 1980s. Medical professionals and policymakers have expressed cautious optimism. But specialists insist that it is not…
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is putting the Mexican army to work again. AMLO says the army will run the Mayan Train project and several airports, and use any profits to finance military pensions. The army is already overseeing construction on some parts of the controversial train project on the Yucatán peninsula, while private firms…
New research identifies inscriptions found at Chichen Itza as referring to individuals belonging to the royal house of Cocom, a common surname to this day in Yucatán. The discovery was made by the archaeologists Eduardo Pérez de Heredia and Peter Biró, who correlated existing information with hieroglyphs found in the structure known as the Temple…
Online retail giant Amazon will invest in a distribution center in Umán, Yucatán Gov. Mauricio Vila Dosal confirmed. State authorities came out in support of Amazon’s investment and expressed optimism regarding the creation of new good-paying jobs in the region. According to websites such as glassdoor and mx.indeed.com, the average monthly wage for an Amazon…
A task force to assess the future of a flood-prone underpass was announced Tuesday by Mérida Mayor Renán Barrera. The short but controversial Prolongación tunnel has been underwater on and off since June. Barrera held a press conference to announce the task force, charged with assessing the viability of the paso deprimido. The landmark was…
Yucatán is the place for lively celebrations over the Christmas holidays. However, for obvious reasons, this year’s festivities will be much more subdued. With the prohibition of large gatherings and restrictions on mobility, traditions such as posadas and la rama have been canceled. Also canceled has been the lighting of the Coca-Cola Christmas Tree and…
Controversy has surrounded the decision by Yucatán’s state government to award 340 permits for the sale of pyrotechnics during the holiday season. While many have argued on social media that the use of pyrotechnics is a fun tradition, others have expressed their discontent arguing that the dangers and noise caused by such explosives far outweigh…
That’s all for now
That’s all for now