Yucatán Magazine’s Hacienda Issue Is Here and It’s Worth Celebrating
ByYucatán Magazine
Issue 16 of Yucatán Magazine is a meditation on Yucatán’s haciendas. More than architectural marvels—our haciendas are living chronicles that bind past to future, community to culture, memory to possibility. Our latest edition traces these threads through intimate portraits of restoration, reinvention, and resilience.
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026. Pictured: Yucatán Magazine writer David N McIlvaney and Hacienda Subin’s Laura Kirar.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026. Pictured: An EmmiKnit Handmade brand fashion show.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026. Pictured: An EmmiKnit Handmade brand fashion show.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026. Pictured: Publisher and Editor Lee Steele welcomes guests .Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026. Pictured: Publisher and Editor Lee Steele and General Manager Yesica Benitez welcome guests.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Hacienda Subin’s Laura Kirar finds that a portrait from the new Yucatán Magazine was a cover contender.Photo: Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Yucatán Magazine Hacienda Issue launch party, at the future Hotel Cigno Mejorada, November 2026.Photo: Sandy Perez / Yucatán Magazine
Here’s a quick look at what’s inside this keepsake edition:
At Hacienda Santa Rosa de Lima, community-centered restoration has transformed henequén-era walls into spaces for artisan workshops and medicinal gardens. Meanwhile, on the hallowed grounds of Uxmal, generations of guides—including Humberto Rosado Espínola, grandfather of our senior editor Carlos Rosado van der Gracht—have shared ancient stones with modern travelers. Today, Rosado Espínola joins Queen Elizabeth II and other luminaries honored in a dedicated guest room at the resort.
At Hacienda Subín, designer Laura Kirar has converted a derelict machine room into a multi-purpose creative space for film and culinary arts. Through Camino del Mayab, readers can walk the old henequén railway routes connecting 17 communities still anchored by these grand structures.
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTERDelivered to your inbox every Monday, completely free.
Spanish journalist Susana Ordovás, with photography by Guido Taroni, explores why these vestiges of Yucatán’s golden age remain essential to understanding regional identity. The issue also profiles five visionary women—Angela Damman, Marcela Díaz, Marjorie Skouras, Elena Martínez Bolio, and Josefina Larraín—who are reshaping perceptions through textile art, landscape design, and what we call “tactile resistance.” An origin story from Sac Chich rounds out the hacienda features.
Beyond the estates themselves, this richly illustrated, fully bilingual collector’s edition includes reimagined Xtabentún cocktails, Venice Film Festival fashion, cinema culture, and an intimate look at Bénédicte Desrus’s photo book Arraigo, capturing Meridanos in their time-capsule homes.
At a reception to debut the Hacienda Issue, Editor and Publisher Lee Steele put it all in perspective.
“This issue exists because of the incredible people in this room. To our advertisers, thank you for believing in this project, which after five years, keeps growing and finding itself,” Lee said. “Your support doesn’t just keep our lights on; it helps us tell stories that matter.”
The iconic Cinema Rex in Mérida’s Santiago neighborhood is preparing to reopen almost two years after closing its doors, marking another chapter in a story filled with false starts and unfulfilled promises. Cinespot, a Mexican cinema chain with locations in Mexico City, will take over the historic building on Calle 57 across from Parque de…
The painted wooden bus rattles to life in Parque de Santa Lucía, its engine rumbling as passengers settle onto worn bench seats. Through open windows, warm air carries the scent of laurel trees and the distant sound of church bells. This is La Guagua (pronounced WAH-wah), and it moves through Mérida like a time capsule…
All mobile phones in Mexico must be registered to an identifiable individual or company starting in January. This regulation states that telecommunications companies may block both new and existing lines that do not meet this requirement. The measure is part of a new regulatory framework approved by the telecommunications authority (IFT) and requires operators to…
Mérida is the first city in Mexico to join the Global Initiative for the Humane Management of Dog and Cat Populations. The initiative is led by the International Companion Animal Management Coalition (ICAM), an organization based in England that includes prominent animal welfare groups such as Humane Society International and the Royal Society for the…
When Saturday’s thermometer hit 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) in Mérida, hundreds of families lined up to do something that seems impossible in this tropical city: ice skating. The free “Magia sobre Hielo” rink opened Dec. 7 along Paseo de Montejo and Avenida Colon, transforming one of Yucatán’s hottest avenues into a winter wonderland. But…