In 2024, Mexico News Daily once again covered plenty of “hard news” and “bad news” stories.
As we have done since MND was founded more than 10 years ago, we also reported numerous stories that made us laugh, brought a smile to our faces, warmed our hearts, and even left us scratching our heads in bewilderment.
Now, as we approach the end of the year, it’s time to look back at the amusing, uplifting, inspirational, heartening, gratifying, strange, surreal and “only in Mexico” stories MND published this year.
We conclude our “México Mágico” series today with a compilation of articles we published between October and December.
Read our compilations for the first three quarters of the year at the following links:
Q1: The top ‘México Mágico’ moments of 2024: Part 1
Q2: The top ‘México Mágico’ moments of 2024: Part 2
Q3: The top ‘México Mágico’ moments of 2024: Part 3
México Mágico: A look back at MND’s weird and wonderful stories in the fourth quarter of 2024
We’ve made it to the final quarter of the year — time to celebrate with a drink, so why not make it the world’s best tequila? The judges at this year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competition determined that that accolade goes to Don Fulano Fuerte (100 Proof Blanco). ¡Salud!
Another (long-departed yet omnipresent) Mexican icon was in the news in October. Researchers at the Guttmann Institute in Barcelona posthumously diagnosed the medical condition that artist Frida Kahlo suffered from. Read our report here.
Researchers have a new diagnosis for Frida Kahlo, 70 years after her death
President Claudia Sheinbaum, in contrast, was looking to the future, offering more details on the government’s plans to manufacture its very own electric vehicles. Could “Olinia,” as the car will be called, become another Mexican icon?
Just before Day of the Dead, we reported that the use of mortuary services for deceased pets was on the rise in Mexico, while in early November our curiosity was piqued by a large ensemble of mariachi musicians who sought to break the Guinness World Record for the most mariachis playing simultaneously.
Over 1,000 mariachis gather in Mexico City to break world record
Also in November, a strange scandal in Puebla came into sharp national focus. Marilyn Cote presented herself as an esteemed psychiatrist with eye-popping credentials, but it turns out that she is in fact a medical impostor. Read our report here.
Lucha libre wresters, or luchadores, also assume different identities, although their subterfuge — with their faces hidden by colorful masks — is celebrated rather than scorned. In late November, we reported on an initiative in Mexico City that seeks to attract a new generation of luchadores.
The search for the next Lucha Libre star kicks off in Mexico City
Narcocorridos — ballads that tell the stories of Mexico’s notorious drug traffickers — are another undeniable aspect of Mexican culture, albeit one that the federal government would like to change. Sheinbaum last month announced a national contest that seeks to draw groups that sing corridos to explore broader themes and move away from glorifying crime, violence and misogyny. Instead, she wants corridos to promote values and culture.
Dolphins are not known for being mentioned in narcocorridos, but they conceivably could be after researchers detected traces of fentanyl inside bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico. A potential source of the contamination is the fentanyl being trafficked by Mexican drug cartels via the Gulf of Mexico. Click here to read MND’s report on this strange — and disturbing — development.
In the final quarter of 2024, we also published a story about three men’s attempts to eat “Mexico’s spiciest burger” in just three minutes.
We hope you enjoyed reading our quirkier stories this year, and perhaps found a few here that you missed. We’re already looking forward to another year of weird, wonderful and distinctively Mexican stories in 2025!
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])
