Bar owners in La Paz and Los Cabos, Baja California Sur (BCS), say they will hold a demonstration in front of state government offices to demand that they be allowed to reopen.
The protest does not yet have a firm date, but organizers say it will consist of a parade of around 1,000 cars due to health safety concerns about large amounts of people crowding together.
Bars and nightclubs are not permitted to open until the state is at the green light coronavirus risk level and BCS is currently at orange as high season approaches. Sara Barocio García of the small business association says that the people, not the government, should take responsibility for keeping themselves safe and healthy.
“There are contaminated people, and we are all going to get this,” she said.
She also accused the State Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Coepris) of harassing businesses with excessive inspections, noting that some businesses have already been visited four times. Barocio noted that a strip club, Amnesia in Cabo San Lucas, has had to shut its doors permanently due to health regulations stemming from the pandemic, leaving 30 people unemployed, BCS Noticias reports.
• Rock star Sammy Hagar, whose annual October birthday bash at his Cabo Wabo nightclub has drawn hundreds of tourists to Cabo San Lucas each year over the past three decades, has announced that due to the pandemic, the party will be virtual and is priced at US $24.99.
• Precautions continue to be necessary as coronavirus concerns remain valid in BCS, which surpassed an unfortunate milestone this past week as numbers surged past 10,000 recorded cases, yet the state will move to yellow on October 5, government officials announced Friday afternoon. As of yesterday, BCS had 10,341 accumulated cases of the coronavirus and 467 people had died.
Desal plant approved
Congress has approved US $240 million in funding for a second desalination plant in Los Cabos and accompanying improvements to the municipality’s water system. The plant will provide 250 liters per second of fresh water for the municipality’s 464,000 residents, Cabo Mil reports.
“Today is an important day for Baja California Sur, for Los Cabos and for the [residents of this state]. It is a day of justice and it is also a day of reflection. At this time I am signing the publication of the decree … that will allow us to build the desired desalination plant that will bring drinking water to thousands of homes and dozens of neighborhoods in Cabo San Lucas,” Governor Carlos Mendoza Davis announced.
Ghost carnival comes back to life
Residents of San José del Cabo have lived with a ghost carnival for the past six months. Rides and games were mounted in a field adjacent to downtown as part of San José’s traditional celebrations last March but were abruptly canceled before the revelry could begin due to the coronavirus pandemic, leaving the carnies with nowhere to go and no income.
Some 16 of the 25 families brought to town this spring have remained, camped out in the shadow of the motionless Ferris wheel, merry-go-round and other rides and games until authorities gave them the go-ahead to open the fair to the public last week. But there’s a catch: no children are allowed due to health protocols.
A representative of the carnies says that those who enter the fair area must wash their hands, wear masks, undergo a temperature check, and must be more than 1.2 meters tall.
Children, pregnant women, and senior citizens over 65 may not enter, and crowds must be kept at 40% capacity, although the representative says they have been lucky to get 15% attendance since allowed to open, Metropolimx reports.
Of the 29 rides, only 11 designed for adults are in operation.
Los Cabos’ most expensive vacation rental
Looking for a beachfront rental home for you and four of your guests?
Consider the Ty Warner mansion at Las Ventanas al Paraiso, which has the distinction of being the most expensive rental home in Los Cabos at US $35,000 a night (plus 34% in taxes and service fees), BCS Noticias reports.
The 2,601-square-meter, two-bedroom villa is owned by Warner, the man who made billions producing Beanie Babies in the 90s.
The home’s master suites have 6.1-meter ceilings, Indian silk upholstery and sweeping glass doors leading out to the infinity pool and the ocean beyond. There’s also a glass-bottom pool on the roof which is accessible by elevator.
The nightly rate includes a private chef, a butler, a personal assistant, an on-call chauffeur, access to the mansion’s tequila library and wine cellar as well as your own fireworks display should you so desire.
Party foul
Authorities in Loreto shut down a private party last weekend after residents complained, BCS reports.
Police and Civil Protection, responding to calls from concerned citizens, found a full banquet, live musicians and scores of mostly foreign guests on Saturday night.
About 40 of the 100 invited guests had arrived when police arrived on the scene.
The hosts were persuaded to dismantle everything and send their guests and event staff home, BCS Noticias reports, as large gatherings are still prohibited due to the coronavirus.
Rock (bottom) lobster
The coronavirus has been an unexpected boon to lobster lovers in BCS, though not so much for fishermen, as prices for the spiny shellfish have dropped to around US $40 per kilo, BCS Noticias reports, and are expected to go lower as the season, which began September 15, continues. In previous years the season has kicked off at $58 a kilo.
Last year’s season ended on February 29 just as the coronavirus was beginning to spread, and saw prices plummet to US $24 as much of the 1,200 tonnes of lobster caught each year in the state is normally exported to China.
Fishing cooperatives are preparing for a dismal season by cutting back costs as much as possible, but they say that lobster populations are healthy, plentiful and generally larger due to decreased demand earlier this year.
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