Over 3,000 new hotel rooms will be awaiting visitors to Mexico City for the FIFA World Cup in 2026, but the city is still facing a massive shortage of hotel rooms for the 5.5 million soccer fans expected to arrive. (Marriot Hotel St. Regis)
More than 3,000 new hotel rooms will be developed in Mexico City ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the general director of the Mexico City Mixed Fund for Tourism Promotion Carlos Martínez Velázquez said on Tuesday.
“All luxury hotel brands are looking at Mexico City as a tourist investment hub and are building 3,300 rooms for the FIFA World Cup in 2026,” Martínez said, according to the news site Forbes México.
Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada welcoming FIFA official Jürgen Mainka in October. Saying yes to a Mexico City World Cup was the easy part. Accommodating 5.5 million football fans? Not so much. (Graciela López Herrera/Cuartoscuro)
There are currently 61,500 hotel rooms in Mexico City, meaning that accommodation offerings will need to increase significantly for the arrival of an anticipated 5.5 million visitors during the Cup, which is scheduled to take place in Mexico, the United States and Canada from June 11–July 19, 2026.
Martínez said he is working with the Territorial Planning Minister of Mexico City, Alejandro Encinas Rodríguez, on an infrastructure roundtable to accelerate hotel real estate investment in the city.
A Mexico City mobility plan is also being developed for the Cup and will be presented by the city’s mayor, Clara Brugada, according to Martínez.
“Mexico City is ready to receive tourists since there are enough hotel rooms and digital platforms ready to accommodate all visitors,” he said.
Insufficient capacity
Contrary to Martinez’s optimism — and despite the planned hotel expansions — there are fears of insufficient capacity to accommodate the influx of tourists during the highly popular sporting event. The Mexico City government is therefore assessing potential options on the city’s outskirts.
Mexico City officials appear to be counting on short-term rentals in the city to ease the hotel room shortage for the World Cup, but some have expressed concerns that a recently passed “Airbnb Law” will encourage many to take their properties off the short-term rental market. (Airbnb México)
The government is looking at neighborhoods such as Tláhuac, Xochimilco, Magdalena Contreras and Coyoacán — all located within the general area of Estadio Azteca, where Cup games will be played — for accommodation alternatives, according to the Director of Special Projects at Mexico City’s Tourism Ministry Hannah de la Madrid.
“I think what’s going to happen is a mosaic of options that we had not even considered… Mexicans are creative, and we have a natural talent for finding the ‘how to,’” de la Madrid told the newspaper El Universal.
Could Airbnb fill the gap?
Rental sites like Airbnb are also expected to provide alternative accommodation for tourists during the World Cup.
However, in October 2024, the government modified Mexico City’s Tourism Law to establish a 180-day-per-year limit on online vacation rentals. In the city’s demanding housing market, Airbnbs had become de facto long-term rentals for those who could afford the prices — i.e. the wealthy and those with favorable foreign currency exchanges to the peso — and had taken many would-be rental homes and apartments off the market.
Airbnb has filed an injunction against the changes, to which the government has not yet responded.
“Temporary accommodation is a natural complement to these large events, and without it, it will be difficult to serve all these visitors who will come to Mexico City,” Airbnb’s Director of Public Affairs Jorge Balderrama told the news site El Financiero, adding that Mexico City does not currently have the necessary hotel infrastructure to accommodate World Cup visitors.
While the government must address the influx of visitors, it must also address rising rental prices, Martínez said.
“[Airbnb] is within their right, and as a city we must protect [residents], above all. All these platforms generate an increase in the use of municipal services. What we are working on is a review of whether the regulation is optimal for the city. We do not want to generate ‘tourismophobia,’” Martínez told El Financiero.
Valeria Moy, the general director of public policy think tank the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), and Enrique Covarrubias, chief economist and head of research at the financial services company Actinver, both attended the recent Future of Mexico Forum presented by Mexico News Daily and Querencia. (Mexico News Daily)
On Feb. 6-7, Mexico News Daily and Querencia hosted the “Future of Mexico Forum” at the Querencia Private Golf & Beach Club in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur. The forum brought together leaders from Mexico and the United States to discuss the future of Mexico across a diverse range of topics. As part of this Forum, the MND team conducted a series of exclusive interviews with each of the speakers and will be sharing the highlights with you in this series.
The second and third interviews we’re publishing are with Valeria Moy, the general director of public policy think tank the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), and Enrique Covarrubias, chief economist and head of research at the financial services company Actinver.
Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies with Mexican economist Enrique Covarrubias. (Mexico News Daily)
Covarrubias, an economist, academic and contributor to media outlets such as Expansión and Investing.com, has a PhD in mathematics and economics from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and was a research scholar at the University of Oxford.
At the MND/Querencia “Future of Mexico Forum,” Valeria Moy and Enrique Covarrubias engaged in a conversation about a range of economic issues with Travis Bembenek, Mexico News Daily CEO and publisher.
After their “Mexico Economic Outlook: Challenges and Opportunities” discussion, Moy and Covarrubias spoke exclusively to Mexico News Daily, discussing Mexico’s near-term growth prospects and the federal government’s Plan México economic initiative, among other issues.
Mexico News Daily Future of Mexico Forum: In conversation with Enrique Covarrubias
Uncertainty about U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff intentions and the outcome of Mexico’s upcoming judicial elections is not conducive to investor confidence.
Covarrubias said that most investors “have decided it’s a wait-and-see environment” and therefore, foreign direct investment in Mexico is likely to be weak in 2025.
“It’s not only about foreign investment, it’s also about domestic investment, both private and public,” he added, explaining that Mexican companies need “more clarity” about the USMCA — which is up for review in 2026 — “before making massive investments.”
“… In terms of public investment, we’re definitely not going to see the same level of investment we saw in previous years,” largely due to a reduction in spending on infrastructure projects compared to the outlay during the López Obrador administration, Covarrubias said.
“… It’s more about finishing the things that have been started,” he said.
For her part, Valeria Moy said that public finances are currently so “stressed” that the federal government needs private investment to spur growth in Mexico.
If the recently proposed energy sector rules attract additional private investment “and provide at the same time better energy for the whole country,” economic growth “might be a little bit higher” than predicted in the near term, she said.
Valeria Moy on Plan México: ‘It’s good news to have some idea of where you want things to go’
The federal government last month presented Plan México, an ambitious economic initiative whose goals include making Mexico the 10th largest economy in the world, attracting additional private investment, reducing reliance on imports from China and creating 1.5 million new jobs over the next six years.
Moy described the plan as “industrial policy 101.”
Mexico News Daily Future of Mexico Forum: In conversation with Valeria Moy
“… It’s good news to have some idea of where you want things to go. Things might change of course, but at least in Plan México there are some ideas regarding social development, social infrastructure, changing the norms for electricity [and] changing water supply. So there are things that I do like about Plan México and I think that if it is well implemented, it might … in the medium and long run change some things,” for the better, she said.
“What it is lacking is funds. … That’s where the plan is not very solid,” Moy added.
‘A brilliant opportunity for the Mexican economy’
The trade tensions between the United States and China create “a brilliant opportunity for the Mexican economy,” Coavarrubias said because Chinese products could “suddenly” be blocked from entering the U.S.
U.S. protectionism targeting Chinese products “might force a lot of that production to be shifted toward Mexico, and it could finally generate some sectors where Mexico can be as competitive as China,” Covarrubias said.
“… American companies need to bet on Mexico as the place where this production is going to happen,” including by increasing their investment in Mexico, he added.
Covarrubias: 25% US tariffs would be ‘disastrous’ for Mexico, but are not likely
Covarrubias said that 25% tariffs on Mexican exports to the United States — as proposed by Trump but which are currently paused until early March — “would be disastrous for the Mexican economy.”
However, he noted that “whenever external shocks happen” — such as the imposition of tariffs on Mexican goods — the Mexican peso “tends to depreciate,” and thus Mexican exports become more competitive and labor costs decline for foreign companies operating in Mexico.
Still, Covarrubias sees a 25% tariff scenario as unlikely, “not only because it would hurt the Mexican economy, and I don’t think any country in the world wants its neighbor to suffer economic consequences of such actions, but also because those tariffs would impact directly American companies at a time when North America as a whole is trying to compete with many different Asian companies but in particular with Chinese companies.”
Moy: ‘We should be changing and adapting our educational models to a new world’
Moy told Mexico News Daily that economic prosperity depends heavily on high-quality education before criticizing Mexico’s system for its rigidity and resistance to change.
“We should be changing and adapting our educational models to a new world that has changed a lot,” she said.
Continuing her response to a question about the economic lessons Mexico can learn from other countries, Moy said that the Mexican government needs to learn how to invest public money more wisely.
During her participation in the economy session of the Future of Mexico Forum, the IMCO chief was critical of the previous federal government’s enormous outlay on infrastructure projects such as the Maya Train railroad and Pemex’s new refinery on the Tabasco coast.
Both Moy and Covarrubias spoke about the low fiscal multiplier effect generated by public spending on infrastructure projects given that the significant outlay hasn’t translated into higher economic growth for Mexico — at least not yet.
The United States is Mexico’s biggest export market for automobiles, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. (Cuartoscuro)
United States President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he plans to impose tariffs of around 25% on automobile, semiconductor and pharmaceutical imports.
Trump said he would “probably” announce the specifics of the tariff on April 2, but that “it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25%.” His cabinet is set to deliver reports outlining possible import duty options on April 1.
Trump Floats 25% Tariffs on Autos, Chip and Pharmaceuticals | WSJ News
Trump made the latest tariff announcement from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Tuesday.
Trump has previously indicated that tariffs on automobile exports respond to an “unfair” treatment of U.S. automotive exports in foreign markets.
The U.S. imposes a 25% tariff on pickup trucks imported from countries other than Mexico and Canada, which are not subject to tariffs under the United States-Canada-Mexico (USMCA) trade agreement. However, Mexico and Canada together account for approximately half of the United States’ automobile, auto body and parts imports.
In the past month, Trump has announced tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports beginning on March 1 and broad reciprocal tariffs on countries that impose duties on U.S. products. He also said he would press European Union officials to import more cars and other products from the U.S.
EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic will meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee to be U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on Wednesday to discuss the potential tariffs.
In 2023, the U.S. courted Mexico as a key partner in creating a homegrown North American supply chain for semiconductors as part of the 2022 CHIPS Act’s International Technology Security and Innovation Fund. (Shutterstock)
For pharmaceuticals and semiconductor chips, “the [tax] rate will be 25% or even higher and will increase substantially throughout the year,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Tuesday.
The president has not yet set a date for introducing tariffs on chips and drugs and said that the delay in introducing the tariffs was aimed at giving companies time to establish semiconductor and pharmaceutical operations in the U.S. to avoid tariffs.
He said he expects some of the world’s biggest companies to announce new investments in the U.S. in the next couple of weeks.
Impact on Mexico
Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard will meet with his American counterparts in Washington on Thursday to discuss the planned tariffs.
“It is a very important dialogue because with this begins not only the dialogue on tariffs that have been announced but mainly to agree on what route we are going to take given the integration that exists between Mexico and the United States,” Ebrard said in an interview with Radio Fórmula.
Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard relaunched the brand Wednesday. It was first adopted by the Mexican government in 1978. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon relaunched on Wednesday the iconic “Hecho en México” (“Made in Mexico”) brand to boost production and consumption of Mexican-made goods.
“We were exporters of imports. Now is time to get back on track and triple our capacity,” said Francisco Cervantes Días president of the Business Coordinating Council, at the event. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
“The purpose of all these efforts is for Mexico to move forward, to overcome anything that comes our way, and to bring us together,” Ebrard said during the relaunch event.
Mexican designer Omar Arroyo Arriaga created the original brand image, adopted by Mexico in 1978, but it has been updated numerous times.
President Sheinbaum recently directed the Economy Ministry to promote the seal anew because, Ebrard told a meeting of business leaders on February 4, “first of all, we should start by recovering the pride of what is made in Mexico.”
Ebrard said that “Made in Mexico” seeks not only to boost and protect the national market but to propel Mexico’s global standing as a leader in advanced manufacturing and creative industries.
“When you get on a plane, whichever one you take, you will find that with each passing month and year, an increasing number of components are produced in Mexico,” Ebrard said.
The original logo, adopted by Mexico in 1978, has been updated multiple times throughout its history. (Omar Arroyo Arriaga/Government of Mexico)
The relaunch fits into one of Plan México’s many initiatives, which is to boost homegrown Mexican manufacturing, a strategy to boost GDP but also to reduce dependence on cheap goods from China currently flooding Mexico’s retail markets.
Mexico also recently updated its textile tariff rules to prevent exploitation by online retailers from China like Temu and Shein selling clothing in Mexico at what Ebrard has called “unbelievably low prices,” a trend that he implicated in the Mexican textile industry losing a total of 79,000 jobs in recent years.
Ebrard noted that he will travel to Washington on Thursday to meet with United States officials, and that he will bring the “Hecho en México” seal as a symbol of the country’s industrial and technological strength.
Head of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE) Francisco Cervantes Días celebrated the initiative and highlighted the importance of raising national production at a time of readjustment in trade relations.
“We were exporters of imports. Now is time to get back on track and triple our capacity,” Cervantes stressed. “The Minister’s experience will be vital to moving Mexico forward in this new scenario.”
Meanwhile, the Mexican Association of Women Business Managers (AMMJE) assured that local consumption is an alternative to face external threats like the imposition of tariffs by the U.S.
Head of AMMJE Sonia Garza said that she trusts Sheinbaum’s government strategy to negotiate with Donald Trump’s office to avoid a trade conflict.
“We all have to join Plan México and the Hecho en México brand,” she said.
The U.S. government has officially designated the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), the United Cartels, the Northeast Cartel, the Gulf Cartel and La Nueva Familia Michoacana as FTOs. (Cuartoscuro)
The United States government has designated six Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), according to a public notice from the Department of State.
The designations of the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), the United Cartels, the Northeast Cartel, the Gulf Cartel and La Nueva Familia Michoacana as FTOs will take effect on Thursday once the notice is published in the United States Federal Register.
🚨 The U.S. has officially declared the following as Foreign Terrorist Organizations: Tren de Aragua, MS-13, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the United Cartels, the Gulf Cartel, the Northeast Cartel, and the Michoacán Family. pic.twitter.com/cgcw9juyEl
The notice was signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Feb. 6 and is currently available for public inspection ahead of its publication in the Federal Register on Thursday.
Rubio said that, in consultation with the U.S. attorney general and secretary of the treasury, he concluded that the six Mexican cartels as well as Tren de Aragua, an organization that originated in Venezuela, and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), a gang founded by Salvadoran immigrants in the United States, meet the criteria to be designated as FTOs.
Under section 219 of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act, the criteria include that “the organization must engage in terrorist activity” and “the organization’s terrorist activity or terrorism must threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security (national defense, foreign relations, or the economic interests) of the United States.”
Rubio endorsed the notice 2 1/2 weeks after United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20 that directed the secretary of state to make recommendations on the designation of specific cartels and criminal organizations as FTOs within 14 days.
'Mexico Is Largely Run By The Cartels': Trump Issues Defense Of CIA Drone Flights Over Mexico
Trump’s executive order referred to Mexican cartels broadly and said it was “the policy of the United States to ensure the total elimination of these organizations’ presence in the United States and their ability to threaten the territory, safety, and security of the United States through their extraterritorial command-and-control structures.”
Asked on Jan. 20 whether he would consider “ordering U.S. special forces into Mexico” to “take out” cartels, the U.S. president said it “could happen.”
What will the terrorist designations allow the US government to do?
The designation of the six Mexican cartels (read about them here), Tren de Aragua and MS-13 as FTOs will allow the U.S. government to “impose broad economic sanctions on the groups and on people or entities linked to them,” The New York Times reported.
The new designation could allow the U.S. Department of the Treasury to apply sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, to cartel members and associates. (Wikimedia Commons)
Reuters reported that “designating a group as a foreign terrorist organization, or FTO, is aimed at disrupting its finances through sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, on its members and associates.”
The scope of the new designations “was not immediately clear,” the news agency added.
Trump considered designating Mexican cartels as FTOs during his first term as president, but ultimately didn’t go ahead with the idea.
Reuters reported that some top U.S. officials at the time “privately expressed misgivings that the measure could damage relations with Mexico and hinder the fight against drug trafficking.”
“Another concern was that the designations could make it easier for migrants to win U.S. asylum by claiming they were fleeing terrorism,” Reuters added.
Sheinbaum on terrorist designations and drones
President Claudia Sheinbaum said last week that if the United States designated Mexican organized crime groups as FTOs, Mexico would have to broaden its existing lawsuit in the U.S. against gun manufacturers and distributors because they could be considered “accomplices” to terrorism, given that cartels use the firearms they make and sell.
“…There is nothing illegal [taking place]. What there is is collaboration and cooperation,” President Sheinbaum said on Wednesday after a reporter asked her about a CNN report of recent CIA drone flights over Mexico. (Presidencia)
She has expressed opposition to the United States’ designation of Mexican cartels as FTOs on numerous occasions, saying that such a move would not help combat problems such as drug trafficking and illegal migration.
Sheinbaum has stressed the need for collaboration to overcome shared security challenges rather than “unilateral decisions.”
On Wednesday, she said that CIA drone flights over Mexico to collect information on cartels and their illegal activities — as reported by CNN and The New York Times on Tuesday — were part of Mexico’s security collaboration with the United States.
“In the first place, there is nothing illegal [taking place]. What there is is collaboration and cooperation,” Sheinbaum said, adding that U.S. drone flights in Mexico have been taking place for “many years.”
She said that all U.S. drone flights in Mexico have occurred after Mexico requested them in order to obtain information to respond to “security conditions.”
“… So there is nothing illegal and it’s part of collaboration and coordination,” Sheinbaum said.
El Terrible Juan has four locations in Guadalajara: Chapalita, Providencia, La Estancia and Colonia Americana. (El Terrible Juan/Facebook)
The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops, the first list — and event — of its kind to rank cafés around the globe, named a coffee shop in Guadalajara as one of the best in the world.
“We are filled with pride from being able to represent our country and our city in an international event, while sharing the list with incredible projects that we admire,” an Instagram post on the café’s official account said.
The 2025 awards ceremony, held in Madrid, Spain, on Feb. 17, granted recognition based on the results of combined scores from public and expert votes. Coffee enthusiasts from around the world were invited to cast their votes online prior to judging.
A panel of experts made up of renowned baristas, coffee roasters and connoisseurs assessed the nominees based on criteria such as coffee quality, barista expertise, atmosphere, innovation, customer service, consistency, quality of food and sustainability practices.
El Terrible Juan Café’s popularity in Guadalajara has helped the coffeemakers open three branches in the Chapalita, Providencia and La Estancia neighborhoods, in addition to its flagship location in Colonia Americana — which recently celebrated 10 years. It also has four pop-up cafés dubbed the “Juanito Coffee Club express bars” in Plaza Andares, the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO) and at the offices of Wizeline Guadalajara and CompuSoluciones.
“Thank you to every one of our clients, collaborators, friends and family, for believing in our project. We couldn’t be happier to see what we have built,” the Instagram post concluded.
CDMX-based coffee snobs: El Terrible Juan Café isn’t the only Mexican coffee shop on the list!
Camino a Comala in Mexico City also made it onto the list of World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops, at number 96. The coffee shop has locations in the San Rafael, Santa María la Ribera and Condesa neighborhoods. Outside of the capital, Camino a Comala has one branch in Manzanillo, Colima.
According to the ranking, the best coffee shop in the world is Toby’s Estate Coffee Roasters, headquartered in Sydney, Australia.
The winter holidays are long gone, and people are starting to think about their next vacation. Where should they go for spring break? Thinking longer term, what are the best destinations this summer? I spoke to some travel agents to discover which destinations in Mexico are travel trends in 2025 and why.
From relaxing beach destinations to immersive cultural experiences, these places offer travelers exactly what they’re looking for. Which one will you pick for your vacation this year?
Where to go for leisure
Punta Mita
Punta Mita offers all the comforts of Puerto Vallarta without any of the bustle. It’s also a great gateway to the Riviera Nayarit. (Gearminded)
“Without a doubt, Punta Mita is currently the trendiest destination in Mexico,” Travel Advisor Nayeli Godínez, who’s been advising travelers around the world for ten years, told me over the phone.
Located on the north end of Bahía de Banderas, about 10 miles north of the resort city of Puerto Vallarta, Punta Mita has become the ultimate luxury travel cluster in the Riviera Nayarit, and arguably, in Mexico’s Pacific Coast. Some of the biggest names in hospitality are settled there, from Auberge to the Four Seasons and St. Regis.
Tourism in the area has rocketed since the opening of the One & Only Mandarina.
“Several luxury hotels have opened there in the last few years, including the One and Only Mandarina. But what’s really drawing attention now is the upcoming Rosewood Mandarina, which will open this year,” Godínez says.
Rosewood in Punta Mita will be the group’s fourth resort in Mexico. All its rooms will feature a private pool and terrace, restaurants specializing in different world cuisines and beachfront food places.
But despite the peninsula’s rapid development, Punta Mita’s exclusive resorts have ensured low-density tourism, keeping the region’s authenticity alive.
Riviera Maya
Playa Punta Esmeralda, on the Riviera Maya, Mexico’s sparkling Caribbean coast. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
With its lush jungles, pristine waters and Maya cultural heritage, the Riviera Maya has remained a top global beach destination since its tourism boom in the seventies. Blending jungle and beach, a vibrant party scene and ancient culture, the Yucatán Península offers something to every type of traveler.
“The appeal of destinations like Cancún is that you can relax on the beach, and on the same day take a drive to Mérida and eat at Chablé, a beautiful hotel in an old hacienda nestled in the jungle,” travel advisor Daniela Arregui told me.
With still untouched beaches set afar from populous resorts, the Riviera Maya has also emerged as a wellness destination beyond its image as a spring-break hotspot.
SHA Wellness is one example of this, says Nayeli Godínez. Offering its guests various wellness programs, the European wellness retreat brand opened two years ago and has attracted hundreds of international travelers who seek to improve their lifestyle and health in paradisiac settings.
Where to go for culture
Mexico City
The Palacio de Bellas Artes, a Mexico City icon. (Claudia Beatriz Aguilar/CC SA 3.0)
“There’s so much to do in Mexico City,” Arregui says. “We have everything from museums to multiple restaurants serving international cuisines, and more.”
Mexico City, which was underperforming in terms of tourism about a decade ago, is now one of the most visited destinations in the country. In 2024, Mexico City International Airport ranked as the busiest airport in Mexico, with passenger traffic of 37 million last year.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the city has not only become popular among international tourists but also remote workers who earn in dollars or euros and spend in pesos. “And one attraction that has propelled the city’s popularity is Soho House,” Nayeli Godínez said.
The members-only Soho House Mexico City sits in an early-20th century mansion at the heart of La Juárez, one of the neighborhoods booming with foreigners. The house has made national headlines thanks to its iconic parties and art agenda for major art events.
San Miguel de Allende
Bellas Artes in San Miguel de Allende. (INBAL)
“We’re seeing a lot of requests for cultural trips,” Nayeli Godínez told me, adding that San Miguel de Allende has stayed at the forefront of tourism since it was named the best city in the world by Travel and Leisure readers.
People go to Guanajuato city to experience Mexico’s charm, a combination of colonial heritage and Indigenous roots. The city is popular for the iconic Parroquia de San Miguel, and its cobblestone streets lined with colorful houses.
“You can see the destination’s popularity with the level of hospitality and of course, the prices,” Godínez said.
Some high-end luxury hotels include Rosewood, renowned for its terrace overlooking downtown San Miguel or Casa Sierra Nevada, named Mexico’s best hotel by Condé Nast magazine. Others include Hotel Matilda and Live Aqua Urban Resort.
Oaxaca
The ancient city of Monte Alban is a major tourist attraction for visitors to Oaxaca. (DavidConFran/Wikimedia)
Oaxaca city has flourished among foreigners as a cultural destination, Godínez says.
“Since the World’s 50 Best Restaurants and the Michelin Guide arrived in Oaxaca, tourism has rocketed,” she told me.
The Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards were held in Oaxaca for the first time in November 2021. Two local restaurants entered the list: Pitiona, by chef José Manuel Baños, and Casa Oaxaca, by chef Alejandro Ruiz.
Choosing Oaxaca for the 50 Best events highlighted the city’s status as a premier gastronomic destination with an exciting food scene focusing on Mexican cuisine. The city is also home to two one-star Michelin restaurants: Los Danzantes Oaxaca and Levadura de Olla.
“As with San Miguel, you can see Oaxaca is a trend due to the level of hospitality. New hotels are arriving, and prices are spiking,” Godínez said.
Gabriela Solis is a Mexican lawyer turned full-time writer. She was born and raised in Guadalajara and covers business, culture, lifestyle and travel for Mexico News Daily. You can follow her lifestyle blog Dunas y Palmeras.
Hiring two Spanish tutors turned the author's learning experience upside down. (Canva)
When my husband and I bought a house in Guanajuato in 2005, I spoke intermediate Spanish, having taken Spanish classes whenever we traveled around Mexico and other Latin American countries.
I signed up for classes right away, but soon realized that this was not a good strategy for advancing in the language. Inevitably, there would be a student or two who were either at a much more basic or advanced level, which interrupted the learning for the rest of us. No matter which school I attended, I found this always to be the case. One of my teachers, who has taught in multiple schools, agreed that assigning students to the correct level was a common challenge in all the schools where she had taught.
(Canva)
The advantage of a tutor over a class
Ultimately I decided to hire one of our teachers to be my personal tutor. I liked this idea because it allowed me to focus on what I wanted to work on, whether it was listening, grammar, reading, pronunciation — the dreaded rr! —or vocabulary. I also felt happy about the decision because Spanish teachers are notoriously underpaid in Mexico, and I preferred investing in the teachers themselves rather than the school’s overhead.
In the 20 years since, I’ve had ten tutors. Because I’m fluent now, I don’t strictly need a tutor, but I still find it helpful in many ways. Fluency doesn’t mean I’ve arrived. Far from it! I’m not bilingual. I still make mistakes, plus I’ll never stop learning the endless Mexicanisms, not to mention asking my tutor about the culture.
Sometimes, too, I’ll ask for help from a teacher for a particular project. For example, one of my current goals is to write articles for Spanish-language publications. Once I find a market, I’ll draft a proposal and have my tutor help me as an editor, helping me finesse word usage and style.
My classes with a teacher can be a win-win for both of us. One year, for instance, my tutor was preparing to defend her thesis in front of a panel of five professors. Knowing that I had trained employees on presentation skills, she asked me for tips on how to engage with her audience. It turned out to be helpful for both of us.
(Canva)
Also, thanks to one of my tutors, I’ve now read several Spanish novels, something I would have been too intimidated to try without her encouragement.
Not one, but two
But it wasn’t until this year that I realized I could benefit from two tutors. I was frustrated because I wasn’t speaking Spanish as much as I wanted, so I decided it was worth spending US $12 for another hour’s one-on-one conversation.
What a difference it’s making! Because I’m interacting with two teachers whose styles and accents are different, I’m getting double the listening, conversation, grammar and vocabulary. Not to mention double the fun.
Plus, in case one tutor moves out of the area — which has happened frequently — I still have one left. I do study Spanish with a tutor online sometimes, but much prefer in-person classes.
How my sessions are structured
My teachers are very different. One meets me at our home, which is easy for her, because she lives just half a block away. Her teaching style is highly structured. A couple of years ago, we focused on the verbs of change: all the different equivalents in Spanish for the English word “become.” Currently, she sends me a weekly podcast, which I listen to before our session. During class, we discuss the vocabulary and content, and for homework I’ll make up sentences using my new words.
My second tutor is more casual. Even though she’s less than half my age, I feel like I’m talking with a close friend over a cup of tea. Basically we just chat at a nearby cafe, updating each other on our respective weeks, although she still corrects my mistakes. Sometimes I have a particular theme I want to discuss or a question about some aspect of Mexico. For example, because I’m musing about writing an article about Mexico’s high rate of obesity, I asked her if it was still common that moms introduced sugar to their kids at a young age by taking their kids to a corner store after school for a sweet. Yes, she told me, it is.
I’ve learned to be proactive
The only downside of a tutor is that in my experience some can be a bit passive, thinking that just showing up suffices. This hasn’t been a problem for me, because I never run out of things to discuss or questions to ask. But if you’re considering going the tutor route, I recommend planning carefully what you want to focus on and being prepared and proactive.
The way I look at it, US $100 a month is a small price for the benefit I get. I have the time, can afford it, look forward to both sessions and always come away gratified and upbeat. Now that I know the advantage of two tutors, I don’t think I’ll ever go back, because it’s such a small investment for a huge payoff.
The noble pambazo is the perfect way to start your day. (Alejandro Linares García / CC BY-SA 4.0)
The pambazo is one of Mexico’s great culinary contradictions. There isn’t just one pambazo recipe. There are at least two warring factions, and they probably don’t talk to each other at family reunions.
The version most people know — the Mexico City pambazo — is a sandwich that barely holds itself together. It starts with a perfectly good roll, only to be dunked in guajillo chili sauce, fried in oil and then asked to hold a mountain of potatoes, chorizo, lettuce and crema without collapsing. It’s not a sandwich so much as a controlled demolition of bread, spice and poor decision-making. Eating one in public requires either supreme confidence or an outfit you were already planning to ruin.
Gigantic Mexico City-style pambazos prepared for a World’s Largest Pambazo competition. (Saúl López/Cuartoscuro)
Then there’s the Veracruz pambazo, which is the Mexico City version’s more responsible cousin. It refuses to be dipped in sauce or fried into oblivion. Instead, it’s a soft, flour-dusted sandwich, filled with ham, refried beans, cheese and jalapeños. It’s neat. It’s composed. It won’t betray you by leaking all over your hands and self-esteem. It’s the pambazo you can take home to meet your parents.
Both versions claim the name pambazo, and both trace their origins to 19th-century Mexico, possibly inspired by the Pico de Orizaba volcano, which, like the Mexico City pambazo, kind of looks like it’s about to collapse at any moment.
So, who invented it? Some say it was a chef at the court of Emperor Maximilian I. Others say it was street vendors, just trying to make stale bread exciting again. In any case, one style of pambazo became chaos on a plate, and the other stayed buttoned-up. I’m usually in the Veracruz-style pambazo camp. But one problem I have is that I never see breakfast versions of this great mini sandwich. Problem solved! Here are two breakfast versions of the pambazo.
Bacon and egg breakfast pambazo recipe
Ingredients
2 pambazo buns
1/4 cup Mexican crema or sour cream
6 slices bacon, cooked and crispy
3 eggs, scrambled
1/2 cup shredded Oaxaca or cheddar cheese
1/4 cup refried black beans
1 tbsp butter or oil for frying
Instructions
Assemble the filling: Spread refried beans on the bottom half of each roll. Add crispy bacon and scrambled eggs. Sprinkle with cheese.
Grill the pambazo: Heat butter in a skillet and toast the sandwich on both sides until crispy.
Serve: Squeeze some Mexican crema in the middle and serve warm.
A novelty pan de muerto pambazo. (Cristanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)
Veggie breakfast pambazo recipe
Ingredients
2 pambazo buns
3 dried guajillo chilis, stemmed and seeded
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup Mexican crema or sour cream
1/2 cup sauteed mushrooms and bell peppers
1/2 cup spinach, wilted
1/4 cup black beans, mashed
1/2 avocado, sliced
1/2 cup queso fresco or shredded Oaxaca cheese
1 tbsp butter or olive oil
Instructions
Make the guajillo sauce: Soak guajillo chilis in warm water for 10 minutes. Blend with vegetable broth until smooth.
Prepare the bread: Slice rolls in half and dip both sides into the guajillo sauce.
Assemble the filling: Spread mashed black beans on the bottom half. Add sautéed mushrooms, peppers and wilted spinach. Layer avocado slices and sprinkle with cheese.
Grill the pambazo: Heat butter in a skillet and grill both sides until crispy.
Serve: Drizzle with crema and serve hot.
Stephen Randall has lived in Mexico since 2018 by way of Kentucky, and before that, Germany. He’s an enthusiastic amateur chef who takes inspiration from many different cuisines, with favorites including Mexican and Mediterranean.
Among the topics Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum covered Tuesday were government efforts to find the bodies of 10 miners killed in the El Pinabete mine collapse in Coahuila. (Gustavo Alberto/Cuartoscuro)
A 2022 mining tragedy and Spanish bank Santander’s commitment to invest over US $2 billion in Mexico were among the issues President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about at her Tuesday press conference, or mañanera as her morning presser is colloquially known.
Tuesday marked exactly 20 weeks, or 140 days, since Sheinbaum was sworn in as Mexico’s first female president.
Sheinbaum said Mexico would continue to support the families of the miners who were killed in the disaster. (Gustavo Alberto/Cuartoscuro)
Here is a recap of her Tuesday morning press conference.
Body recovery operation concludes at Coahuila coal mine
Sheinbaum acknowledged that the operation to recover the remains of 10 miners who perished in 2022 in the flooded El Pinabete mine in the municipality of Sabinas, Coahuila, has concluded.
“Water entered the mine and 10 miners lost their lives. The bodies of the 10 miners have now been recovered,” she said.
“I understand that the final remains were already identified and given to the family [of the victim],” Sheinbaum said.
“With this, the El Pinabete episode would conclude,” she said before noting that a memorial still needs to be built and support for the families will continue.
Rescue efforts soon turned into the recovery of bodies, but the process of excavating the Sabinas, Coahuila, mine to locate and remove the victims’ remains has taken more than two years. (National Civil Protection)
Sheinbaum said that the body recovery operation required “very meticulous work because a very large excavation [of the mine] was done.”
She said that the Federal Electricity Commission will determine “what we’ll do with this open mine,” which was closed after the 2022 tragedy.
A ‘very good meeting’ with Santander chair precedes US $2 billion investment announcement
Sheinbaum said she had a “very good meeting” on Monday with Ana Botín, executive chair of Spanish bank and financial services company Santander.
“She will announce various investments [in Mexico] today,” she said.
Later on Tuesday, Botín announced that Santander would invest more than US $2 billion (42 billion pesos) in Mexico over the next three years (Read Mexico News Daily’s full report here).
Sheinbaum endorses ‘La Chilanguera,’ a CDMX version of la mañanera
A reporter asked the president her opinion of “La Chilanguera,” a press conference that Mexico City Morena party lawmakers have begun holding on Sundays.
“La Chilanguera” is a weekly press conference modeled after the daily mañaneras of Sheinbaum and of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. It’s held on Sundays, presumably not to conflict with Sheinbaum’s conferences. (Morena Party)
After the reporter explained that Morena deputies speak about Mexico City issues and debunk “disinformation” at the chilangueras, the president was quick to endorse the press conferences.
“Well, that’s good, may they continue,” Sheinbaum said.
“… It’s very important to refute fake news, which isn’t just on social media … but also in well-known national and international media outlets,” said the president, who, like her predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has disputed the veracity of reports published by prominent newspapers.
“It’s extremely important to speak about fake news and real information,” said Sheinbaum, who, like AMLO did, holds a weekly “lie detector” segment to debunk alleged misinformation published on social media or by traditional media.
