Authorities maintain that many of the businesses closed in México state were linked to organized crime. (X)
Hundreds of barbers and beauty salon workers from México state took to the streets of Mexico City on Monday to protest against what they call abuses committed during Operation Atarraya, a large-scale anti-crime raid carried out Friday.
The demonstrators, who marched from the Monument to the Revolution to the National Palace, are demanding justice and the reopening of over 300 barbershops and beauty salons shut down by authorities.
Protesters allege that agents from the prosecutor’s office of México state (FGJEM) planted drugs in their establishments to justify the closures.
Executed on Feb. 7, Operación Atarraya(atarraya means a cast net) was aimed at dismantling criminal networks that allegedly used barbershops and beauty salons as fronts for drug trafficking, extortion and other illicit activities.
According to the FGJEM, more than 2,200 federal and state security agents raided 404 establishments across 20 municipalities, closing 312 of them. The municipalities included Ecatepec (population 1.6 million), Nezahualcóyotl (1.1 million) and Naucalpan (834,000).
Officials claim the operation was based on intelligence, citizen complaints and field investigations, with 84 court-approved search warrants executed.
Hundreds of beauty salon workers marched in Mexico City on Monday to demand that authorities let them reopen their businesses. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)
These allegations fueled public outrage, leading barbers in Ecatepec to block the Morelos Highway in protest Monday. While that blockade was lifted mid-morning, traffic congestion persisted for hours.
Authorities maintain that many of the closed businesses were linked to organized crime.
Citing a constant flow of complaints from residents and community organizations, officials said they have evidence indicating that a significant percentage of barbershops in high-crime areas were used for illegal activities, including extortion and the sale of drugs and alcohol, even to minors.
Reports, officials said, suggest that some establishments served as meeting points for criminal cells and were connected to violent incidents, including homicides.
In response to mounting accusations, FGJEM announced an internal investigation into possible misconduct by its agents. Officials have acknowledged the existence of at least three cases where irregularities were detected and have urged citizens to report any abuses to (800) 702-8770 or [email protected].
The operation aims to intervene in establishments used by criminal groups for the promotion, consumption or trafficking of illicit substances, as well as for activities related to the commission of other criminal acts.
PwC is one of the Big Four — the world's four largest global accounting networks. (Shutterstock)
Mexico is set to be one of the world’s top 10 investment destinations in 2025, according to the results of a survey by professional services company PwC.
For its 28th annual Global CEO Survey, PwC surveyed 4,701 company leaders across 109 countries and territories in late 2024.
Mexico tied for eighth place in a survey of the world’s top investment destinations for 2025. (Shutterstock)
One of the questions the CEOs were asked was: Which three countries or territories, excluding your own, will receive the greatest proportion of capital expenditure from your company in the next 12 months?
One in 20 CEOs mentioned Mexico, making it the equal eighth most-cited country.
Three in 10 CEOs said that the United States was among the three countries where their companies will invest the most in 2025, making it the world’s top investment destination.
The top 10 global investment destinations, according to those surveyed, is as follows:
United States: 30% of CEOs cited the country as one of their company’s top three investment destinations in 2025.
As part of the ambitious Plan México economic roadmap presented last month, Mexico is seeking to boost domestic manufacturing production in order to reduce reliance on imports from China and other Asian countries.
PwC surveyed 75 CEOs in Mexico for its most recent Global CEO Survey. The company summarized their views in the Mexico chapter of its survey report.
The survey found that just 31% of CEOs in Mexico are confident that their company’s revenue will increase in the next 12 months. That percentage is seven points lower than the 38% of CEOs around the world who expect their companies’ income to increase this year.
A majority of Mexican CEOs see macroeconomic volatility, inflation and geopolitical conflicts as major challenges for their companies this year.
Many Mexican CEOs expect their companies to face challenges related to inflation and macroeconomic volatility this year. (Cuartoscuro)
Almost three-quarters of Mexican CEOs — 74% — said their companies were vulnerable to macroeconomic volatility, compared to a 70% overall result among the survey participants.
Inflation is trending down, but 62% of CEOs in Mexico said their companies were susceptible to higher prices, while 52% expressed concern about geopolitical conflicts, such as the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Mexico's trade surplus with the United States increased 12.7% annually to $171.8 billion last year. (Shutterstock)
The value of Mexican exports to the United States exceeded US $500 billion for the first time ever in 2024, allowing Mexico to retain its position as the top exporter to the world’s largest economy.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported last week that Mexico’s exports to the United States were worth $505.85 billion last year, a 6.4% increase compared to 2023.
The United States is easily Mexico’s largest export market, receiving over 80% of all Mexican products shipped abroad.
Mexico exports a wide variety of goods, including vehicles, auto parts, oil, electronics, metals, medical devices, fresh produce and alcoholic beverages. The value of Mexico’s exports to all countries around the world hit a record high of just over $617 billion last year, according to national statistics agency INEGI.
U.S. data shows that Mexico is the top automotive sector supplier to the United States, with a 38.5% share of the U.S. market for auto imports, more than triple the share of second-placed Canada. Mexico’s share increased to that record high level from 37.8% in 2023.
Mexico-US trade exceeds $800 billion; Mexico’s surplus up almost 13%
The Census Bureau data shows that two-way trade between Mexico and the United States was worth $839.89 billion in 2024, a 5.3% increase compared to 2023.
Mexico was easily the United States’ largest trade partner last year, ahead of Canada and China. Trade with Mexico accounted for 15.8% of the United States’ total trade with countries around the world, up from 14.9% in 2023.
Mexico spent $334.04 billion on imports from the United States, a 3.5% increase over its outlay on U.S. products in 2023. It was the second-largest market for U.S. exports in 2024 after Canada.
Mexico’s trade surplus with the United States increased 12.7% annually to $171.8 billion. Last year was the third consecutive year that Mexico increased its surplus with its northern neighbor.
Those tariffs — which were set to take effect last Tuesday — were paused for one month thanks to separate agreements Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reached with Trump last Monday.
Sergio Ramos, one of soccer's most decorated players of all time, has been unveiled as a new signing for Monterrey CF. (Monterrey Rayados)
Spain’s Sergio Ramos, a FIFA World Cup and two-time European Championship winner, has been unveiled by Mexico’s Monterrey Rayados in one of the most surprising transfers in recent soccer history.
Ramos, who has won almost every major prize in global football, spent 16 years at Real Madrid before a two-year spell alongside Argentina’s Lionel Messi at Paris Saint-Germain. Now aged 38, the center-back will ply his trade in Mexico for the 2025 season.
Ramos is Spain’s most-capped international player. (Sergio Ramos/Instagram)
The Spanish defender should feel right at home in Mexico, as the Monterrey team features not one, but three former teammates. Sergio Canales played alongside Ramos at Real Madrid, while Oliver Torres and Argentina’s Lucas Ocampos both played at Ramos’s boyhood football club, Sevilla.
“I thank them for the welcome,” Ramos explained to the Spanish newspaper El País, before revealing that he had turned down significant offers from Europe, the United States and Saudi Arabia’s highly lucrative Pro League. “Rayados gives me…balance, with a lot of ambition to grow and with the option of playing national and international competitions, such as the Club World Cup.”
Prior to his signing with Monterrey, Ramos had been out of contract with Sevilla, playing his last game on May 26, 2024. In Mexico, he will wear the number 93, a reference to his 93rd-minute winning goal against Atlético Madrid in the 2014 UEFA Champions League final.
Sergio Ramos Goal vs Atletico Madrid UEFA Champions League Final 2014
Ramos shot to international superstardom as part of the 2008-2012 Spanish national team, considered by many to be the greatest international side of all time, winning three back-to-back championships in Europe and at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He is Spain’s most capped player, representing the country internationally for 16 years throughout 180 appearances.
President Claudia Sheinbaum submitted the constitutional reforms to Congress on the 108th anniversary of the Mexican Constitution. (César Gómez/Cuartoscuro)
Last week, on the 108th anniversary of the Mexican Constitution, President Claudia Sheinbaum submitted two constitutional reforms to Congress to eliminate reelection and nepotism in all public offices.
As of today, consecutive reelection is only forbidden for the presidency and state governors.
Signs in Guerrero calling for Governor Evelyn Salgado, the daughter of Guerrero’s former governor Félix Salgado, to resign. (Dassaev Tellez/Cuartoscuro)
While Sheinbaum did not give further details about the proposals, she said that one would entail “the non-reelection to any elected office.”
The second one, she announced, mandates “that no family member may immediately succeed another in the case of an elected position” to prevent nepotism.
From Querétaro, where Mexico’s Constitution was signed in 1917, Sheinbaum celebrated the progress of those initiatives “to recover and expand the nationalist sense of the 1917 Constitution.”
En Querétaro, conmemoramos 108 años de nuestra Constitución. Hoy enviamos al Congreso dos reformas: no reelección y no al nepotismo. Somos una nación libre y soberana; reafirmamos: cooperación, sí; subordinación, no. pic.twitter.com/KPwQvkgGsK
Speaking at Querétaro’s Teatro de la República, Sheinbaum claimed that during the so-called “neoliberal period” from 1982 to 2018, the Constitution lost its social and nationalist vision. She said that nearly 500 reforms led to the privatization of public assets and natural resources, subordinating the country’s development to external interests and dismantling a significant portion of the welfare state.
The new proposals follow other initiatives like the controversial judicial reform approved days before López Obrador left office in September 2024, which subjects the election of judges and magistrates to a public vote and reduces the number of Supreme Court ministers from 11 to 9.
Other López Obrador proposals included restoring Mexico’s passenger rail system, guaranteeing government pensions for seniors and disabled Mexicans and reestablishing Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) as public companies, among others.
Joshua Greene with a sample of water purified by the constructed-wetland filter. (All photos from John Pint)
I’m sitting in the town of Casa Blanca, Jalisco, population 600, with local activist Juanita Ramírez, as we find ourselves surveying the wetlands in the area. On the floor next to me there’s a mountain of colorful ears of corn that need shelling.
Ramírez is telling me about the Santiago River, one of Mexico’s biggest, which flows just 644 meters north of the center of Casa Blanca.
Juanita Ramírez and Joshua Greene chat in Casa Blanca, a small town near Lake Chapala.
The Santiago River
“When I was a girl, we loved that river,” she relates, dreamy-eyed. “Everyone from the village went for a stroll there on Sundays. My father fished in it and that’s where I learned to swim. Yes, it’s true: I learned to swim in the Santiago River!”
Today Ramírez is 71. A generation has passed, and the Santiago now has the dubious honor of being listed among Mexico’s top four most polluted waterways.
“Today,” she says, “The river is a pestilence. It stinks! the air around it is full of flies! Not even the animals can drink its waters!”
The river is polluted by industrial waste from hundreds of factories and the raw sewage of hundreds of communities. Juanita’s town, however, is no longer among them.
Casa Blanca’s constructed wetland has been operating successfully for four years.
“It all started in 2013,” Juanita told me, “when we learned that a rock pulverizing plant was going to open right next to our town. Now in those days, I worked in Guadalajara and one of the things I loved most in life was relaxing at home on the weekend, sitting in the breeze before an open window. Now the air would be full of rock dust… Do you know what that does to your lungs?”
Healing the Santiago
Word spread and interested outsiders came to help the community of Casa Blanca in their fight. One of them was Joshua Greene, an anthropologist who also happened to be a member of an organization called Ríos Vivos.
“After a hard struggle,” Greene told me, “the people of Casa Blanca won their battle against the pulverizing plant. In the process, we had all become friends and I knew they were concerned about the fact that their sewage was going straight into the river. Unfortunately, they, like most Mexican communities, expected the government to resolve their problems.”
“‘The government is not going to help. The cavalry is not going to save you,’ I told them. They were all surprised when I suggested that they themselves could build a plant, if they were willing to.”
Locally purified bottled water from a nearby spring is sold cheaply in Casa Blanca.
Whereas successive federal administrations have built expensive sewage treatment plants all over Mexico, many of them have been shut down after a year or so because local governments couldn’t afford the cost of maintenance, much less pay the salary of a technician to run the place.
Instead of this, Joshua Greene proposed that Casa Blanca use a low-tech constructed wetland system to filter wastewater. This system consists of two parts: a large septic tank where solids can settle, followed by a flat rectangular hole a meter deep and the size of a large swimming pool, filled with lemon-sized chunks of the light volcanic rock called tezontle, ubiquitous in Mexican colonial construction.
This extremely cheap rock is brittle and filled with holes. Inside of every one of these holes live bacteria that devour human waste and break it down. This does a fairly good job of filtering raw sewage that flows into the constructed wetland. To complete the job, reeds and certain flowers are planted in the bed of tezontle. These absorb pollutants, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and heavy metals, complimenting the tezontle’s work.
From the far end of the constructed wetland flows grey water that could be used for all sorts of purposes such as watering avocado trees.
Once touted as “Mexico’s Niagara,” the El Salto Falls on the Santiago River are now smelly and toxic.
Maintenance of the system requires periodical pumping out the big septic tank and regular pruning and weeding of the plants that grow in the constructed wetland.
Casa Blanca’s filtration system has been working for four years and working well. Their success has inspired nearby communities to follow suit and at the time of this writing the town of Ojo de Agua, eight kilometers away, is building its own constructed wetland. Until now this village had been pouring its sewage directly into a little cove on Lake Chapala, the same cove where they all go to fish and swim. But that is about to end.
“To help carry this out,” says Joshua Greene, “Ojo de Agua has received help from the Rotary Club of Chapala and the Gonzalo Río Arronte Foundation, and we soon hope to have five communities around the lake filtering their sewage through constructed wetlands.”
Greene estimates that there are 18 constructed wetlands already built in Jalisco and two more on the way. “Let’s hope,” he says, “that word will spread, and that all the rest of Mexico will follow suit.”
John Pint has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, for more than 30 years and is the author of A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area and co-author of Outdoors in Western Mexico. More of his writing can be found on his website.
Jalisco's sleepy yet luxurious Costalegre turned out to the perfect setting for a Chinese New Year celebration to remember. (All photos by Meagan Drillinger)
The infinity pool at Casa La Huerta, inlaid with a shimmering mosaic serpent, was the perfect place to usher in the Year of the Snake. From the hilltop terrace, Careyes spread before us in a cinematic sweep: jungle folding into cliffs, cliffs tumbling to the Pacific and somewhere down there, the promise of a ceremony that would carry us into the night. But first, we had a legend to hear.
Every year, under the soft glow of lanterns and a sky speckled with constellations, the mystics, creatives, and well-heeled devotees of Careyes gather for the Chinese New Year festival. It’s an unlikely tradition for this remote stretch of Mexico’s Costalegre, but then again, Careyes has always been a place where the unexpected thrives. The air was thick with anticipation and just the faintest wisp of incense as long-time resident Niki Trosky raised a glass and began to tell the story.
Careyes was transformed into a sea of red lanterns to welcome the new year.
According to this lore-in-the-making, the Careyens — this elusive, almost mythical tribe of artists, eccentrics and bon vivants — believe in the ritual shedding of the past to welcome the promise of the New Year. And in the Year of the Snake, the transformation is all the more potent. It’s a time of renewal, of discarding old skins, of stepping into the next great adventure with uncoiled energy. As the story concluded, a procession began, slithering down the moonlit path towards the sea.
“It is the beginning of a New Year,” said Giorgio Brignone, the son of Careyes founder Gian Franco Brignone. “The Chinese wisdom and the Chinese knowledge of the human being is an interesting story. Chinese New Year is the beginning of a cycle. It’s a renewal.”
Flaming torches led the way, casting flickering shadows on the colorful walls and bougainvillea-laced archways. We followed the hum of conversation, punctuated by the rhythmic sound of drums from somewhere ahead. And then, as we turned the final bend, the scene unfolded like a fever dream.
The beach had been transformed into a tableaux of decadence. Lanterns rocked in the breeze and long tables set with red linens stretched towards the surf. The sand glowed with the light of hundreds of flickering candles. The air carried the scent of star anise and ginger. Fire dancers twirled, their golden arcs tracing shapes against the night. A snake — larger than life, its eyes glowing — wove its way through the revelers before ultimately sitting like royalty at the head.
Right on cue, the snake appeared to welcome in the new year. (Diana Maria Navas)
Careyes is known for its parties that stretch until dawn and become the stuff of whispered legend, from DJs mixing until dawn on New Year’s Eve to Semana Santa polo matches and the art-and-music-filled bohemian beach energy of the Onda Linda festival. But this particular celebration has a certain alchemy. The blend of East and West, tradition and whimsy, structure and complete surrender, makes it wholly unique.
The tradition dates back nearly 40 years when one of Careyes residents, Andres Yanomé, asked the community founder, Gian Franco Brignone if he could bring the tradition of Chinese New Year to the beaches of Careyes. It was 1986, the Year of the Tiger, and Brignone, a Tiger himself, happily agreed. The inaugural celebration was such a hit that it carried on year after year, with elaborate pageantry and parties honoring each of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac. The Chinese New Year ceremonies have continued to honor the residents whose zodiac symbol is being celebrated that year with the presentation of handmade ponchos sewn by local artisans.
“It’s something special that means something for the community to get together,” Brignone added. “We are celebrating something much stronger than New Year’s Eve. We’re changing a cycle.”
Beyond the revelry, the days leading up to the festival are a whirlwind of polo tournaments, sunset dinners at private villas, and locally sourced pop-up shops selling everything from Chiapas textiles to artisanal jewelry. The people who come here — designers, musicians, spiritual seekers and the occasional member of European nobility — aren’t interested in an ordinary vacation. They’re here for magic.
Dinner might be expensive, but the environment at the Costalegre makes it worthwhile.
And magic doesn’t necessarily come cheaply. At roughly 4,400 pesos per person for the beach dinner and celebration, it’s an investment. But this year’s all-inclusive ticket encompassed a buffet-style dinner from LA-based Chef Aaron Melendrez, an open bar, and an evening full of music, fireworks, dancing and tradition.
As the clock edged towards midnight, the fireworks began. A riot of color exploded over the Pacific, reflecting in the waves. The music dials up, the snake sheds its skin, the sky erupts in color, and we all raise a glass to a changing future.
Careyes’ Chinese New Year ceremony is celebrated annually. Next year’s celebration, the Year of the Horse, will be held in mid-February 2026.
Meagan Drillinger is a New York native who has spent the past 15 years traveling around and writing about Mexico. While she’s on the road for assignments most of the time, Puerto Vallarta is her home base. Follow her travels on Instagram at @drillinjourneys or through her blog at drillinjourneys.com
It's a tamale, Jim, but not as we know it. Chiapas food is spicy, vibrant and sadly unrecognized on the national stage. (Public Market of Chiapa de Corzo)
Chiapas is Mexico’s largest coffee-producing state. That fact alone, along with the quality of its coffee beans, ensures that it will be mentioned in any article about the country’s best food and drinks. But coffee is hardly Chiapas’ only claim to gastronomic fame.
The nation’s southernmost state is home to the largest Indigenous population, with 28% of its residents speaking an Indigenous language; Tzeltal and Tzotzil, two languages of the Mayan language family, are the most commonly spoken. Chiapas’ ethnic diversity, not surprisingly, is reflected in a wealth of traditional dishes and drinks.
Sopa de chipilín. (Perla Sibaja/CC BY-SA 4.0)
The gastronomy of Chiapas
A staggering number of strange and unusual natural ingredients are found in Chiapas and used in its gastronomy, called “la comida chiapaneca” as a whole. These include fruits like macús and the squash-like chayote, both of which are actually served like vegetables in the region’s rich broths and stews; the jicama-like chinchayote root; pataxete beans; a cacao variety called pataxte or cacao blanco; and unusual creatures that range in size from chicatana ants and pexjol worms to shuti snails, squirrels, opossums and armadillos.
However, just as it has been for thousands of years across Mesoamerica, corn remains the staple crop in Chiapas, with corn-wrapped tamales the staple dish, both as part of the daily diet and as a treat for special occasions. But diversity is ever-present here too, with a surfeit of tamal variations available. In an article detailing the state’s gastronomy, food encyclopedia Larousse Cocina noted nearly 30 varieties, the most exotic of which is surely the iguana tamal.
The signature tamal de bola of Chiapas
The best-known of these numerous tamal preparations is the ball-shaped, pork-rib-stuffed, chili-spiced delicacy known as tamal de bola. It’s certainly one of Chiapas’s signature dishes, as ubiquitous in the state as sopa de chipilín, a soup made with the aromantic herb it’s named for, chicken broth and masa, often including a ball of corn dough stuffed with cheese.
Both of these specialties have localized roots: the tamal de bola remains most popular in Comitán and San Cristóbal de las Casas; while sopa de chipilín is thought to have been created in Chiapa de Corzo. However, each is also representative of the state’s culinary heritage as a whole. Chipilín, for example, is also a frequent ingredient in tamales.
Nutty, chocolatey Chicatana ants are a Chiapas delicacy (Jacob García/Cuartoscuro)
The unique shape of the tamal de bola is created by hand kneading the dough before wrapping it in corn husks and tying it at both ends. Obviously, there are a few other steps that are necessary first. One is making a sauce and stewing the meat in it. The typical ingredients are water and pork broth with tomato, oregano, thyme, cumin and ancho or guajillo chilis. Once these are burbling the pork rib is added and everything is brought to a boil for about five minutes or until done. This saucy meat mixture will be inserted into a cavity in the corn dough for each tamal, along with a fried Chiapas chili and an optional bit of pork rind. Then the whole assemblage, including corn husks, is steamed for about an hour.
The unique chili peppers of Chiapas
Anyone born in Mexico or who has spent an appreciable amount of time in the country knows the importance of chili peppers to the nation’s cuisine. Every significant variety of salsa contains chilis, and every food dish boasts some variety of sauce. It’s inescapable.
But what sets food in Chiapas apart are chilies unique to the region. The tamal de bola, for example, is traditionally made with a very spicy and intensely flavorful fried simojovel, a chili named for Simjovel de Allende, municipality where it is almost exclusively grown. Simojovel is also a key ingredient in many Chiapanecan salsas.
The small, but extremely potent simojovel. (Ana Martorell/X)
Meanwhile, the more moderately spicy tusta chili is grown mainly in the Chiapas highlands and the neighboring state of Oaxaca. It’s an important ingredient for many regional tamales and moles. Chimborote and amaxito are also notable, the former for its contributions to shuti snail soups, the latter for its use in green sauces.
Say sí to dessert
Chimbos are nearly as much to say as they are to eat. Nearly, but not quite. Thissweet bread with a touch of anise flavor is the iconic regional after-dinner treat. It’s not just its ingredients — flour, sugar, eggs, butter and anise — that make it special, but also the skillful manipulations of local bakers, who give the bread its distinctive crispy on the outside, soft and spongy on the inside texture. After you’ve had a few of them, feel free to refer to them by their diminutive and equally fun nickname, chimbolitos.
Traditional drinks in Chiapas
You could drink coffee with your tamal de bola or chimbo. Chiapas’ aromatic, high-altitude coffees are always enjoyable, especially brewed café de olla style in a clay pot with brown sugar and cinnamon.
But aguas frescas, popular throughout Mexico, are another good option, whether national favorites like horchata or more localized specialties such as pulunche, which mixes ground pulp of cacao with water, sugar and ice. Atole, the ancient drink made from water and corn flour and sweetened with sugar or honey, is also commonly consumed. Local flavor add-ons include pumpkin and guava. Meanwhile, another non-alcoholic option called esmoloc is a fragrant dissolving of grains from the corn smut fungus cuiltlacoche in water.
For a stronger pairing, sample balché, a sugar cane-aided liquor with Maya roots. Fermented tree bark may not sound like the most appetizing of tipple ingredients. But when it comes from the purple-flowered Lonchocarpus violaceus tree and flavorful cinnamon, anise and melipona honey from stingless bees are added, it’s a tasty blend of sweet and sour. Better yet, it’s reputed to put one into a trance.
Where to sample Chiapaneco cuisine
Las Pichanchas, a restaurant in the state capital of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, is the must-try place to experience the rich gastronomy of Chiapas and regional folkloric dancing.
Chris Sands is the Cabo San Lucas local expert for the USA Today travel website 10 Best, writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook and a contributor to numerous websites and publications, including Tasting Table, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise, Cabo Living and Mexico News Daily. His specialty is travel-related content and lifestyle features focused on food, wine and golf.
Smartphones are the cornerstone of our modern existence. But Sarah Devries remembers a day not so long ago when things were different. (Sabermassermas.com)
I am stating this again, as though I often do, to provide context for my situation: I have been in Mexico a very long time.
And while this isn’t an “how times have changed” article, you’re in luck! I am also going to talk about how times have changed. We like to talk about it because so many of the changes have taken place so dizzyingly fast that at least I sometimes wonder if the pre-smartphone days were just a dream.
In the good old days, phones were dumb and we walked uphill both ways. In the snow. (Alicia Christin Gerald/Unsplash)
Like most people, my relationship with my cell phone has gone through several stages. I was a late adopter, holding out before buying one until 2005. Phones back then were “dumb,” though I did really like that game Snake.
Besides that game, I really only used my phone to make calls and send messages. I got good at texting fast, my muscle memory bringing up how many times I had to press each button to get to the letter I needed.
Pretty soon I upgraded, and had a series of flip phones that could take pictures.The pictures were grainy and only a handful fit in the phone’s storage, so I had to make them count. I worked hard at curating the perfect pictures for my screen background.
Next came a kind of slide-y phone with a bigger, clearer screen. And it was pink! There was a bit more room for photos, and I was able to customize my ring tone. So far, so good: it was convenient and fun, but not so fun that I couldn’t leave it alone. Looking back, I’d say that was probably peak cell phone utility plus convenience.
There is no escape from modern smartphone use, even on the street. (Cuartoscuro)
The phones after that one were all smartphones. I started with an Android, and remember a feeling of wonder at trying out a touch keyboard for the first time. I was slightly grouchy that my excellent texting skills would now be obsolete, but the satisfying vibration with each letter helped to ease my pain. I went through a series of these, as they’d usually get super slow after a year or two of use. These phones were my first experiences with apps as well, and I remember one day in particular having a lot of fun downloading and playing with them. Interestingly, I don’t remember being as glued to my phone back then. Had the apps not been made that addictive yet?
It wasn’t until 2016 or so that I got my first iPhone. It was the SE model, and I loved it and haven’t looked back from Apple since. It didn’t get slow or bogged down, and I’ve only upgraded when I’ve run out of space or the operating systems became obsolete.
Memories of lying in bed and scrolling out of boredom or avoidance are more recent. A handful of apps have typically been the culprits for me. I recently deleted both my Facebook and Instagram accounts, two obvious wastes of time. But I’m still on my phone too much: there’s still the news, my email, WhatsApp, YouTube… and there I am in front of it, like a dummy.
I’m not alone in this, of course. I feel certain that in 30 years we’ll all take the obvious harm of these always-connected addictive devices as a given, the same way we take the harm of cigarettes as a given today: “Well, obviously it was bad.” The image of a bunch of tech people high-fiving each other when they thought of notifications literally makes me sick.
Cruz Azul might not be doing so well at the moment, but come on, enjoy the game and get off your phone? (Edgar Negrete Lira/Cuartoscuro)
And just like that, before we knew it, our phones were indispensable. Need a ride? Use an app. Need to tell a friend something? They’re not going to answer the phone, man. Send a message. Need directions? There’s your maps app. Want to listen to music or a podcast? All can be found on your phone!
Increasingly, being without a phone is impossible. But the most insidious way it’s taken over is the dawn of the sign-in confirmation, which was the bane of my existence for years.
I’ve maintained financial connections to the United States. I have a bank account there, and credit cards. Conveniently, I’ve been able to do most of my banking tasks online.
Until I couldn’t. You see, I’ve always had a Mexican phone and a Mexican phone number. And guess what? U.S. banking institutions and increasingly other official places want to verify your identity through sending a code to your phone.
But guess what? It has to be a US cell phone. Not only that, it must be a real cell phone, not an online number like the kind you can get through Skype or Google.
When I inquired about a U.S. cell phone several years ago on a trip home, I was told that it would eventually be deactivated if I were out of the country for more than three months. But this time, I tried again. And people, I am so happy to report: it worked!
Most phones now are nw dual-SIM, meaning you can have two numbers on them. I took my phone to T-Mobile, and walked out with a working US number, at long last! I chose their cheapest plan at US $15 a month, and so far, so good. I don’t know for how long it’s been that simple, but I’m glad it is now. I needed it!
Most people haven’t been in Mexico since before you needed a cell phone for everything. But if you have, know there is hope: in the shape of a dual SIM! If you’re out of Mexico, be sure to ask about it before you come. If you’re in Mexico already and need a U.S. number, take your Mexican phone; most all of them are “unlocked” and can accept a new physical or e-SIM.
With your phone addiction, unfortunately, I can’t help you. Or myself. For that, we’re on our own.
By almost every metric, the municipality of Los Cabos has Mexico's highest cost of living. What is life like for residents? (Thelmadatter/CC BY-SA 4.0)
Is Los Cabos too expensive? The answer to this question is that there’s no objective answer. Los Cabos has much to offer, from year-round sunshine and gorgeous beaches to world-class resorts, restaurants, spas and golf courses. If the expense of enjoying these various attractions as a resident or vacationer is within your means, then it’s not too expensive. If they’re not, then it is.
However, it’s objectively true that Los Cabos is the most expensive destination in Mexico. That’s true based on virtually any metric you care to use. For example, its home prices are the most expensive in the country. So are the rates for its hotels. Its cost of living may or may not be the highest in a given year, but it’s always near the top.
Cabo San Lucas is a tourist paradise, but how are locals affected by soaring tourism rates? (Los Cabos Tourism Board)
Pick a category and Los Cabos likely leads the way relative to expense.
The high cost of visiting Los Cabos
Average nightly rates above US $500 didn’t occur until 2023, and the steep upward climb is somewhat recent. For example, the average room rate in 1998 was only about $120 per night. Rates gradually rose over the next two decades but didn’t surpass the $300 average until the pandemic year of 2020, but then shot over $400 by 2022 and crested $500 by February 2023.
But this wasn’t simply a post-pandemic surge. It was decades in the making. In 1991, Ignacio López Bancalari, the regional director for Fonatur, Mexico’s tourism development agency, laid out the plan for the destination.“Once the Conrad Hilton is open, other hotels — Marriott, Hyatt and Sheraton — will come in here. For many years the hotels here have been family-operated, basically 50- to 60-room hotels. We’re approaching a different scale.”
That was the quantitative approach. That a more qualitative approach was fast-tracked post-2010 seems obvious by the upscale shift in hospitality brands: from Marriott, Hyatt and Sheraton to Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons and Waldorf Astoria. Plans for a Ritz-Carlton were first announced in 2011, for the first of two Four Seasons properties in 2016 and Waldorf Astoria took over the existing The Resort at Pedregal in 2019. More luxury brands have followed as the region has consciously shed its fishing-and-partying past to embrace the high-end market.
The Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal is one of many high-priced ultra-luxury resorts in Los Cabos. (Waldorf Astoria)
That’s the context, but the fact is that Los Cabos has the highest hotel rates in Mexico and it’s not particularly close. The average US $560 room rate in Los Cabos by the end of 2024 was five times higher than that for hotels in Mexico City and more than double the cost for those in popular resort destinations like Cancún and Puerto Vallarta.
Of course, it’s not just room rates that are exorbitant. The 18 and counting golf courses are also expensive, as are the pampering spas and the celebrity chef-helmed signature restaurants, one of which now has a Michelin Guide star and a dozen more of which have achieved Michelin recognition.
Meanwhile, good luck playing golf for under US $400 a round, at least at the most acclaimed courses. There are a handful of publicly accessible loops for less. But aside from the venerable nine-hole Vidanta course, the first course ever built in the area, there are no tee times for a full round available for under $200. Affordable golf no longer exists in Los Cabos.
The high cost of living in Los Cabos
Affordable housing is also in short supply, whether for short-term or seasonal rentals or primary residences. For instance, Airbnb rentals in Los Cabos are at least partly responsible for the housing crisis for locals but have been among the most affordable accommodation options for tourists. Yet Airbnb rentals in Los Cabos have also reportedly risen to become the highest in Mexico.
The 17th hole at Solmar Golf Links, one of the most recent local golf courses to raise their greens fees to over US $400 per round. (Solmar Golf Links)
Housing costs in Los Cabos are likewise the most expensive in Mexico. The real estate boom that began after Hurricane Odile in 2014 has seen demand drive prices ever higher so that by 2024, the Federal Mortgage Corporation’s (SPH) housing cost index index reported prices in Baja California Sur as the highest among Mexican states, and those in Los Cabos the tops among cities, besting even Cancún and doubling the national average.
However, not all the costs can be so easily quantified. The intense demand in the real estate sector has proved extremely profitable to those selling but has also brought significant challenges for lower-income residents. Meaning, that just as Airbnb is forcing out long-time residents by shrinking the inventory of available rental properties while simultaneously driving up prices, the high demand for homes is having a similar displacing effect, forcing people to move outside Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo to find more affordable options.
In 2024, land parcels in San José del Cabo increased in price by 54%, while the average price for the 552 homes, 673 condos, and 516 land parcels sold during the year increased by nearly US $100,000, rising from $678,107 to $768,554.
Los Cabos saw slight improvements in the cost of living in 2024
In 2023, Los Cabos also had the highest cost of living in Mexico. But thanks to improvements in economic categories like food and transportation — at least relative to other destinations in the country — Los Cabos climbed out of the cellar in 2024, finishing behind Puerto Vallarta, Monterrey and Mexico City. So it’s not all bad news for budget-strapped locals. That’s at least one ray of light… at least until the 2025 results are announced.
When is it too much?
I noted that answering the question “Is Los Cabos too expensive?” ultimately boils down not to facts, but to one’s individual opinion. For my late friend Juan, a Mexico City native, a taquería became too expensive when tacos cost more than 10 pesos each. Those days are long gone. For me, Los Cabos crossed the Rubicon around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Before then, it was an expensive destination by Mexican standards, but it was still possible to live affordably. In 2025, that’s no longer the case.
Chris Sands is the Cabo San Lucas local expert for the USA Today travel website 10 Best, writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook and a contributor to numerous websites and publications, including Tasting Table, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise, Cabo Living and Mexico News Daily. His specialty is travel-related content and lifestyle features focused on food, wine and golf.
