The Guanajuato state government has officially requested permision for an airport in San Miguel de Allende. (Jillian Kim/Unsplash)
The Mexican airport services agency and state authorities are planning the construction of five new airports in the coming years. These projects seek to boost economic, tourism, and logistical development in different regions of the country and respond to the growing demand for air connectivity.
Carlos Manuel Merino Campos, director of the government agency Airports and Auxiliary Services (ASA), said there are at least seven requests for construction or expansion of airports in different areas of Mexico.
In Baja California, the state and municipal governments are pushing for an airport in Ensenada, Merino said. (Yitzhak Rodriguez/Unsplash)
Specifically, the new air terminals would be located in Baja California, Guanajuato, Jalisco and Quintana Roo.
“Our goal is to create regional development hubs and improve the economy in every way,” Merino said.
Merino explained that the Guanajuato government has officially submitted a request to build an airport in San Miguel de Allende — recently named the Best City in the World by Travel and Leisure magazine — aimed at enhancing its tourism potential.
Additionally, Jalisco would have two new airports. One would be located on the Costalegre coast, an area known for its strong tourist appeal, while the other would be in Lagos de Moreno, focusing on logistics and industrial operations due to its proximity to key trade corridors.
The Costalegre airport, known as the Chalacatepec International Airport, is near completion and expected to begin operations by the end of the year.
In Quintana Roo, plans are underway for a fifth international airport, with two possible locations currently being evaluated: the mainland of Isla Mujeres or a yet-to-be-determined area in the northern part of the state.
Merino also revealed that both the state and municipal governments, as well as business leaders, have expressed their intention to build an airport near the city of Ensenada in Baja California.
He noted that overall, developing these projects takes a considerable amount of time, as building an airport involves years of planning, feasibility studies, environmental impact assessments, and making investment decisions. However, he said that for some of these projects, planning and preliminary studies are underway, with meteorological stations already installed to evaluate whether proposed tracts of land are suitable for an airport.
“We need large areas. We are discussing land sizes ranging from 500 to 1,000 hectares to ensure sufficient capacity for the airport expansion,” he said.
One of the airports planned for Jalisco would serve Costalegre, a developing tourism destination. (File photo)
Meanwhile, the Navy Ministry (SEMAR) is seeking to take over operations at several more Mexican airports via the Navy Airport Group. The Navy currently manages Mexico City International Airport (AICM) and several regional airports, but seeks to expand its portfolio. It has initiated the process of assuming the management and operation of six additional commercial airports in the country. These include the air terminals of Lázaro Cárdenas, Tuxpan, Islas Marías, San Felipe, Guaymas and Puerto Libertad airports.
According to the SEMAR, managing these leisure and business air terminals would boost the economy. However, it said that first the new terminals need infrastructure improvements in order to receive commercial flights on a regular basis.
For International Coordinator Izara García Rodríguez, this September will mark a proud milestone as the city of Santiago de Querétaro prepares to host the tenth edition of Hay Festival Querétaro.
From September 4 to 7, venues across the city — including the Teatro de la Ciudad, Universidad Anáhuac, Museo de la Ciudad and Jardín Guerrero — will be transformed by a dynamic and inspiring program of nearly 70 different events, including speeches, workshops, concerts and lectures, featuring experts in literature, visual arts, science, environment, cinema, music, human rights and journalism.
The festival’s 2025 programming includes talks by world-class figures in various fields. (Hay Festival)
Accumulating diverse voices through an artfully curated program, the Hay Festival offers a stimulating platform for debate and discussion that addresses the major challenges of our era and opens a window to new possibilities.
Originating in the picturesque United Kingdom town of Hay-on-Wye in 1987, the Hay Festival has become synonymous with a celebration of the arts, ideas and literature. The event was once described by attendee and former US President Bill Clinton as “a Woodstock of the mind.” The festival has since grown to develop an international footprint, with a series of events spanning 30 countries across five continents and reaching a global audience of millions through the Hay Global charitable initiative.
Describing itself as “the antidote to polarization,” the festivals pride themselves on inclusivity, diversity and accessibility through delivering one-of-a-kind events that showcase the power of stories and ideas through both local and international literature, debate, cultural exchange, education and development.
The festivals have amassed serious cultural prestige in the Spanish-speaking world in particular, consolidating innovators and influential voices through inspiring events in host cities including Seville and Segovia in Spain, Medellín in Colombia and more. In her role as International Coordinator, Izara herself oversees three international festivals across Latin America, hosted in Cartagena (Colombia), Arequipa (Peru) and, of course, Querétaro. Over the years, she has witnessed these festivals evolve into what has been described as “one of the most important cultural encounters of the Hispanic world.”
Hay Festival Joven is aimed specifically and exclusively at the university community. (Hay Festival)
Since 2015, Querétaro has provided the perfect backdrop for the event as a state capital with a rich cultural history: the city’s historic center, a UNESCO Heritage site, is the location of the Teatro de la República, where Mexico’s current constitution was signed in 1917. In addition, it boasts a vibrant cultural community, with bookshops, libraries, indie publishers and a network for independent theaters. Home to more than 10 universities and located right in the middle of Mexico, good transport links for national and international travel make Querétaro the perfect location for a cultural festival. Consequently, the past decade has seen the festival flourish in line with the city’s growing reputation as a hub for literature and cultural exchange.
“I would proudly say that Hay Festival has contributed to this reputation, alongside many other cultural festivals happening across the year,” says Izara. This, combined with a strong local footprint of independent bookstores — including two of Izara’s favorites, Cafebrería Pessoa and Punto Y Coma — and a fantastic array of quirky cafes and creative events, cement Querétaro’s place as a center for bibliophiles, writers and thinkers.
“Hay Festival has become an annual fixture of the cultural calendar of the country, thanks to collaboration with many organizations, public and private, civic associations and individuals that have helped us to build what the festival is today,” the festival coordinator continues.
“We like that, despite being a big city, it still has a small town feel. A lot of the events happen in the city center, where you can walk from venue to venue, and the hospitality capacity, including hotel rooms and transport links, etcetera, is great.”
The festival’s tenth edition follows the central theme of Constellations, which aims to foster conversations across various disciplines spanning the environment, democracy and current affairs, music and literature.
With a stellar line-up, some of the starring speakers due to feature this year include the British novelist Deborah Levy, Canadian journalist John Vaillant and Colombian writer Juan Gabriel Vásquez. Other notable participants include the Mexican actor, director and activist Diego Luna, archeologist Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, Afro-Mexican writer and antiracist educator Jumko Ogata, journalist Yuriria Sierra, astrophysicist Julieta Fierro and English musician Glen Matlock, best known as the former bass guitarist for British punk rock legends The Sex Pistols. A host of other speakers can be fully explored in the online program.
The Muaré Experience performance company performs at the 2024 edition of the festival. (César Gómez/Cuartoscuro)
For younger visitors, the Hay Festival Comunitario offers a program of free and open-entry interactive activities for children, young people and adults, while Hay Festival Joven is exclusively aimed at the university community. Here, students can access a wealth of events entirely for free, until full capacity is reached.
With another mammoth year of events waiting in the wings, the future shows no signs of slowing for Hay Festival Querétaro, as the event continues to put Mexico on the global map as a haven for lovers of literature, thought and debate.
With 47 stores across Mexico, Galerias El Triunfo is famous for its packed aisles and unapologetically unique decor aesthetic. (Serviexperto)
Galerías El Triunfo is a treasure trove of the strange, the wonderful, and the unashamedly outlandish. More than a home decor store, El Triunfo is a surreal experience where, if you’re not careful, you’ll arrive simply looking for a lamp and end up leaving with a Greek-style bust, a neon dog statue, three baroque-style cherubs and an existential crisis.
Somehow, this store has expanded across the country with 47 branches, bringing its extravaganza to every corner of Mexico. Mexico City alone has 19 stores.
The chain’s penchant for — let’s call them whimsical — products has made it an easy target for TikTokers and Instagrammers, who love highlighting the odder items at Galerias El Triunfo.
Galerías El Triunfo started 50 years ago as a small crafts retailer. It was founded by Don Fermín, who was “one of the most visionary men to ever walk this planet,” as Ricardo López, the store’s community manager, proudly told me.
“As Mexico began to open up its borders to international commerce, Don Fermín looked abroad for things that were unique,” López said.
And indeed, he found them: The store’s aisles are typically packed with decor items that range from perfectly normal or incredibly useful to extraordinary and, at times, otherworldly.
“Find everything to decorate your space,” El Triunfo’s Instagram handle reads.
And when they say everything, they truly mean everything. There are thousands of items here suitable for homes, offices, hotels, restaurants, bars, beauty salons and every type of shop, business or event. But think of the most bizarre decorative item you can come up with, and you’ll likely find it there.
A toilet seat with a sink included in the water tank? A pot shaped like a shiny two-meter-high heel? Yes to both.
A recent offer at Galerias El Triunfo was this toilet, which incorporates a working bathroom sink that drains into the toilet’s tank to use wastewater for flushing. (Galerias El Triunfo)
“We’re always following fashion, colors and trends, and we only look for new, innovative designs that represent something no one has seen before and that make each space it’s used for look unique,” López said. “We base our work on the fashion industry and everything that’s happening around it.”
A visit to Galerías El Triunfo only confirms the store’s commitment to uniqueness. It truly caters to every taste and fantasy. And when clients stumble across some extravagant item, it’s not uncommon to hear them whisper, “Who on earth would buy this?”
This collective feeling among its shoppers has inspired the social media trend “POV: Shopping at Galerías El Triunfo.” With millions of views across TikTok and Instagram, the trend features two people pretending to be a shopper and a store employee.
“Excuse me, I’m looking for a dining table that has butterfly wings instead of legs,” the shopper asks.
“Now that you mention it, we just got that in,” the store worker says, pointing to a dining table that indeed fits the bizarre request.
Although its quirkier items get all the attention, Galerias El Triunfo wouldn’t be making millions of pesos per year if it weren’t also selling some fairly conventional home decor items, like this outdoor dining table. (Galeria El Triunfo)
The reel then continues in the same format, displaying the most exotic items found in the store.
This trend has prompted thousands of comments from shoppers who’ve had the same type of experience at Galerias El Triunfo, showing the store’s wide popularity among Mexicans. On Instagram, the store’s account has 128,000 followers.
According to the site Data Mexico, Galerias El Triunfo is among the top five businesses in Mexico in what Mexico’s statistics agency INEGI calls the “retail trade of articles for interior decoration” sector. According to INEGI, the sector took in a total 3.37 trillion pesos (US $1.81 billion) in 2024. Other retailers included in this category include the crafts store Fantasias Miguel and Distribuidora Storehome (THS).
“We want to bring our customers new things every day, and make Mexico a more beautiful place,” López said. “We want people who don’t know what to look for to be amazed and turn their spaces or events into something spectacular.”
Be it a party, a wedding or a quinceañera, if it calls for unicorns and baroque chandeliers, Galerías El Triunfo probably has exactly what your event needs — plus a couple of things you didn’t know existed.
COSAS EXTRAÑAS en GALERIAS el TRIUNFO 🤔
For a deeper dive on Galerias El Triunfo’s popularity and its offerings, watch this video by Mexican YouTuber Lalo Villar.
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.
Asked whether she supported enacting laws against exorbitant cost-of-living increases, Sheinbaum took the opportunity to explain gentrification's complexities. (Graciela López/Cuartoscuro)
President Claudia Sheinbaum spent a good portion of her Wednesday morning press conference speaking about gentrification in Mexico City, a phenomenon that has been particularly noticeable in neighborhoods that are popular with foreign residents of the capital, such as Condesa and Roma.
Late in her press conference, she acknowledged the United States government’s decision to postpone the date U.S. sanctions on the Mexican banks Intercam and CIBanco and the Mexican brokerage firm Vector will take effect.
Sheinbaum: Gentrification ‘is not necessarily associated with foreigners coming to live in Mexico’
Five days after a protest in Mexico City against the gentrification of neighborhoods where many foreigners live and stay, a reporter asked the president about the possibility of enacting national laws against exorbitant cost-of-living increases in such communities.
“First, we need to ask ourselves: what is gentrification?” Sheinbaum responded.
She went on to explain that gentrification refers to the displacement of the “original population” of a particular neighborhood with more affluent people who move into “housing of another economic level.”
Sheinbaum acknowledged that gentrification has taken place in parts of Mexico City and “in many other cities of the world.”
“Fuera gringo!” is the battle cry of an emerging anti-gentrification movement in Mexico City. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
Sheinbaum said that gentrification is “sometimes promoted from within the government,” and subsequently took aim at former Mexico City mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera, who was in office in the capital between 2012 and 2018.
During his mayorship, land was rezoned to allow larger construction projects, she said.
Offering an example, Sheinbaum — a former mayor of Mexico City herself — said that land use permits were changed in some cases to increase the maximum permitted height of a housing project from three stories to 20.
“So, what happens? Well, it’s very profitable for real estate developers who say, ‘Well, I’ll buy this lot’ and housing is built … in [which there is] a lot of stories in the same building,” said the president, who on Monday asserted that gentrification is an issue of “real estate speculation.”
The construction of such housing increases the number of people who move into certain neighborhoods, “expelling the original inhabitants and … raising the standard of living in those places,” Sheinbaum said.
She said that long-term residents of those neighborhoods have every right to ask: “‘Why is this process of gentrification occurring?'”
“… In Condesa, in Mexico City, or in Roma, there have been various issues that have been occurring for many years, some of which weren’t promoted by the government, but which simply occurred as part of the development of the city — a lot of stores and restaurants [opened] that attracted a lot of people to visit the area, not necessarily live there,” Sheinbaum said.
Later, more affluent people moved into the neighborhoods and contributed to an increase in rents, she said, without specifying the period she was referring to.
“Obviously, processes of gentrification shouldn’t occur if they drive out those who are there originally, [forcing them] to go and live on the periphery [of the city],” Sheinbaum said.
“… It changes the standard of living and creates a division between those who have economic resources and those who don’t. Those who have economic resources are left with the best parts of the city,” she said before stating that gentrification is an issue that must be attended to.
“People who come from other places” to live in that part of the city, regardless of whether they come from other parts of Mexico or other countries, “may be part of the process of gentrification,” she said.
“But a process of gentrification is not necessarily associated with foreigners coming to live in Mexico, in this area, that must be made clear,” Sheinbaum said.
Foreigners, especially Americans, were singled out as a central cause of gentrification in Condesa and Roma by many of the protesters who attended the demonstration last Friday.
Among the messages on the placards they held up at the protest were: “Free us from American gentrification”; “You’re visiting paradise, we’re being pushed out”; “You’re not an expat, you’re an invader”; “Foreigners love Mexico, but hate Mexicans;” and “Dispossession comes disguised as Airbnb.”
‘The phenomenon of gentrification must be addressed’
Sheinbaum subsequently shifted her focus to measures that can be taken to prevent the cost of living in Mexico City — and especially the cost of housing — from skyrocketing.
“How is it done? Through different mechanisms and also by building social housing, which is what we’re doing,” she said.
Sheinbaum highlighted that the new homes the government is building are close to centers of employment rather than on the outskirts of cities, “as was done for a long time.”
“The phenomenon of gentrification must be addressed,” she added.
Sheinbaum said that the federal government will “support” Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada and the mayors of the capital’s 16 boroughs in their efforts to combat gentrification.
“Land use, all that, depends a lot on municipal and state policies, but we’re going to provide support,” she said.
“… In the end what we want is the right to housing and the right to the city, or cities, to be guaranteed. The right to the city is to be able to enjoy all the benefits of a city without being forced out to the periphery,” Sheinbaum said.
She stressed that zoning laws and the issuance of land use permits in Mexico City are a matter for the city government and Congress.
“It’s not a federal matter,” she said.
“How are we attending to the right to housing? With the construction of homes. And we can support all the states and all the municipalities if it is required to guarantee the right to the city and the right to housing,” Sheinbaum said.
“The right to the city is to be able to enjoy all the benefits of a city without being forced out to the periphery,” Sheinbaum said on Wednesday. (Graciela López/Cuartoscuro)
Pressed as to whether national legislation would be possible, the president highlighted that the Mexican Constitution attributes certain powers to municipalities.
“So the municipalities are autonomous,” she said.
“It’s one thing to prosecute a crime at the federal level and the state level. It’s another thing to encroach on the powers a municipality has. So, rather, this is where we help, we work in a coordinated manner to guarantee the right to a decent life for people in urban areas,” Sheinbaum said.
Sheinbaum acknowledges postponement of US sanctions on Mexican banks
Toward the end of her press conference, Sheinbaum said “it appears that a postponement has been achieved” regarding the date U.S sanctions on the Mexican banks Intercam and CIBanco and the Mexican brokerage firm Vector will take effect.
The United States Department of the Treasury last month accused the three Mexican financial institutions of laundering millions of dollars for drug cartels. A prohibition on transactions between U.S. banks and the aforementioned Mexican financial institutions was set to take effect in the middle of July, but the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the U.S. Department of the Treasury postponed the enforcement date until Sept. 4.
Sheinbaum indicated that the Finance Ministry (SHCP) would comment further, and indeed it released a statement later in the day.
“The United States Department of the Treasury, through its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), announced today a 45-day extension, until September 4, 2025, for the entry into force of orders that restrict certain fund transfers with three Mexican financial institutions: CIBanco, Intercam Banco and Vector Casa de Bolsa,” the SHCP said.
The ministry said that the decision was “the result of dialogue and collaboration between the Government of Mexico and U.S. financial authorities.”
A Jalisco property by the name of Izaguirre Ranch became known as "Mexico's Auschwitz" after search groups found crematoriums, human remains and over 200 shoes at the site. (Fiscalía del Estado de Jalisco/Cuartoscuro)
Ten men implicated in a notorious case involving a ranch in Jalisco where the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) allegedly trained new recruits were sentenced to more than 140 years in prison on Tuesday.
On Monday, they were convicted of kidnapping and murder by a court in Jalisco.
The men, identified as members of the CJNG, were arrested at the Izaguirre Ranch in the municipality of Teuchitlán, Jalisco, last September.
When the 10 men were arrested at the ranch on Sept. 18, authorities found one body as well as two kidnapping victims who were being held captive. Human remains have also been found on the property, but it has not been officially determined how many people they correspond to.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Jalisco Attorney General’s Office (FGE) said that the 10 men were sentenced to 141 years and three months in prison and ordered to pay fines of almost 1.3 million pesos (about US $70,000).
The sentencing came after the men were found guilty of kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping and murder following an oral trial. Compared to many cases in Mexico, the conviction of the suspects happened very quickly. The FGE only identified the men by their first names.
It noted that they were arrested after the National Guard went to the Izaguirre Ranch after receiving a report about gunshots at the property.
The FGE said that the National Guard personnel came under attack when they arrived at the ranch and they returned fire.
At the property, the ten now-convicted criminals were arrested and the body of one person was found, the Attorney General’s Office said, adding that two kidnapping victims were freed.
One of those kidnapping victims was allegedly detained by municipal police from Tala, Jalisco, on September 16 and subsequently handed over to CJNG members.
The newspaper El Universal reported on Tuesday that a total of 15 people have been arrested in connection with the case.
They are the 10 men who were sentenced on Tuesday; the aforesaid ex-municipal police officers from Tala plus one more policeman from the same municipality; and two men allegedly involved in the recruitment of new members for the CJNG. The ex-police officers and alleged CJNG recruiters are awaiting trial.
Also connected to the case is a former mayor of Teuchitlán, José Ascención Murguía Santiago, who was arrested in May on organized crime and kidnapping charges and ordered to remain in preventive detention. He is alleged to have collaborated with the CJNG and received payments from the criminal group.
The Spanish multinational Barceló, with its Mexican headquarters on Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City, is a major investor in the national tourism sector.
(Barceló Reforma México/Facebook)
With recent diplomatic difficulties starting to fade, Spanish foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mexico rose 69% in 2024 compared to 2023 and continues to rise, according to data from the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Mexico (Camescom).
Mexico was the third greatest recipient of Spanish foreign investment in 2024, with Spanish firms investing €3.3 billion (US$3.86 billion) in the Mexican market. This was the largest investment since 2018, when Spain invested €5.5 billion ($6.44 billion) in Mexico.
Just over 72%, or €2.2 billion ($2.58 billion), of the 2024 Spanish investment in Mexico went to the financial services sector.
Spain has 2,300 companies operating in Mexico, supporting over 500,000 indirect jobs countrywide. Meanwhile, Mexico is the sixth-largest investor in Spain, contributing 50% of Latin American investment in the country.
A Camescom survey of Spanish companies operating in Mexico revealed that 75% of firms see the investment climate as good, 39% have seen improvements compared to last year, and 54% perceive it as stable. However, 32% of companies highlighted concerns over the exchange rate.
“Despite all the noise, wars, tariffs and internal Mexican political issues, I’m seeing the same appetite for Mexico, and the good thing is that the numbers support this perception,” said Jordi Peixó Marco, the Spanish bank Santander’sexecutive director of international business and agribusiness in the small and medium-sized enterprise and commercial banking segments.
Camescom’s president, Antonio Basagoiti, points to the sharp rise in Spanish investment in Mexico as confirmation that the two nations have a strong trade relationship: “the figures reflect a real commitment and shared development.” (@camescommx/X)
Just in the first quarter of 2025, Spain has invested over €3.2 billion ($3.758 billion) in Mexico, accounting for 15% of Spain’s total FDI, according to Camescom’s president, Antonio Basagoiti.
“Despite the global challenges, the figures reflect a real commitment and shared development,” said Basagoiti.
On Monday, the Spanish ambassador to Mexico, Juan Duarte Cuadrado, met with Gerardo Fernández Noroña, president of the Mexican Senate, to request the resumption of the Mexico-Spain Binational Commission, a meeting to advance joint agendas in areas like trade, investment and culture.
“Although we still have a loose end to resolve, from my position as ambassador, I have been working for almost three years to smooth out these minor difficulties, and I am convinced that we can move forward in this final stretch,” Duarte said during the meeting.
During an interview after the meeting, Fernández Noroña was asked if the pause in relations had effectively been overcome.
“We are interested in overcoming whatever differences there may be and strengthening our ties,” he said.
Intercam, one of the three Mexican financial institutions facing sanctions, has assets of US $4 billion. (Intercam Banco/Facebook)
Mexico-based financial institutions CIBanco, Intercam and Vector will have 45 more days to meet certain standards before receiving sanctions, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced on Wednesday.
On June 25, FinCEN issued an order prohibiting the execution of fund transfers to and from the three aforementioned Mexican banks. Implementation of sanctions was to take effect this month, but has now been put off until September 4.
Vector is a brokerage firm that manages almost US $11 billion in assets. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
The delay was in large part the result of Mexico’s response to the sanction order, indicating cooperation with the Treasury Department.
“This [45-day] extension reflects that the Government of Mexico has taken further steps to address the concerns raised in FinCEN’s orders,” a Treasury Department statement released Wednesday said.
On June 26, Mexico’s National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) assumed temporary management of CIBanco and Intercam to ensure compliance with regulatory standards.
FinCEN said the institutions were “found to be of primary money laundering concern in connection with illicit opioid trafficking pursuant to the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act.”
The sanctions do not block property or cut off all global dollar-based activities, but do prohibit U.S. transactions with their locations in Mexico. A survey of more than 200 Mexico News Daily readers revealed that some customers have already experienced inconveniences from the pending sanctions and more fear serious difficulties once they are implemented.
President Claudia Sheinbaum has adamantly demanded evidence to back up the United accusations of money laundering by the three financial institutions.
While U.S. sanctions are fairly common against individuals and companies for links to Mexican organized crime, measures against financial institutions are less common. In addition, this is the first such action taken by the U.S. under the Fentanyl Acts.
FinCEN said it planned to “continue to coordinate closely with the Government of Mexico on these matters and will carefully consider all facts and circumstances in considering any further extensions to the implementation date of the orders.”
Commercial banks CIBanco and Intercam have assets of over US $7 billion and $4 billion, respectively, while brokerage firm Vector manages almost $11 billion in assets.
In 2024, Mexico received over US $65 billion in remittances, equivalent to 3% of the national GDP. (Edgar Negrete/Cuartoscuro)
New legislation introducing a 1% tax on cash remittances sent from the United States to Mexico could result in a 25% decrease in Mexico’s household spending, the president of the National Alliance of Small Business Owners (ANPEC), Cuauhtémoc Rivera, said on Monday.
Approximately 11.3% of Mexican households receive remittances from the U.S., most of which go towards consumer spending, Rivera said in an interview with the newspaper El Economista.
Rivera expects families in the states of Chiapas, Guerrero, Michoacán, Zacatecas, Oaxaca, Guanajuato, México state, Puebla and Mexico City to be most affected by the tax.
Chiapas, on the border with Guatemala, receives the largest amount of remittances nationwide, contributing 14.31% of its GDP.
Although some experts suggest that migrants will accelerate remittance transfers before the tax takes effect, Rivera is not so sure.
“With the persecutory immigration policy [migrants] are subject to in the United States, they surely don’t have the capacity to increase their dollar transfers [in the short term],” Rivera said.
“Remember that migrants live day to day because their jobs are temporary, and they are hiding from immigration authorities.”
Members of the Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce, Services and Tourism (Concanaco Servytur) voiced similar concerns about the 1% remittance levy.
“We cannot ignore the political undertones of this proposal,” said Concanaco Servytur’s president, Octavio de la Torre.
“It goes beyond a fiscal issue; it is a blow to the efforts of migrants, who have sustained a significant portion of the economy for decades.”
De la Torre emphasized the significant contribution of remittances to the Mexican economy. In 2024, Mexico received over US $65 billion in remittances, equivalent to 3% of the national GDP.
Some financial institutions, such as BBVA México, expect that remittance senders will absorb the tax to avoid reducing the amount they send to family members. Migrants may also decide to use informal channels to avoid the tax, according to de la Torre.
During her June 30 press conference, Mexico’s President Sheinbaum said that the Mexican government planned to reimburse the 1% U.S. tax on cash remittances.
In Mexico, cash makes up 1% of all remittances received, though remittances sent electronically via cash deposit (at a Western Union, for example) may account for up to 40% of all remittances sent from the U.S. to Mexico.
The Trump administration has not clarified whether these remittances will be taxed equally.
Isaac Hernández made his ABT debut on June 25 with co-star Isabella Boylston, with whom he had been friends since age 14. (Isaac Hernández/Instagram)
Isaac Hernández has made history by becoming the first Mexican to achieve the rank of principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) in New York, one of the most prestigious ballet companies in the world.
His debut as a principal dancer on the stage of New York’s Metropolitan Opera House (Met) took place on June 25, performing the role of Albrecht in the classic ballet Giselle, marking a milestone for Mexican and Latin American dance.
“This debut isn’t just mine. It belongs to my parents, my family, my teachers,” Hernández said following his debut. “It’s a way to remind the world that excellence can also be born from the backyard of a home. Circumstances shouldn’t determine destiny.”
Hernández, 35, joined the ABT in September 2024, after a period of time with the San Francisco Ballet. His performances at the Met Opera’s summer season, after Giselle, will include The Winter’s Tale (July 2 and 5) with Hee Seo, and Swan Lake (July 14) with Catherine Hurlin.
Many of the dancers he performs with were his classmates at ABT’s summer schools, like his Giselle co-star, Isabella Boylston, whom he has known since they were both 14 years old.
Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, in 1990, Hernández began his training at the age of eight in the backyard of his home under the guidance of his father, who was also a dancer. From a young age, he received scholarships to international dance academies and built a distinguished career in world-renowned companies before joining ABT.
Hernández’s success has also landed him roles on the silver screen. The Mexican dancer stars alongside Jessica Chastain in the film Dreams, by the Mexican director Michel Franco. The movie premiered at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival and will be released in Mexico in October. In the film, he portrays a young ballet dancer from Mexico who travels to the United States in search of success.
In an interview with news outlet Los Tubos, Hernández said his debut performance at the Met filled him with pride.
“It feels like my entire career, spanning these 35 years, has led me to this moment, and that makes it feel even more special than performing on other stages,” Hernández said. “After coming off stage, I found entire Mexican families who live in the city but were visiting the Met for the first time — all of these made the night very meaningful for me.”
At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump enumerated the various products on which his administration has imposed import tariffs.
“We did steel, as you know 50%; we did aluminum 50%; lumber just came out and we did cars. And today we’re doing copper. I believe the tariff on copper we’re going to make it 50%,” he told reporters.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a subsequent interview that the tariff on copper would likely take effect at the end of July or on August 1. In February, Trump directed Lutnick to “initiate an investigation under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act to determine the effects on national security of imports of copper in all forms.”
Mexico was the third-largest exporter of copper and copper products to the United States in 2024, behind Chile and Canada. Those exports were worth US $976 million, according to U.S. Department of Commerce data.
The United States spent $17.11 billion on copper imports last year. Therefore, Mexico had a 5.7% share of the United States’ market for imports of the essential industrial metal.
Chile, whose copper exports to the United States were worth $6.11 billion last year, had a 35.7% share, while Canada, whose copper exports to the U.S. were worth $3.99 billion, had a 23.3% share.
Mexico’s copper exports to the United States in the first five months of the year were worth $419 million, a 12% annual increase. Despite the increase, Mexico was only the sixth-largest copper exporter to the U.S. between January and May.
Mexico exports significantly more copper to China than to the United States. The value of Mexican copper ores and concentrates exported to China in 2024 was $3.72 billion, according to Mexico’s Economy Ministry.
Mexico sold US $3.72B in copper ore to China in 2024, making up 60% of Mexico’s total copper ore trade. (Gobierno de México)
Sonora is easily Mexico’s top copper-producing state, accounting for around 80% of total output. The metal is “critical to electric vehicles, military hardware, the power grid and many consumer goods,” Reuters reported.
Sheinbaum: ‘We’re always going to seek the best conditions for Mexico’
“We export more [copper] to China than the United States, but we do export to the United States. A lot of it is scrap copper that is refined in the United States,” she said.
Sheinbaum stressed that the United States needs copper from Mexico.
“That is the big issue when they impose these tariffs for the protection of the United States economy and for additional production. In reality, a good part of exports is because United States industry and companies need [foreign copper],” she said.
After saying “we’re going to wait” to see what happens with the United States’ proposed copper tariff, Sheinbaum noted that a delegation of Mexican officials led by Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard will meet with U.S. officials in Washington on Friday to work on the bilateral “global agreement” she proposed to Trump last month.
She said on June 18 that the U.S. president had agreed to her proposal to establish a “global agreement” between Mexico and the United States covering security, migration and trade.
On Wednesday, Sheinbaum said that the first “conversations” between Mexico and the United States to that end would take place on Friday.
“Of course, we’re always going to seek the best conditions for Mexico,” she said.
On behalf of the Mexican government, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard has spent most of 2025 seeking to win exemptions from the Trump administration’s newly imposed tariffs. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
In recent months, Ebrard has traveled regularly to Washington to engage in trade discussions with Trump administration officials, including Lutnick. On behalf of the Mexican government, he is seeking to win an exemption from, or at least a reduction of, the tariffs the United States has imposed on imports of steel, aluminum and cars from Mexico, even though the two countries have a free trade agreement, the USMCA, which also includes Canada.
On Tuesday, Ebrard said he would seek more details about the United States’ proposed copper tariff.
“I will have a call with United States authorities today and then I’ll be able to give you a more precise position because even they didn’t know [the details],” he told reporters.
“We need to know what it applies to. We’re going to understand that first,” Ebrard said.
While it exports copper to countries including China and the United States, Mexico imports copper from Chile and Peru for use in a range of manufactured products. The newspaper El Financiero reported that Chilean and Peruvian copper in goods manufactured in Mexico “could be subject” to the U.S. tariffs the Trump administration intends to impose.
That would “affect the competitiveness of our most sophisticated exports and make the entire industrial value chain more expensive,” José de Jesús Rodríguez, a tax analyst, told El Financiero.
