The El Arco mine on the border between Baja California and Baja California would occupy up to 50,000 hectares, more than six times larger than the Peñasquito mine in Zacatecas, pictured here. (Adolfo Vladimir/Cuartoscuro)
Lawmakers from the state of Baja California Sur (BCS) unanimously lined up against a massive mining project in the neighboring state of Baja California, approving a point of order asking federal authorities to provide details on the concession and permits granted to the mining company Mexicana del Arco.
The BCS lawmakers approved several other points of order, including an invitation to Environment and Natural Resources Minister Alicia Bárcena to explain the federal government’s position on the issue to the state Congress.
The BCS deputies characterized the project as a social and environmental disaster waiting to happen as the mining operation would impact two wildlife protection areas, one in each state. The mining operation will require an estimated 9 million cubic meters of water per year, according to Mexicana del Arco’s parent company, Grupo México.
A separate point of order, according to the newspaper El Independiente, calls on the Baja California Congress to reject the El Arco mine project. The mine could begin production as soon as 2030, El Sudcaliforniano newspaper reported.
The proposed El Arco open-pit mine, possibly extending to 50,000 hectares, has the potential to be one of the largest mines in the world, producing up to 15.5 billion pounds of copper, 3.5 million ounces of gold and unknown quantities of zinc and molybdenum.
BCS lawmakers are concerned about a mine planned for just north of their state border. (Geocomunes)
The primary issue prompting the BCS Congress to take action is water usage, but there are other concerns as well.
The El Arco mine is located in the Valle de los Cirios Flora and Fauna Protection Area in Baja California. The water it intends to utilize would impact the El Vizcaíno aquifer, which is primarily located under the adjacent El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve in Baja California Sur.
According to El Sudcaliforniano, BCS lawmakers objected to the fact that Mexicana del Arco was allowed to carry out the water availability study, which was accepted by Mexico’s National Water Commission (Conagua).
Conagua not only accepted the results of the study — which reported water well in excess of historical records — but also created a new aquifer administration entity to manage water taken out of the newly designated “Llanos de Berrendo” aquifer in Baja California.
The BCS lawmakers say the misrepresentation of the water available in the Valle de los Cirios means the mine will actually be siphoning water from the El Vizcaíno aquifer which sits within one of the most arid areas of Baja California Sur and already presents an annual deficit of nearly 500,000 cubic meters, according to Conagua.
In addition to the water issue, the Congress noted concerns over the degradation of soil caused by open-pit mining and the damage to endemic fauna, especially the peninsular pronghorn, an endangered species known as a berrendo in Mexico.
On Tuesday, Colombia’s Avianca Airlines made its maiden flight to Tulum, arriving from Bogotá at 4 p.m. local time with 160 passengers on board, according to the newspaper La Jornada Maya.
Mario Cruz Rodríguez, the president of Tulum’s Tourism Promotion Council, was one of the passengers, returning home after spending a week in Colombia on Council business.
Arriving with him was an assemblage of Colombian reporters and tourism industry operators who were flown in on a “fam trip” to familiarize themselves with the amenities and attractions of the popular resort area on the Caribbean coast of Quintana Roo.
The Avianca plane was the first flight to arrive in Tulum from outside North America.
On Thursday, the airport welcoming committee sprung into action again, treating the first trans-Atlantic arrival to a water arch salute. That flight, operated by Discover Airlines, came in from Frankfurt, Germany, with 199 passengers on board.
Operated by Discover Airlines, the first direct flight from Germany arrived from Frankfurt, with 199 passengers on board. (Mara Lezama via X)
Discover — a leisure airline owned by Lufthansa — runs the Frankfurt-Tulum route on a seasonal basis. It will land at Tulum International every Thursday and Sunday until April 27, 2025.
Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama and German Ambassador Clemens von Goetze led the welcome ceremony, according to the newspaper Riviera Maya News.
Lezama celebrated the occasion by saying the new flights “[contribute] to the confidence generated by our tourist destinations and … by national and international business groups and investors,” adding that it indicates a promising future for the Mexican Caribbean.
Von Goetze also spoke at the ceremony. “The inauguration of this flight represents more than an air connection,” the ambassador said. “It is a bridge between Mexico and Germany.”
Thursday’s arrival also marked the first landing of a wide-body aircraft at the new airport which opened its doors on Dec. 1, 2023, Riviera Maya News reported.
In its first year of operations, the Tulum airport surpassed its target of transporting 700,000 passengers. On Dec. 1, 2024, airport officials announced that Tulum International Airport had received 1,074,000 passengers and had carried out 8,500 air operations.
More new routes will be inaugurated before the end of the year. Canada’s Air Transat will begin flights from Montreal and Quebec on Dec. 16 and Dec. 18, respectively.
President Sheinbaum said her government would appeal the National Electoral Institute (INE) ruling that prohibits public institutions from promoting the upcoming judicial elections. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)
Will the National Electoral Institute (INE) be able to meet its usual high standards when organizing Mexico’s first ever judicial elections in 2025, despite a sizable cut to its budget?
There are conflicting answers to that question within the INE itself.
Before we get to those, let’s first look at how we got here.
Almost three months ago, former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador promulgated a controversial judicial reform that set the stage for judicial elections to be held in Mexico for the first time ever in 2025.
Citizens will elect a total of 881 federal judges on June 1, 2025, including nine Supreme Court justices.
The INE requested funding of 40.47 billion pesos (about US $2 billion) to carry out all its activities in 2025, including the organization of the judicial elections and elections in Durango and Veracruz.
The jobs of nine Supreme Court justices will be up for grabs in the 2025 udicial elections. (SCJN)
However, this week the Chamber of Deputies — dominated by lawmakers with the ruling Morena party and its allies — voted in favor of reducing the INE’s budget by 13.47 billion pesos, down to 27 billion pesos (US $1.34 billion). The cut in percentage terms is 33.3%.
INE proposed using 13.2 billion pesos for next year’s judicial elections, but was only allocated 7 billion pesos for that purpose. That means the INE will have to make do with 47% less resources than what it calculated is necessary.
Ricardo Monreal, Morena’s leader in the Chamber of Deputies, said on social media that lawmakers approved “an austere and responsible budget that guarantees economic stability and confidence in Mexico.”
Critics of the federal government’s judicial reform argue that the direct election of judges will politicize the judiciary, but President Claudia Sheinabum and other government officials reject claims that Mexico’s courts will lose their independence.
Sheinbaum asserts that a judicial overhaul via the election of judges is necessary to eliminate corruption and other ills from Mexico’s justice system.
INE questions its capacity to meet standards that citizens expect
Before the Chamber of Deputies approved the reduction to the INE’s 2025 budget, the electoral institute issued a statement in which it said that carrying out the judicial elections to “the same standards of quality to which Mexican citizens are accustomed requires the approval of the budget as it was requested.”
Issued on Wednesday, the statement was titled “the INE is confident that the budget requested from the Chamber of Deputies will be approved.”
However, as noted above, that was not the case.
In its statement, the INE said that if the Chamber of Deputies approved “the reduction proposed by the Budget and Public Accounts Committee,” it would face an “enormous challenge” in organizing and carrying out the 2025 judicial elections.
Finance Minister Rogelio Ramírez de la O submitted a 9.3-trillion-peso (about US $460 billion) budget proposal in November. (Galo Cañas/Cuartoscuro)
To underscore the need for it to receive all the funding it requested, the INE noted that the number of federal judges to be elected next year — 881 — is higher than the number of federal representatives elected at the 2024 elections. A total of 629 federal representatives were elected on June 2: President Claudia Sheinbaum, 500 deputies and 128 senators.
High-quality elections are guaranteed, says INE president, but some electoral councilors aren’t so sure
In a radio interview on Thursday, INE president Guadalupe Taddei said that the electoral institute will guarantee that high-quality and trustworthy judicial elections are held next year even though it won’t have the funds it requested.
“We can’t lower the quality [of the elections],” she told Radio Fórmula.
Taddei said that the INE will “have to take this [budget] cut with all the professionalism in the world.”
She indicated that the INE is not happy with the cut, but described it as a “fait accompli.”
The INE’s first woman president — elected to the position last year — said that the electoral institute will have to “quickly” look at ways it can reduce costs given that it will have less funding than it anticipated and hoped for.
In subsequent remarks on Thursday, Taddei described the budget cut as “extremely big,” but once again stressed that it won’t “diminish the quality of the [judicial] electoral process.”
However, she did say that the INE “is obliged to reconsider the entire operational structure” for the judicial elections. Instead of setting up 172,000 (often small) polling stations known as casillas, the INE is looking at the possibility of installing around 80,000 larger “voting centers,” Taddei said.
Norma Irene de la Cruz Magaña, one of 11 electoral councilors including Taddei, said that many citizens will have to travel five or ten blocks to vote in the judicial elections rather than just one.
The budget cuts will “will affect the right of citizens to have an electoral process with institutional guarantees,” according to INE Councilor Claudia Zavala Pérez. (INE/X)
“But we’re not going to reduce the quality [of the elections] or take shortcuts,” she said.
“We’re going to guarantee that every voter has a ballot,” de la Cruz said.
Claudia Zavala, another electoral councilor, said in a radio interview that the budget cut “will affect the right of citizens to have an electoral process with institutional guarantees.”
She also highlighted that many citizens will have to travel longer distances to cast their votes.
Zavala said that the INE will do its best with the money it is allocated but added that doesn’t guarantee it will be able to organize the judicial elections with the usual “quality standards and guarantees” as ensuring such things “requires resources.”
For his part, electoral councilor Jaime Rivera said in an interview that the budget cut will affect the INE’s capacity to organize elections with its usual “efficiency, … transparency and reliability in the results.”
He said that the funding amount the INE requested for the judicial elections was the “result of serious and objective analysis,” rather than a figure it came up with on a “whim.”
Rivera also said that the organization of the judicial elections would be “considerably more complicated” than the organization of the recent federal elections. There will be significantly more candidates, vying for positions in various courts.
“We have to say it with complete clarity — with such a severe reduction in the resources allocated, it is impossible to maintain the same quality in the organization of elections,” Rivera said.
Club Ámerica defender Kevin Álvarez celebrates after scoring his team's first goal of the match. (Mireya Novo/Cuartoscuro)
Club América is poised to claim its third straight Mexican Soccer League title after an impressive 2-1 victory in the first leg of the Liga MX Finals against the Rayados of Monterrey.
Monterrey was first to score, with an elegant shot from defender Sergio Canales. Club Ámerica defender Kevin Álvarez evened the score in minute 39. Then early in the second half, midfielder Alejandro Zendejas fired home the goal that won Ámerica the game.
¡Gol de Sergio Canales! América 0-1 Monterrey | Final ida | Apertura 2024
The second leg of the final will be played in Monterrey’s Estadio BBVA Bancomer on Sunday night.
América’s pursuit of a third-consecutive championship appeared unlikely after Club América, known to fans as the Águilas, plodded through a disappointing regular season.
The team had to survive a wildcard match against Tijuana to claim the No. 7 seed in the playoffs, then trounced the No. 2 seed Toluca by a 4-0 aggregate score in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, the Águilas faced No. 1 seed Cruz Azul in the semifinals in a rematch of last season’s Finals and swept aside the Cementeros thanks to a late penalty kick in the second leg contest.
¡EMPATE INSTANTÁNEO! GOOL de Kevin | América 1-1 Monterrey | Liga Mx -AP2024 | Final IDA | TUDN
At Puebla’s Cuauhtémoc Stadium on Thursday, the Águilas put on a dominating display, outshooting Monterrey 13-6. If not for a magnificent performance from Rayados goalie Luis Cárdenas, América might have won 5-1. Cárdenas had three spectacular saves among his four stops, whereas his counterpart, Luis Malagón, saw only one shot on net all night.
Monterrey’s lone shot on target was a beauty that Malagón had no chance to stop. Canales gathered in a loose ball with his back to goal, spun quickly and unleashed a seeing-eye rocket from 28 meters that zipped into the upper left corner of the América goal.
The Rayados had little time to celebrate. América flowed forward on the left flank, as Álvaro Fidalgo found Víctor Dávila inside the box and Dávila let fly from a sharp angle. The Rayados goalie made a reflex save, but the ball bounded into the middle of the box, where two unmarked Águilas were lingering. Midfielder Zendejas swung and missed on his attempt, but the ball spun toward Águilas defender Álvarez on the back side, who blasted home the equalizer.
Just four minutes into the second half, Zendejas made up for his whiff. He collected a pass from Fidalgo and turned into the box to the right of Rayados goalie Cárdenas before ripping a low left-footer that nestled into the netting inside the far post.
Monterrey will have to win by two goals at home on Sunday to deny América an historic three-peat — no Liga MX team has won three consecutive titles since the league shifted to the short-season format in 1996. América only needs a draw to claim its third straight trophy.
The Rayados are 7-2-2 at home this season (including playoffs) while América has won three straight road games in these playoffs.
Goldman Sachs was the intermediary in a natural gas deal with a CFE subsidiary, in which Goldman and CFE's respective payments were tied to different natural gas price indexes — landing Goldman a windfall when a winter storm caused some local gas prices to surge.(Shutterstock)
Natural gas imports from the United States increased during the six-term of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador and hit a record high in the first nine months of 2024.
The increase in natural gas imports from the U.S. occurred despite López Obrador’s repeated pledges to put Mexico on the path toward energy self-sufficiency.
U.S. natural gas exports to Mexico in the last decade have increased thanks to several new pipelines between the U.S. and Mexico built in that period, funded in part by Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission, which needed the fuel to power gas-fired electricity generation plants. (RBN Energy LLC)
Citing data from the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), the newspaper El Economista reported Thursday that Mexico’s natural gas imports from the U.S. increased 5.9% in annual terms between January and September to reach 6.537 billion cubic feet per day (ft³/d).
That figure is 42.3% more than that of the first nine months of 2018, the last year that López Obrador’s predecessor, Enrique Peña Nieto, was in office.
EIA data shows that Mexico’s natural gas imports from the U.S. increased virtually every year during López Obrador’s six-year term of government, which concluded Sept. 30.
Mexico is the world’s largest importer of U.S. natural gas, which mainly comes into the country via pipelines. Gas-fired combined cycle power plants are the biggest consumers of natural gas in Mexico, accounting for around 60% of total usage, according to El Economista.
Imported natural gas — almost all of which comes into Mexico from the United States — accounted for 72.1% of Mexico’s total usage last year, according to Energy Ministry data, an increase of almost nine percentage points compared to 2018.
Increased reliance on U.S. natural gas imports coincided with a decline in domestic production
This Energy Ministry chart shows how Mexico’s production of natural gas (the green line) reached a peak in 2007 and then has declined more and more ever since, while consumption (the red line) and imports (the gold line) have consistently risen. Measurements are in millions of cubic feet per day. (SENER)
Between 2018 and 2024, production of natural gas in Mexico declined 3.6% to 3.772 billion ft³/d, according to state oil company Pemex. Thus, the increase in the quantity of natural gas imported from the United States over the same period — 42.3% (as mentioned above) — was much bigger than the decrease in domestic production.
Mexico has large reserves of natural gas, but production has been declining for an extended period.
According to a study carried out by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), a think tank, and the Mexican Natural Gas Association (AMGN), natural gas production in Mexico declined 35.1% between January 2010 and September 2024.
“Mexico needs a strategy that allows it to gradually increase the production of this fuel,” IMCO and AMGN said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The country has an energy security risk by depending on a single supplier for the majority of its [natural gas] use,” they said.
IMCO and AMGN offer a diagnosis and remedy
IMCO and AMGN said that cheap “gas prices in the United States and the prioritization of crude oil production in Mexico have disincentivized national production of natural gas.”
They said that “schemes with attractive incentives” are needed to spur national production of natural gas by both Pemex and private companies. IMCO and AMGN also said that the government should “facilitate” joint ventures between Pemex and private companies in order to boost domestic production of natural gas.
The think tank and industry association are also advocating investment to improve Mexico’s natural gas storage, transport and distribution capacity.
“Mexico needs to invest quickly in the entire natural gas value chain in order to increase its possibilities of generating, attracting and retaining investment and to strengthen energy security,” they said.
López Obrador, seen here in October at the presidential inauguration of his successor, President Claudia Sheinbaum, right, repeatedly said Mexico needed to become energy self-sufficient. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
IMCO and AMGN said that Mexico doesn’t have sufficient storage capacity for natural gas, putting it in a “position of vulnerability” in the face of possible supply interruptions.
They also said that “without expanding access to natural gas, it won’t be possible to increase investment levels in regions with lower economic development.”
Baja California Sur, Guerrero, Nayarit and Chiapas don’t have access to natural gas and use is low in Zacatecas and Morelos, IMCO and AMGN said.
They also said that natural gas infrastructure needs to be built to allow Mexico to reduce reliance on “more contaminating” energy sources such as coal, fuel oil and diesel, which are also used for electricity generation.
“For Mexico, natural gas is an essential input for economic development of all regions of the country. In terms of competitiveness, efficiency, cost, energy security, the energy transition and general well-being, the abundance of this fuel in North America opens the door to multiple opportunities for investment and economic diversification,” IMCO and AMGN said.
They also said that Mexico has an opportunity to export natural gas and become “an important player” in the global market for the fuel.
“The projects underway in Altamira, Ensenada and Puerto Libertad stand out,” IMCO and AMGN said.
“In an environment of limited resources, it is fundamental to identify areas for [natural gas] collaboration between the public sector and [private] companies in order to guarantee the country’s energy security, replace more contaminating fuels …and allow the installation of new industries in regions of the country where today that is not possible due to the lack of access to competitive energy,” they added.
Under President Claudia Sheinbaum’s leadership, the current government is aiming to increase natural gas production in Mexico to 5 billion ft³/d during its six-year term. But to achieve self-sufficiency for the fuel, the attainment of even loftier goals will be required as usage last year was 8.559 billion ft³/d, according to the Energy Ministry.
Filmmaker Eduardo Esparza was on a work trip to Culiacán as fighting between rival factions of the Sinaloa cartel turned deadly. His short stay became something else entirely. (Luis Brito/Culiacan Editing Studio)
The other day, I got a call from a photojournalist friend in Culiacán, who wryly asked me about the ongoing narco war in the city: “How was your first shoot-out in Mazatlán?”
The night before, there had been a car chase that ended in the murder of a man in the city where I live; afterward, more than 2,000 bullet casings were found in the area. It had been two months since an internal conflict between drug traffickers in the state of Sinaloa turned into a war that today has the state’s residents caught in the crossfire.
Mayos and Chapitos
Esparza found himself in Culiacán as deadly fighting gripped the city. (Luis Brito/CLN)
In late September I traveled to Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa, to finish the final cut of my first movie, which follows Mexico’s first amputee soccer team, the Zorros of Sinaloa. At the time, the conflict in Culiacán between the rival Chapitos and Mayos factions of the Sinaloa Cartel had been going on for a month: shootouts, kidnappings, dead bodies, stolen cars and the absence of police and transit officials, who just seven days before my arrival had been disarmed by the Mexican Army for a “special review” of municipal police weapons, according to the state Ministry of Public Security. Culichis, as residents of Culiacán are known, were alone with the narcos.
During my six-day stay in the city, Culiacán was full of punteros — motorcyclists circling the city to monitor the military’s presence — and sicarios, assassins working for the narco-traffickers or, as the government calls them, “armed civilians.” Without police or transit officials, the city was in anarchy.
During the day, the presence of military and National Guard troops was impressive, with caravans of heavily armed soldiers in the streets. But at night sicarios patrolled, just as heavily armed as the soldiers. City residents sheltered in their homes in a self-imposed curfew: online classes, closed businesses, a collapsed economy and as if that wasn’t enough, the government sent more troops.
Rubén Rocha Moya, governor of Sinaloa, minimized the conflict and for weeks insisted that Culiacán was calm. By late October, 3,300 soldiers and National Guardsmen had been sent to the state but it wasn’t enough to contain the violence unleashed after the July capture of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the legendary leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. Five years ago, his colleague and friend Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was sentenced to life in prison in the U.S. Today, the followers and children of both leaders, “los Mayos” and “los Chapitos,” fight to control the area and what they call “the company.”
A new lockdown
Infighting among members of the Sinaloa Cartel peaked following the arrest of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. (José Betanzos/Cuartoscuro)
My stay was discreet: I devoted myself to my work, going out only when necessary. I stayed close to the studio where I worked and slept. I shared my live location and constantly skimmed local news, joining the collective fear of the population: ever-attentive to my surroundings, suspicious of everyone.
During my stay I was able to see some friends; brief visits in which the topic of discussion was the “narco-pandemic,” as some called the mandatory lockdown period, in reference to the COVID-19 lockdown.
On Friday, Sept. 27, in the early hours of the morning, a small plane flew over the city dropping flyers from the Mayos. The leaflets contained the names and faces of people accused of working with the Chapitos, including Sinaloa governor Rocha Moya and Senator Enrique Inzunza. That same day, at the end of his term, then-President López Obrador and president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum visited Sinaloa to inaugurate the new Santa María reservoir irrigation system. At night, a white van was abandoned at the southern edge of the city. Inside there were eight bodies and the exterior was spray-painted with a message: “Welcome to Culiacán.”
The next morning, one of the criminal groups created a “narco-blockade” to close the Culiacán-Mazatlán highway, burning five or so cargo trailers to block traffic for several hours. Monday, Sept. 30, a nostalgic López Obrador said goodbye in his last televised morning press conference. That same morning at 9 a.m. Faustino Hernánedez, president of the Sinaloa Livestock Union, was assassinated by firearm. López Obrador’s administration ended with 199,619 homicides, one of the most violent presidential terms in the history of Mexico.
“It’s a wrap!”
Los Mayos have been in conflict with both rival cartel groups and law enforcement. (José Betanzos/Cuartoscuro)
Finally, editing is complete. I save the session to the hard drive, pack my suitcase and a friend gives me a lift to the bus station to return to Mazatlán. We say goodbye, wishing each other luck.
I’m constantly checking the news: it appears that the highways are clear. Ahead of me are 233 kilometers and 2.5 hours of travel. The bus is full and the sunset is spectacular. The Costa Rica tollbooth just outside the city, is semi-abandoned: only military and National Guard troops are present. The bus passes through without stopping to pay the toll.
We drive on. It gets dark. The highway is completely deserted. At the Marmól tollbooth, near Mazatlán, I’m even more surprised: it’s completely empty, without workers, military or National Guard troops. Once again, the bus passes through without stopping.
I get into Mazatlán at 8 p.m. The city looks the same as ever: hot, humid weather and steady traffic. My friends and family update me on the situation in Mazatlán: a few isolated kidnappings and murders, the police and National Guard constantly patrolling. The war, little by little, spreads through Sinaloa.
On Oct. 1, Mexico welcomes its first female president, Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum. A new security strategy emerges with the new government: now, there are security forces on the highways. The Army and National Guard circulate in caravans to monitor and control the violence. Two months from the start of the war, the new government faces a difficult challenge: bring peace to Sinaloa and keep control of the country.
Today, I write this chronicle from the comfort of my home. It’s a cool night. Outside, an ambulance siren wails in the distance. As residents of Sinaloa, we live with the fear that violence could occur at any moment. It’s not a new fear: since the start of Felipe Calderón’s so-called war on drug traffickers, violence has become normalized in Sinaloa. When negative thoughts consume me, I feel powerless thinking how much longer the situation will last. No one wants to be a superhero in this absurd war.
This story was translated by Mexico News Daily senior news editor Rose Egelhoff.
Eduardo Esparza is a professor, filmmaker and professional photographer from Mazatlán, Sinaloa. His first feature film, “Con un pie en la gloria,” will premiere in summer 2025.
From mud massages to top ōnsen experiences, there's a spa experience in the capital that's right for you. (Rosa Rafael/Unsplash)
Stressing out during the holidays takes a lot of time and energy. From classic deep tissue massages to regional traditions like sweat lodges and salt caves, Mexico City is full of ways to relax at the spa. Set aside a few hours, or a full day, for a bit of indulgence with these memorable spa experiences that can be found in various locations throughout CDMX. You’re sure to emerge a happier, healthier, more holiday-ready person.
If needed, feel free to accidentally send this article to any family members, lovers, or friends who could use a little assistance in shopping for you this year. Look at you, Santa’s little helper.
Temazcal ceremonies
From the Nahuatl word temazcalli, a temazcal is an ancient system of daily steam baths. (Wikimedia Commons – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0/AlejandroLinaresGarcia)
If you live in Mexico or spend a significant amount of time here, chances are you’ve indulged in a traditional Temazcal experience. This Mesoamerican sweat lodge serves as both a physical and spiritual cleansing ritual, and derives from Nahuatl, where “temaz” means “steam” and “calli” means “house”. The Temazcal practice dates back to pre-Columbian civilizations such as the Maya and Mexica who used it often to promote relaxation, detoxification, and spiritual renewal.
Sweat out impurities and find your mental focus right here in Mexico City. More than a detox, it’s also a great opportunity to hand over holiday prep duties to someone else for three hours.
Places to experience a Temazcal in Mexico City include:
A couples massage at Royal Thai Spa is the gift you didn’t know you needed. (Royal Thai Spa)
Unwind, reconnect, enhance intimacy… or just knock out a holiday present for yourself and your lover with a couples massage. Experience gifts are all the rage these days, and what could be better in this wintry weather than sitting in a steaming hot jacuzzi with a bottle of bubbly and artisanal chocolates? If your answer was “a 90-minute massage and 60-minute facial” and you live in Mexico City, you’re in luck. Forget your to-do list for a few hours and decompress in a tranquil escape right here in the city. Emerge totally rejuvenated with a spa treatment designed with you and your honey in mind.
Whether you choose to go with your girlfriends or fly solo, a surefire way to relax and refresh is spending the day at the spa. Between the plethora of upscale hotels on Paseo de la Reforma and the near-hidden spa at everyone’s favorite department store, you have plenty of options to luxuriate this winter.
Start your relaxation journey swimming in the rooftop pool at the St. Regis or with a thermal bath in the Marquis. Settle in the steam room before a cold plunge to stimulate blood flow. Chill out with a massage, facial, or mani pedi. Mexico City’s elite spas provide a range of therapies that run from premium to affordable, so you can stay within budget while feeling five-star.
In Mexico, contemporary massage experiences mix with ancient Indigenous traditions. (Katherine Hanlon/Unsplash)
Mexico is a land of mysticism, interwoven so thoroughly with the Earth that ailments are often treated with natural ingredients or dietary changes before pharmaceutical prescriptions. Traditional healing therapies persist in Mexico and with fervor. Consider the popular Mayan healing ritual that incorporates space particles that resulted from a meteorite crashing into the Yucatán Peninsula millions of years ago.
The mud from this crater is scrubbed on the skin as the minerals repair the body’s immune system. Other curative elements used in many of Mexico’s indigenous healing rituals include lava shells, agave oil, volcanic salt and local herbs.
Spas that offer indigenous healing elements include:
This might be one of Mexico City’s best hidden gems. In the center of Cuauhtémoc, known at one time as Little Tokyo, is a semi-traditional ryokan hotel experience. According to reviews, the hotel itself leaves a bit to be desired but the rooftop onsen bath experience is a blast. Ōnsen is a traditional Japanese ritual centered around soaking in natural hot springs. While the water from these tubs doesn’t originate from hot springs, they are fun, and even better when sipping on champagne on a sunny day with a light breeze.
Float therapy, also known as sensory deprivation, involves floating in a uniquely-designed bath tank filled with a high concentration of Epsom salt solution. The result is a zero-gravity environment where water and air temperature match that of the skin, minimizing sensory input from light and sound, which allows the mind to enter a meditative state. It’s said to significantly reduce stress and anxiety, relieve muscle tension, and improve sleep quality. Athletes such as Stephen Curry and Michael Phelps swear by float therapy for its ability to accelerate recovery and enhance creativity and focus. Sign up for a session of sensory deprivation and emerge a focused, creative, motivated holiday shopper!
Halotherapy is a form of alternative medicine based on the use of salt on the skin. (Diana Light/Unsplash)
Colloquially known as salt therapy, halotherapy was discovered thanks to 19th century Polish physician Dr. Feliks Boczkowski, who observed that salt miners experienced fewer respiratory issues compared to other miners. His findings led him to establish the first health resort at the famous Wieliczka Salt Mines found just outside of Krakow. The benefits of inhaling salt particles lie in its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, which are said to improve respiratory health and skin wellness.
Don’t see your favorite spa treatment listed here? Let other readers know the unique healing experiences you can find in Mexico City.
Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog or follow her on Instagram.
The Puerto Peñasco Solar Farm in Sonora, which is partly operational but still under construction. (Cuartoscuro)
What are Mexico’s plans for the decarbonization of the global economy amid the worldwide call to combat climate change? And how is the northern state of Sonora involved?
Mexico’s “main bet” in its attempts to transition to cleaner energy is the Plan Sonora renewable energy initiative, Sonora Governor Alfonso Durazo said Wednesday during a meeting in Mexico City with federal Energy Minister Luz Elena González Escobar.
Sonora Gov. Alfonso Durazo, left, with Energy Minister Luz Elena González Escobar. (Alfonso Durazo/X)
Under Durazo, the state has been working closely with the federal government for several years to execute Plan Sonora, a comprehensive energy, development and economic growth plan that would bring the state (and Mexico) foreign investment and greater energy independence as well as, Durazo is betting, turn Sonora into a “Silicon Valley” for clean energy.
The centerpiece of the US $7 billion Plan Sonora is a massive solar park in Puerto Peñasco, located on the northern coast of the Gulf of California just 100 kilometers from Sonora’s border with Arizona.
The aim is for the solar park to provide electricity to new industrial parks in Sonora and more than 160,000 homes. It is already partially operational, but not yet finished.
Authorities also hope that lithium mining will be another big part of Plan Sonora, given that there are large deposits of the sought-after metal in Sonora. However, the deposits are situated in clay, making the lithium difficult to mine. President Claudia Sheinbaum said earlier this month that the state-owned company Litio para México (Lithium for Mexico) is working toward the goal of mining lithium in Mexico.
At their meeting on Wednesday, Durazo and González agreed to keep pushing ahead with renewable energy initiatives in Sonora. Mexico, led by Sheinbaum, a climate scientist, since Oct. 1, is aiming for a 35% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Betting on the economic benefits of green energy
In addition to assisting the energy transition in Mexico, Plan Sonora has “a focus on the well-being” of the residents of Sonora, Durazo said.
Sonora has some of the world’s largest lithium deposits, but Mexico will likely need partnerships with foreign companies to extract it due to Mexico’s lack of experience with lithium mining and the technical challenges the clay soil poses to effective extraction. (Dylan Leagh/Unsplash)
He said that Plan Sonora is also attracting private investment to Sonora, citing Houston-based company Mexico Pacific Limited’s US $15 billion natural gas project in Puerto Libertad as one example.
Sonora lawmaker Amairany Peña Escalante said this week that Plan Sonora is already making state capital Hermosillo and the port city of Guaymas more competitive. The Mexican Institute for Competitiveness recently ranked Hermosillo as Mexico’s most competitive city among cities with a population between 500,000 and 1 million. Guaymas was ranked as the most competitive city among those with fewer than 250,000 residents.
Peña said that Sonora’s focus on renewable energy projects helped the cities come out on top in their population categories.
Plan Sonora is also expected to help strengthen bilateral relations between Mexico and the United States by encouraging nearshoring investment.
In a social media post on Wednesday, González said that federal and Sonora authorities were continuing to work on projects that “will strengthen regional development and improve the quality of life of businesses and families.”
Researchers discovered the contamination of the Gulf dolphins' blubber while conducting an unrelated study. (Freddy Jiménez/Unsplash)
Traces of fentanyl have been found inside bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico, raising concerns that pharmaceuticals may be affecting sea life in the Gulf.
Dr. Dara Orbach, leader of the study. (Texas A&M University Corpus Christi)
“It’s not something we were looking for, so of course we were alarmed to find something like fentanyl, especially with the fentanyl crisis happening in the world right now,” doctoral student Makayla Guinn said, according to KCRA TV News.
Dara Orbach, the study’s lead author, said the findings are disturbing.
“Pharmaceuticals have become emerging micropollutants and are a growing global concern as their presence has been reported in freshwater ecosystems, rivers, and oceans worldwide,” Orbach said.
Guinn said there were more than 3,000 different pharmaceutical compounds inside the dolphin blubber, including opioids, sedatives and relaxants.
The study traces its roots to a routine boating survey in September 2020, when university researchers recovered a dead dolphin in the Gulf. About two years later, they used the carcass for hormone blubber analysis and came across the drug.
Since then, the TAMU-CC researchers have run tissue samples from 89 dolphins — including 83 collected via live dolphin biopsies and six from dead dolphins — through a mass spectrometer, looking to see how widespread the contamination was.
Orbach said that dolphins’ fatty blubber is a good indicator of ocean pollutant levels because it can store contaminants and be sampled in a minimally invasive way in live animals. She described dolphins as a bioindicator species of ecosystem health.
The dolphins were found in Redfish Bay and the Laguna Madre in Texas and in the Mississippi Sound, along the Gulf Coast of the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama.
While pharmaceuticals were found in 30 of the 89 samples, fentanyl was found in all six of the dead dolphins.
“These drugs and pharmaceuticals are entering our water, and they have cascading effects in our marine life,” Guinn added.
The big question the TAMU-CC researchers haven’t been able to answer, according to KCRA TV News, is how did fentanyl get into the dolphins’ blubber?
As dolphins don’t drink seawater — they get water mainly from the breakdown of their food — they may have acquired the chemicals through their diet or absorption through the skin, the science news media outlet Science Alert speculated.
One possibility mentioned by TAMU-CC researchers is that the drugs come from wastewater absorbed by the dolphins’ prey, such as fish and shrimp. This would be a concern since humans eat fish and shrimp.
Orbach hopes their findings lead to more wide-ranging research to trace the fentanyl’s source and to limit potential damage to the ecosystem.
Given that more than a quarter of Earth’s rivers have been found to contain pharmaceuticals, according to Science Alert, it’s perhaps no surprise that these drugs are being found in sea life.
Between industry professionals and literary enthusiasts, the 2024 fair attracted more atendees than ever before. (Fernando Carranza García/Cuartoscuro)
After crunching numbers this week, organizers of the Guadalajara International Book Fair (Feria Internacional de Libro, or FIL) are reporting that this year’s annual event, which wrapped up on Sunday, attracted record attendance numbers — with nearly 1 million industry executives and book fans showing up for the weeklong festival.
A whopping 907,300 attendees came through the Guadalajara Expo’s doors between Nov. 30 and Dec. 8, just shy of 50,000 more than last year’s figure of 857,315. The number also breaks the FIL’s previous attendance record from the 2019 event, which occurred not long before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down public events across Mexico.
The festival took place at the Expo Guadalajara convention center. (Expo Guadalajara)
“This year’s fair exceeded our expectations in every way,” Marisol Schulz Manaut, general director of the FIL, told the U.S. publishing industry trade newspaper Publishers Weekly.
Organizers said that the fair also exceeded other expectations: The number of publishing companies with stands at the FIL this year was 2,769, an increase of 294 from last year. Also, 18,100 industry professionals attended as guests this year, up by 700 from 2023.
University of Guadalajara Rector Ricardo Villanueva Lormelí told the newspaper El Economista that FIL’s numbers this year “broke all the records that the fair has,” making it likely that next year, organizers would expand the FIL outside its traditional home at the Guadalajara Expo and add satellite locations around the city.
The event, founded in 1987 by former University of Guadalajara rector Raúl Padilla López, attracts publishers and industry executives from Spain, Mexico and Latin America, as well as from non-Spanish-speaking countries around the world, such as Norway, Taiwan and Italy. Increasingly, that list of countries includes the U.S., where demand for Spanish-language content from Latin America is increasing.
The fair drew over 18,000 special guests — writers, poets, and industry professionals who gave talks and workshops for the public. (FIL Guadalajara/X)
Publishers Weekly noted that 150 U.S. librarians this year attended the fair through FIL’s Free Pass Program with the American Library Association. The program helps U.S. librarians acquire Spanish-language materials.
The event is also increasingly becoming a must-visit for publishers and movie companies looking to make translation, licensing or film-rights deals.
“Audiences aren’t just seeking stories set in Latin America,” said Carla Cumming Rivero, an attendee who is the development manager for Mexico and Latin America with the television and film agency Scenic Rights. “They want stories told by Latin Americans, with cultural nuances and perspectives that only local creators can provide,” she told Publishers Weekly.
The FIL is also a required stop for aspiring children’s book illustrators in Latin America, who network with publishers and professionals and can have their portfolio assessed affordably by a professional. Many also attend the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, an event within an event held at FIL that this year launched the Bologna Portfolio Prize, a new award recognizing illustrators early in their careers. Aspiring writers also take advantage of the affordable writing and marketing workshops led by authors and industry professionals.
The event exceeded expectations “in every way,” festival director Marisol Schulz said. (FIL Guadalajara/Flickr)
But the Guadalajara weeklong event, whose entrance fee is a highly affordable 25 pesos (US $1.24), also attracts a large number of book lovers each year, drawn in by the chance to see their favorite authors in person, buy books directly from publishers and mingle with other aficionados.
“The FIL is unique in that it is a significant trade show, yes, but it is also a major book festival,” Ethan Nosowsky, an editorial director at the Minneapolis publisher Graywolf Press told Publishers Weekly. “I love that the fair opens up to an enthusiastic public who are buying books directly from publisher stands, where they are generously displayed, and where young and old pack halls for author events.”
According to Schulz, publishers participating this year reported an estimated 35% increase in their sales. Overall, the event took in about 124 million pesos (US $6.1 million), organizers told the newspaper La Jornada.
