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‘Throttle Therapy’ in Mexico: Sometimes, it’s not about the miles

By
Charlotte Smith
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Shadow of two motorcycle riders on a road through Jalisco
The urge for "throttle therapy" can come at any time and works its magic over any distance. (Charlotte Smith)

I know it’s been a minute since I’ve written a “Throttle Therapy” column, but there’s a pretty good reason for that: It’s hot. I mean, like really, properly hot.

And while I love riding on our motorcycle, Dora, I have absolutely no desire to spend several hours sitting on top of a hot engine while wearing boots and a helmet, with the sun doing its best to turn me into a roast dinner.

Dora the motorcycle at a Pemex station
Mexican summers are hot, particularly when you’re wearing motorcycle boots and helmets. But Dora needed a ride, and so did we. (Charlotte Smith)

So, for the past few months, Dora has been sitting there.

She hasn’t complained. She hasn’t guilt-tripped Omar and me. She hasn’t even looked particularly disappointed that the long rides that used to be such a big part of our life in Mexico have disappeared from the calendar.

She’s just been waiting.

And I’ve been making excuses.

Some of them are legitimate, like the brutal heat. But I’ve also realized I had quietly fallen into the habit of thinking that if we couldn’t go for a proper ride, there wasn’t much point in going at all.

A few hours? Not really worth getting the gear on. A couple of hours? We wouldn’t get anywhere. Just a quick ride? Well, we might as well wait until the weather cools down.

And so, we waited.

I’ve missed it, though. I’ve missed those rides where we leave home without much of a plan and somehow end up six hours later in a place neither of us intended to visit.

Confusing therapy with mileage

The rides where we stop for coffee, then tacos, then happen on something interesting down a road we’ve never taken before. The ones where we pull over simply because the view is too good to keep moving.

Somewhere along the way, I think I started confusing the therapy with the mileage. If we couldn’t give Dora a full day, it somehow didn’t count. Then, recently, I realized that was a bit ridiculous.

I needed a ride.

Not an epic adventure or a new destination. Not a six-hour exploration of roads neither of us had ever traveled. I just needed to get on the bloody motorcycle.

Pacific Ocean from the back of a motorcycle in a Jalisco
A motorcycle ride along Highway 200 between Mismaloya and Boca de Tomatlán is enough to fall in love with Mexico … if you haven’t already. (Charlotte Smith)

So yesterday, Omar and I took Dora out for a short ride along one of our favorite stretches of Highway 200 between Mismaloya and Boca de Tomatlán.

If you’ve never ridden that road, it’s one of those places that makes you understand why people fall in love with this part of Mexico. And yes, I know that sounds like the beginning of a tourism advertisement, but I’m afraid it’s true.

Bougainvillea spills over walls. Palm trees pop up between buildings. There are little tiendas, concrete houses painted in colors that somehow seem brighter in the Mexican sunshine, battered signs and the occasional roadside shrine decorated with flowers.

There’s activity everywhere: A man sitting in the shade, someone washing something outside their house, kids running around, dogs that seem to believe they own whichever patch of road they happen to be standing on.

And then, as if by some glorious magic, the jungle opens up and there it is: the Pacific. Blue all the way to the horizon, crashing against the rocks below.

A quick stop along the Pacific

I’ve ridden that road countless times, and it still gets me.

We rode for a while, then pulled Dora over and walked down to the beach. There was music coming from somewhere. Families were sitting under umbrellas. Young couples were running in and out of the water. Boats bobbed offshore. And, because this is Mexico, there was a man selling shrimp on a stick.

Obviously, we bought some. I’m not sure whether food tastes better when it’s slathered in salt and hot sauce, and you’re eating it on a Mexican beach, but I’m willing to conduct further research.

We sat there for a while, talked a little, watched the water and did absolutely nothing.

And it was exactly what I needed.

The whole thing probably took less than two hours. A few months ago, I might have looked at that and thought it didn’t really count. We hadn’t gone far enough. We hadn’t discovered somewhere new. We hadn’t found some tiny mountain village neither of us had heard of. We hadn’t clocked enough miles to justify getting Dora out of the garage.

But sitting there with grilled shrimp and lime, my feet in the sand and the Pacific in front of me, I realized I’d been looking at it all wrong.

The author on a beach in Jalisco with rocks and Pacific Ocean waves in the foreground
Motorcycle road trips through Mexico often end at the beach, and may include fresh shrimp. (Charlotte Smith)

It was never really about the distance. It was about getting out of my own head.

That’s what riding has always done for me.

When you’re on a motorcycle, there isn’t much room for thinking about the emails you haven’t answered, the article you need to finish, the laundry sitting in the basket, or whatever else has been rattling around in your head.

Living outside the waiting room

You have to pay attention.

To the road. The traffic. The bend ahead. The truck coming the other way. The smell of the trees. The heat. The sudden glimpse of the ocean.

And for a while, that’s all there is.

I think we spend far too much time waiting for the right conditions to do things. We’ll go when work settles down. When the weather is better. When we have a whole weekend. When we have enough time to do it properly.

I’m starting to wonder how much of life gets missed while we’re waiting for “properly.”

That little ride reminded me that sometimes two hours can be enough. You don’t always need to go somewhere. Sometimes you just need to go.

And maybe that’s what I’ve missed most about Dora.

Not the long rides themselves, although I certainly miss those. It’s the way a motorcycle can make an ordinary day feel like you’ve gone somewhere. You can leave home with no particular plan, follow Highway 200 for a while, stop on a beach, eat shrimp from a stick and sit looking at the Pacific. Then you get back on, and you go back home.

Nothing monumental happened. And somehow, everything feels a little better.

View of the Pacific Ocean in Jalisco
Picture postcard moments are never very far away in Mexico, and they can happen at virtually any time. (Charlotte Smith)

That’s one of the things I love about living in Mexico. It isn’t always the big, postcard moments. It’s the fact that they can turn up in the middle of an otherwise completely ordinary day.

I know we’ll get back to the long rides, and we already have plans for Dora when the weather finally decides to stop trying to melt us. There are roads we haven’t traveled, places we still want to see and, knowing us, probably a few wrong turns waiting to happen.

But I’m not going to wait for the perfect day or the perfect amount of time anymore.

Because it turns out “Throttle Therapy” doesn’t require a full tank, six hours and a destination.

Sometimes it just requires getting on the bike. And sometimes, if you’re extra lucky, it even comes with a side of shrimp.

Charlotte Smith is a writer and journalist based in Mexico. Her work focuses on travel, politics, and community. You can follow along with her travel stories at www.salsaandserendipity.com.

Fierce storm downs trees and damages shopping malls in Guadalajara, with more rain on the way

By
MND Staff
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Guadalajara storms
Guadalajara has been hit with a number of fierce storms this summer but Sunday's was especially damaging, felling at least 20 trees in the metropolitan zone and blowing out windows in major shopping plazas. (ZMG Noticias/Facebook)

The intense storm that struck the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (ZMG) Sunday afternoon left behind downed trees, pooled water on roadways and damaged shopping centers in both Guadalajara and Zapopan.

In Zapopan, Civil Protection and Fire Department authorities reported that at least 13 trees had fallen, mostly in the city center. One went down on Patria Avenue, near the urban forest of Los Colomos, blocking traffic.

The trees felled during Sunday’s fierce storm can be added to the summer-long count of downed trees in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Zone that has been reported to surpass one thousand. (Alcalde Barranquitas GDL)

In Guadalajara, initial reports counted another seven fallen trees. The affected areas include Pablo Neruda and Circuito Madrigal intersections; Terranova and Buenos Aires; Manuel Diéguez and José María Vigil; and Patria and Alberta. 

Authorities worked to remove branches and trunks, clear streets and reduce risks for pedestrians and motorists.

The storm also caused damage to shopping centers.

Andares, a shopping mall in the high-end residential area of Puerta de Hierro, Zapopan, reported that water leaked through the roof of a department store, damaging merchandise. 

Meanwhile, gusts of wind caused glass panels to detach and fall from the roof in Midtown, a shopping mall located along López Mateos Avenue in Guadalajara. Debris fell onto the food court, where diners and visitors were taking shelter from the storm. However, no injuries were reported as a result of the incident.

In addition to fallen trees and damage to shopping centers, Sunday’s storm reportedly caused power outages in several neighborhoods in the ZMG, where power didn’t return until Monday morning. 

More rain was expected today across the city, with the National Water Commission (Conagua) anticipating an 80% chance of rain in Guadalajara and 40% in Zapopan. 

Despite the severe storms that have occurred this year in Jalisco, rainfall has not generated a significant recovery in the level of Lake Chapala, the main source of water supply for the ZMG. Data from Conagua revealed that the lake’s water capacity currently stands at 69% — up 6% compared to the beginning of June. 

Josué Sánchez Tapetillo, a specialist in water resource management, told the local newspaper El Informador that the lake has recovered approximately 46 centimeters during the current rainy season. He noted that although the recovery rate has been slow compared to previous years, there is no cause for alarm as the rainy season is not over yet. 

With reports from Telediario and El Informador

In Coatepec, INAH discovers ceremonial plaza and stele with never-before-seen features

By
MND Staff
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stele in Coatepec
The stele's ornamentation features square-like figures and circular stones on two of its sides, attributes that are not typical of the region and had not been previously recorded there. (INAH)

A civic-ceremonial plaza and a monolithic stele featuring atypical characteristics for the region were discovered in the area of Coatepec, Veracruz, in a find that could provide new clues about the societies that lived there prior to the Conquest.  

Both the structure and the sculpture, which are reminiscent of those from nearby Maya settlements, were found in a good state of preservation.

 

The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) said in a statement that the find offers the opportunity to explore a unique regional expression that has been little studied and that is challenging to connect definitively with the established traditions of the Gulf Coast.

In an interview with newspaper La Jornada, INAH archaeologists Lino Espinoza García and Alberto Vázquez Domínguez said that the settlement dates back some 1,500 years before the Christian era, coinciding with the beginning of the Campo Viejo settlement.

According to the archaeologists, “from that time onwards, there was a continuous population [inhabiting the area] until the colonial era,” which began in the early 1500’s.

The findings on the platform and the stela, however, could date back to the Protoclassic period, ranging from 200 B.C. to 200 A.D. 

A discovery with features never seen before

The discovery occurred on a private residential property as part of an archaeological salvage operation led by INAH archaeologists in the San Lucas subdivision, near the Campo Viejo archaeological zone. 

The findings consist of a platform — 30 meters long by 12 meters wide — built with white slabs and blocks of dressed limestone, with a texture similar to plaster, which would have been selected or worked to create a specific visual finish.

The ornamentation features square-like figures and circular stones on two of its sides, attributes that are not typical of the region and had not been previously recorded there.

The monolithic sculpture measures 1.88 meters high, 1.47 meters wide at its widest point and 0.68 meters wide at its narrowest. With a thickness that ranges from 22 to 25 centimeters, it features engravings alluding to a symbolic event in which two elite figures, seated and wearing elaborate attire, receive a fluid from a divine entity holding a vessel on a higher plane.

Lino noted that “the entire stele, made of andesite stone, references themes of fertility and cultivation of the land.”

Field excavations conclude this month, and specialists will proceed with laboratory analyses, which will extend until early 2027.  

Mexico News Daily

Mexican-built particle detector slated to help global scientists illuminate the birth of the universe

By
MND Staff
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team of scientists from the UNAM's Nuclear Sciences Institute
The team of scientists from the UNAM's Nuclear Sciences Institute has a lot of work to do before the ALICE 3 project gets underway in 2036 — including not just building the Muon Identifier Detector (MID) but arranging the funding for it. (ICN - UNAM / Facebook)

A Mexican physicist was recently chosen to lead the development of a particle detector for one of the world’s largest scientific projects: an underground atom smasher in Europe that is helping scientists understand the universe shortly after the Big Bang.

The proposed detector would be built in Mexico and installed at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), home of the Large Hadron Collider beneath a portion of the French-Swiss border.

Antonio Ortiz
Antonio Ortiz Velásquez (right), a researcher with UNAM’s Nuclear Sciences Institute, has been selected to head the Muon Identifier Detector (MID) project for the ALICE experiment at CERN. (ICN – UNAM/Facebook)

The Mexican-built device, called the Muon Identifier Detector (MID), is planned for ALICE 3, a future version of one of the collider’s four main experiments.

If built and approved, it would give Mexican institutions responsibility for a central subsystem of ALICE 3.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a particle accelerator and collider covering a circular circuit of 27 kilometers, or 17 miles, near Geneva, Switzerland. It speeds beams of protons or electrically charged atomic nuclei to within a whisker of the speed of light — about 1.08 billion km/h, or 671 million mph — before steering them into head-on collisions.

Collisions involving heavy atomic nuclei can briefly create matter thought to resemble conditions in the universe’s earliest moments.

The Mexican project is still not guaranteed to reach CERN.

While the MID is included in the reference design for ALICE 3, the Mexican team must obtain funding, finish the design and construction work and clear technical reviews before it can be installed. Operations are targeted for 2036.

The Mexican project is headed by Antonio Ortiz Velásquez, a senior researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) whose appointment was approved by the ALICE Collaboration Board, UNAM said Aug. 13.

UNAM said Ortiz, a physicist at UNAM’s Institute of Nuclear Sciences, is the first Mexican scientist chosen to direct development of a strategic ALICE 3 subsystem.

Mexico has already worked with ALICE for years, helping build and operate earlier detector equipment and analyze collision data, but the new project goes even further.

The Mexican-built device would track muons, small particles that can pass through much of the detector after a collision. Their paths can help researchers study a fleeting, superheated state of matter that scientists believe filled the universe immediately after the Big Bang.

“We are recreating tiny droplets from the early universe and studying them through the traces they leave in particle detectors,” Ortiz said.

The team hopes to begin construction in Mexico in 2028. It includes researchers from UNAM, the Center for Research and Advanced Studies, the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, the Autonomous University of Sinaloa and the National Technological Institute of Mexico, along with partners in the United States, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Pakistan.

With reports from La Jornada, MxPA and Space Daily

11 injured in car bomb attack on Zacatecas police station

By
MND Staff
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1
Damaged police car with shattered windshield and dust in Mexico.
The attack was the third carried out with explosives in Zacatecas in four days. (Adolfo Vladimir/Cuartoscuro)

Eleven people, including a policewoman, were injured Sunday night when a car bomb exploded outside a municipal police station in Ojocaliente, a town in the state of Zacatecas.

Zacatecas Attorney General Cristian Camacho said Monday that authorities were investigating whether the attack was linked to the capture on Saturday of an 18-year-old man who is allegedly a sicario (hitman) for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). The federal Security Cabinet is collaborating with Zacatecas authorities on the investigation. No arrests had been reported as of early Monday afternoon.

car bomb aftermath
The explosives detonated at approximately 8 p.m. on Sunday during a town celebration. (Especial/Cuartoscuro)

Rodrigo Reyes, general secretary of the Zacatecas government, reported on Monday that 10 civilians and a female police officer were injured in the explosion on Sunday, which occurred as Ojocaliente residents were taking part in festivities honoring the town’s patron saint. The official said that 10 of the victims were in stable condition while one was in a “delicate” state but “out of danger.”

Reyes said that explosives were placed in a car that was reported as stolen in the state of Jalisco. They detonated at approximately 8 p.m. Sunday.

In addition to injuring 11 people, the explosion damaged 30 properties, including homes, and 13 vehicles, including police cars, according to Reyes.

The attack was the third carried out with explosives in Zacatecas in four days. Three police officers and one civilian were injured in the two other attacks, which were perpetrated on Thursday and Saturday of last week.

Ojocaliente Mayor Juan Manuel Zambrano canceled classes on Monday — the first day of the 2026-27 school year — in light of Sunday’s attack, while municipal government offices were closed to the public.

Reyes said that security in Ojocaliente had been beefed up, with army troops and members of the National Guard deploying to the municipality.

The federal Security Cabinet said on social media on Monday that authorities from all three levels of government were “reinforcing the security operation in the area to protect the population.”

A revenge attack by the CJNG?

The car bomb explosion on Sunday night came a day after an 18-year-old man was arrested on Saturday near the border between Zacatecas and the state of Aguascalientes.

In an interview with Radio Fórmula on Monday, Camacho said that “we’re not ruling out that yesterday’s attack was a reaction to that result.”

The attorney general said that the suspect had admitted to being a sicario for the CJNG. He also said that “everything suggests” that the attack in Ojocaliente on Sunday was carried out by that criminal group.

The CJNG is based in Jalisco but operates in virtually all of Mexico’s states. The cartel’s leader is now said to be Juan Carlos Valencia González, stepson of CJNG founder and former leader Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, who was fatally wounded in a military operation in Jalisco in February.

Zacatecas is known for violence, but homicides have declined by more than 50% this year 

On Aug. 11, the federal government reported that there were 51 homicides in Zacatecas in the first seven months of 2026, a reduction of 53.2% compared to the same period of last year. The annual reduction in murders in Zacatecas was the fourth largest among Mexico’s 32 federal entities.

Earlier this decade, Zacatecas was one of Mexico’s most violent states, but it recorded the eighth-lowest homicide count among Mexico’s 32 federal entities between January and July.

There are, however, signs that the security situation is deteriorating in the state, whose location between the Pacific coast port of Manzanillo, Colima, and Mexico’s northeast border with Texas makes it a trafficking route for fentanyl and other drugs.

On a single day last month, the bodies of ten murdered men were found across three municipalities in Zacatecas. Five of the bodies were found hanging from a bridge in Pánuco, a municipality just north of Zacatecas city. Among the 10 victims were a former mayor of Sombrerete, Zacatecas; an official with the Fresnillo municipal government; and an ex-councilor in the municipality of Canatlán, Durango.

With reports from El Universal, Julio Astillero, Radio Fórmula, AFP, El Economista and El Financiero

Is it parmesan-style or Parmesano? Mexico-US trade talks hit snag over cheese names

By
MND Staff
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cheese display
It's a three-way standoff: Mexico signed a deal with the EU that would enforce protection of regional names for cheese, the U.S. is demanding that Mexico eliminate that protection and the EU says the pact is not open to amendment. (Unsplash)

Mexico-U.S. trade talks have hit a snag over cheese, with the sticking point going back to the trade agreement Mexico signed with the European Union (EU) in May.

The Mexico-EU accord grants special protections to hundreds of European products whose names are linked to specific regions, including Parmigiano Reggiano, Feta and Manchego cheese. It also provides the EU with legal recourse against violations.

manchego cheese
Manchego is an enormously popular cheese in Mexico, but not everybody realizes its name means “from the La Mancha region.” Mexico has agreed with the EU to respect that regional identity, raising the possibility that manchego cheese not made in La Mancha would need to be labeled as something along the lines of “manchego-style cheese.” (Wilson Tovar/Unsplash)

U.S. officials say the protections could restrict future sales by U.S. producers to Mexico under names like parmesan and feta, forcing them to use descriptions with labels such as “imitation” or “style.” 

The U.S. government’s stance is that these names are generic, while the EU insists they ought to be reserved for products produced in the region for which they are named.

“What Mexico did was completely wrong,” said Jaime Castañeda, executive vice president of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. “The Mexican government must guarantee that both the United States and Mexican manufacturers of common cheese brands can continue operating in the market.” 

While U.S. negotiators are pressuring Mexico to amend its deal with the EU (it has yet to be approved by the Senate), the European Commission insists it is not possible to modify the terms of the agreement.

Mexico — among the world’s top consumers of cheese — imports approximately US $1 billion worth of cheese annually from the U.S, while total EU dairy exports to Mexico amount to only US $200 million. 

The Washington, D.C.-based International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) is on record describing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal (USMCA) as dairy’s most important trade agreement. 

The IDFA says the U.S. dairy industry, which supports more than 3 million jobs and contributes US $779 billion to the U.S. economy, depends on access to global markets to sustain growth and create new opportunities for farmers and processors.

U.S. negotiators are using the USMCA as leverage in hopes of forcing Mexico to accede to their demands, but critics say that in addition to the conflict with the EU accord, lower-quality U.S. cheeses are undercutting local production.

With reports from Reuters, CEO, The Independent and Fox 10 Phoenix

Nuevo León invests in 3 new bridges to boost trade via Laredo

By
MND Staff
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Puente Colombia NL
If all four infrastructure projects move forward as planned, the Colombia-Laredo area will end up with a total of four crossings: the current bridge, the two new bridges to be built next year and the Green Corridors viaduct linking northern Nuevo León and Tamaulipas with Laredo. (Government of Nuevo León)

Nuevo León Governor Samuel García confirmed on Friday plans for potentially three new bridges connecting his northern state to Texas, aiming to speed up trade and facilitate cross-border commuting. 

Following a working visit to the southern United States, García announced the construction of two new bridges at the Colombia-Laredo Port of Entry and reiterated plans to expand state Highway 1 North, connecting the Salinas Victoria industrial zone with the border municipalities of Anáhuac and Nuevo Laredo. 

 

With a US $200 million binational investment of equal parts from Mexico and the U.S., the aim is to construct two new international bridges at the Colombia-Laredo crossing to expand its operational capacity and facilitate trade. Construction is expected to commence in May 2027 and be completed in 2028. 

“I confirm the hypothesis we envisioned five years ago: the Texas-Nuevo León Golden Triangle is the most prosperous region in the world,” García said during a ceremony. “For Nuevo León, it’s crucial to have the infrastructure ready to be part of this triangle and be connected with Dallas, Houston, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Austin, San Antonio and Laredo,” García stressed. 

García said that the ongoing modernization of the Colombia-Laredo trade port has already doubled the number of cargo lanes from 7 to 14, helping to raise crossings from between 80 and 800 to 8,000 per day, a figure that he expects to increase to 15,000 by 2030. 

In addition, a new viaduct will provide direct connectivity between Salinas Victoria and Laredo, Texas (via Anáhuac), running parallel to Highway 1 North as part of a larger project with the Texas-based startup Green Corridors.

The project, requiring $17 billion in investment, is being developed as a public-private partnership with the Nuevo León government providing the right-of-way. However, it is not expected to reach completion until 2031.

During the event, García also announced the development of a tax-free industrial park in the municipality of Anáhuac, as part of the federal government’s overarching Plan Mexico economic strategy. The state aims to attract investment in manufacturing, assembly and logistics by offering federal, state and municipal tax incentives, including exemptions on income tax (ISR), payroll tax and property tax.

“We are creating a tax haven,” García said.

If all four infrastructure projects move forward as planned, the Colombia-Laredo area will end up with a total of four crossings: the current bridge, the two new bridges to be built next year and the Green Corridors viaduct linking northern Nuevo León and Tamaulipas with Laredo.

With reports from Reporte Indigo, Rio South Texas, Mexico Industry and El Universal

MND Local: The massive ongoing investment in Los Cabos

By
Chris Sands
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coastline of Los Cabos showing luxury villas and homes
More than US $2.5 billion has been invested in tourism in Baja California Sur since the start of 2024, most of it in Los Cabos. (Victor Hughes/Unsplash)

When foreign direct tourism investment numbers were announced for the first quarter of 2026, Baja California Sur (BCS) led all states, accounting for US $191.5 million, or 31% of the US $617.2 million invested in Mexico during that timeframe. That BCS received the most investment was not a surprise. If anything, the only surprise was that it did not receive a greater share of the total.

In 2024 and 2025, for example, BCS received upwards of US $1 billion dollars in foreign direct tourism investment during each year (US $1.039 billion and US $1.292 billion, respectively) — the most in Mexico — representing 36.2% and 40.6% of the national total. Of the US $2.5 billion-plus invested in BCS since 2024, an estimated 90% is centered on projects in Los Cabos; the municipality that, not coincidentally, accounts for 83% of tourism in the state.

Four Seasons Resort in Los Cabos at Cabo del Sol overlooking Punta Ballena and the Gulf of California
The Four Seasons Resort and Residence Cabo San Lucas at Cabo del Sol premiered in May 2024. (Four Seasons)

This raises two very interesting questions: Where is all this money coming from? And what is it being used to build?

Why is Los Cabos receiving so much investment, and from whom?

A third interesting question is how long BCS (and, by extension, Los Cabos) has dominated foreign direct tourism investment in Mexico. However, finding an answer is difficult, as annual figures for this category before 2024 aren’t easily accessible. But based on the quarterly announcements that have been reported in recent years, it seems that BCS has been leading the way in tourism investment since at least 2022, when it received 36.3% of invested monies during the fourth quarter of that year; a trend also noted in the second and fourth quarters of 2023, when the state garnered 47.3% and 38.1% of the national quarterly totals. 

As for where the money is coming from, the answer is overwhelmingly from U.S. sources. In 2025, for instance, nearly 85% of investments originated in the U.S., with Canada and Spain each contributing a little over 5%. No other country’s investment accounted for more than 2.1%.

What’s being built? Primarily luxury hotels and resorts — the Four Seasons Resort and Residences and Park Hyatt Los Cabos have both opened in Cabo del Sol since 2024, and Amanvari recently opened at Costa Palmas on the East Cape — although master-planned communities, vacation rentals, and marinas and beach clubs have also attracted significant capital.

The projects currently in the pipeline

As of the first quarter of 2026, Mexico’s Secretaría de Turismo (Sectur) noted 13 active tourism projects in BCS worth US $3.893 billion. Amanvari, the Aman brand resort at Costa Palmas on the East Cape of Los Cabos, recently opened on Aug. 1, with 18 casitas each fetching more than US $3,000 per night. So one project is complete. Of the dozen remaining, four relate to new hotels scheduled to open in Los Cabos between 2027 and 2029: the Conrad Los Cabos, SIRO Palmilla, Delano East Cape and Raffles Estera East Cape Resort & Residences.

The Conrad Los Cabos, a Hilton property with 111 guest rooms, 21 suites, 43 residences and access to a new Ernie Els-designed golf course, is slated to open in 2027 at Oleada, an 860-acre development on the Pacific Coast north of Cabo San Lucas. The SIRO Palmilla, a wellness-oriented hospitality brand from Kerzner International, is also expected to open its doors in 2027, with 120 rooms and 14 luxury villas. 

Luxury brands Delano and Raffles, meanwhile, have both announced East Cape resorts to open by 2029. However, neither has broken ground as yet, nor have their exact locations been divulged. The only thing that is known is that Delano is planning for 117 guest rooms and 60 branded residences; Raffles for 80 guest rooms, 46 residences and seven drinking and dining options.

Home Depot invests 690 million pesos in Los Cabos

Most, but not all, foreign investment in Baja California Sur is tourism-related. In 2025, for instance, a total of US $1.587 billion was invested in the state, 81% of which was earmarked for tourism projects. 

One example of a non-tourism-related project is the new Home Depot, which opened on Aug. 20 in San José del Cabo. The store, which is located by the Fonatur roundabout, represents an investment of 690 million pesos (about US $41 million) by Home Depot Mexico, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Home Depot, Inc., the home improvement chain headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. 

It’s the second Home Depot store to open in Los Cabos: the other is near Cabo Bello in La Ruta Escénica in the corridor which connects cape cities Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo. The state’s third Home Depot, of the 144 now open in Mexico, is in the capital city of La Paz.

The recently opened San José del Cabo location supports 95 new jobs for residents, plus an inventory of 50,000 products now available to local consumers.

Chris Sands is a writer and editor for Mexico News Daily, and the former Cabo San Lucas local expert for the USA Today travel website 10 Best and writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook. He has also contributed to numerous other websites and publications, including The San Diego Union-Tribune, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise and Travel, and Cabo Living.

Banxico ups Mexico’s annual GDP growth forecast to 1.5%

By
MND Staff
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Mexico's central bank (Banxico) headquarters, an ornate beige building
The Bank of Mexico (Banxico) now expects Mexico's economy to grow 1.5% this year, raising its previous forecast by 0.4 percentage points. (Shutterstock)

The Bank of Mexico (Banxico) now expects Mexico’s economy to grow 1.5% this year, raising its previous forecast by 0.4 percentage points.

The more optimistic forecast is included in the central bank’s second-quarter report, which was published last Wednesday.

“For 2026, GDP growth of 1.5% is anticipated, a higher rate than the point estimate of 1.1% published in the previous [quarterly] report,” Banxico said.

“The interval for the expected variation of GDP … is between 1.0 and 2.0%,” the bank added.

Banxico said that the upward revision to its 2026 growth forecast was due to “stronger-than-expected economic growth during the second quarter,” a period in which Mexico’s economy grew 1.4% compared to the first three months of the year and 1.9% annually.

“This effect is partially offset by a greater-than-expected slowdown during the third quarter. For the remainder of the forecast period, a moderate and gradual acceleration in the quarterly growth rates is still expected,” Banxico said.

The central bank is forecasting that the pace of economic growth will quicken to 2% in 2027. That forecast was revised down from a 2.1% prediction in Banxico’s first quarter report.

The only third-quarter economic growth data currently available is the national statistics agency INEGI’s preliminary report for July. On Aug. 20, INEGI published preliminary data showing month-over-month growth of just 0.1% in July. The projected annual expansion was much higher at 2.7%.

Downside and upside risks to economic growth 

In its latest report, the central bank said that the “activation of the USMCA’s annual review mechanism by the United States” — which declined to renew the free trade pact in its current form — “extended the uncertainty surrounding regional trade relations.”

“Although the treaty’s current conditions are still in force, guaranteeing preferential treatment for Mexican exports, the lack of a definitive resolution regarding its future remains an adverse factor for investment decisions,” Banxico said.

“The resurgence of tensions between the United States and Iran in July reignited uncertainty for the global economy,” it added.

“Although the timing and magnitude of the effects of these events on Mexico’s economic activity are hard to anticipate, as they depend on the progress of trade negotiations and the intensity of geopolitical events, both factors contribute to maintaining the balance of risks for Mexico’s economic growth biased to the downside.”

Downside risks

Banxico highlighted five downside risks for Mexico’s economy “throughout the forecast horizon.” They are that:

  • The climate of uncertainty related to policies in the U.S. and annual USMCA reviews may intensify and negatively affect external demand as well as consumption and investment spending in Mexico.
  • An escalation of different geopolitical conflicts in various regions of the world negatively affects the global economy overall, or international trade flows in particular.
  • Episodes of volatility materialize in domestic or international financial markets.
  • U.S. economic growth turns out to be lower than expected, negatively affecting external demand for Mexican goods.
  • Climate-related events, such as extreme temperatures, cyclones or droughts, adversely impact the Mexican economy.

Upside risks 

Banxico said that three upside risks for the Mexican economy stood out. They are:

  • Greater-than-expected progress in the annual review and the ratification of the USMCA, as well as lesser uncertainty surrounding U.S. trade policy, contribute to a more favorable environment for investment in Mexico and boost trade in the region.
  • Growth of the U.S. economy is greater than expected, favoring external demand for Mexican goods.
  • Progress in infrastructure projects financed through mixed public-private investment leads to greater-than-expected economic growth.

The broader Mexican economy 

Banxico’s updated growth forecasts were published at a time when inflation in Mexico is largely under control and the Mexican peso is strong. Mexico’s annual headline rate in the first half of August was 3.26%, up slightly from 3.12%, while the peso traded below 17 to the dollar during most of last week before rising above 17 on Friday. Inflation is currently just above the central bank’s 3% target.

The MND Economy Index™ for June 2026

Two days before Banxico published its revised growth forecasts, the federal Economy Ministry reported that Mexico received just under US $35 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first six months of 2026. While the amount is a record high, it represented annual growth of just 2.1%, much lower than the 10.4% year-over-year increase recorded in the first quarter. Less than 8% of the FDI was “new investment,” with “reinvestment of profits” accounting for almost 90% of the total.

According to the latest MND Economy Index™, Mexico’s economy has meaningful strengths, but there is ample room for improvement. The index score in June was 66.9 out of 100, a decrease of 1.7 points compared to May.

Mexico News Daily

Opinion: Mexican supply chains obey the laws of physics

By
Pedro Casas Alatriste
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3
Smart logistics concept. Communication network. Digital transformation.
Mexico has the installed manufacturing capacity — the plants, the workers, the logistics — to pivot from manufacturing one type of electronic component to another. The time is now to reduce reliance on Taiwan, Pedro Casas argues. (Shutterstock)

Uncertainty is rising, tariffs are everywhere, and the USMCA’s 16-year extension failed. You’d be forgiven for expecting Mexican trade to be in shackles. Yet, it isn’t; it’s booming.

Mexican exports to the United States reached an all-time high of $545 billion in 2025 — a 5.8% increase over 2024. And 2026 has kept the momentum: in the first quarter alone, Mexico’s exports to the U.S. hit a record $138 billion, with Mexico accounting for 16.9% of all U.S. goods imports — ahead of Canada at 11.2% and China at 7.4%. During the first semester of 2026, exports grew 25% compared to the same period of 2025 and imports increased 22%.

Let that sink in. Now, buckle up, because multiple things are happening simultaneously.

The USMCA compliance flip

At the start of 2025, roughly 45% of Mexican exports to the United States entered under the USMCA. The alternative — the WTO’s Most Favored Nation (MFN) mechanism — came with a modest 3% tariff (more or less), so many companies simply didn’t bother qualifying. Then Trump’s tariff regime changed the math completely.

When the U.S. slapped 25% tariffs on non-USMCA Mexican goods, USMCA utilization rates jumped from 45% to 89% between January and November 2025. The opportunity cost of doing otherwise is now 10x higher.

The result: for USMCA-compliant exporters, the effective tariff rate on goods shipped to the U.S. is now near zero; 3.74%, to be precise. Compare that to the 23.4% effective rate on China, or the 7.19% global average. Mexico, paradoxically, ended up in a more competitive position after the tariff shock than before it. Remember: the absolute value of tariffs is not as important as their relative value compared to your competitors.

So, yes, exports and imports are increasing, but is it just more of the same or has something changed?

The king is dead. Long live the data center

For 30 years, one product category ruled Mexican exports without interruption: automobiles and auto parts. That era just ended.

In the first half of 2026, computer-related exports from Mexico reached $87 billion — a 280% increase from the same period a year earlier. That places computing equipment ahead of automobiles and auto parts, which generated $74.9 billion over the same six months.

For the first time in three decades, the king was dethroned — not by another car, but by a server rack.

The AI revolution is not only the usage and high dependency on Claude, ChatGPT and its friends. It’s the physical machines that make it possible. Mexico is now building them, or at least assembling them… Wait, who’s that guy over there? Taiwan?

Who invited Taiwan to the party?

How did Mexico pivot from autoparts to data processing machines in a year? The answer has two parts, and one of them is uncomfortable.

The first part is legitimate: Mexico has the installed manufacturing capacity — the plants, the workers, the logistics — to pivot from manufacturing one type of electronic component to another. Tijuana is increasingly positioned as a semiconductor ecosystem hub, serving U.S. technology and electronics manufacturing. Ciudad Juárez, Guadalajara and Tijuana are the capitals of Mexico’s electronics industry. Adaptability and resilience at their core.

The second part is where it gets complicated. In the first five months of 2026, Mexican exports of AI-related electronic inputs climbed 313% compared to the same period the previous year. But a significant share of the inputs behind that growth is not North American — it’s Taiwanese. Mexico’s imports from Taiwan surged 256% last year, and the intensity of it is climbing this year. U.S. imports from Taiwan increased in a similar proportion. The only difference is that the U.S. imports 200 billion; Mexico 1.7 billion (118x less).

Mexico is, in many instances, assembling and integrating components that arrive from Asia, then shipping the finished product north. That’s not nothing — assembly creates jobs and keeps supply chains on this side of the Pacific. But it’s not the same as manufacturing a vertical regional integrated supply chain. And it’s exactly the distinction that the USMCA review negotiations will eventually force us to confront, through stricter rules of origin and regional value content requirements.

So what comes next?

The shift from automotive to electronics is probably unstoppable at this point. But it brings real complications that nobody is talking about enough.

Automotive is labor-intensive. Electronics, much less so. The car industry has been the poster child of North American regional integration — entire communities built around plants, supplier networks spanning three countries, millions of jobs at every skill level. The electronics and data center supply chain doesn’t replicate that model. It employs fewer people, requires different skills and, for now, depends heavily on inputs from the other side of the world.

AI data centers are also strongly dependent on energy and water. If North America is serious about building this supply chain regionally, we need to invest heavily in energy capacity. This isn’t a nice-to-have. Computers and related electronic equipment already account for much of the increase in AI-related trade, becoming a key driver of U.S.-Mexico commerce. The infrastructure demands will only grow from here.

North America must also work on reducing its dependence on Taiwan — without getting into why, the geopolitical logic is self-evident. The goal has to be a regional co-production platform that genuinely aggregates value in the electronics supply chain and creates high-quality jobs across the three countries, not just assembly operations dependent on Asian inputs.

Lavoisier was right: matter is never created or destroyed, only transformed. North American supply chains are transforming at a speed that few predicted and even fewer have fully processed. The question is not whether the transformation happens. The question is whether we get ahead to make the most of it, or we end up being just spectators.

Special thanks to Arturo Martinez who worked on the graphs and gave me valuable insights.

Pedro Casas Alatriste is the Executive Vice President and CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico (AmCham). Previously, he has been the Director of Research and Public Policy at the US-Mexico Foundation in Washington, D.C. and the Coordinator of International Affairs at the Business Coordinating Council (CCE). He has also served as a consultant to the Inter-American Development Bank.

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