Lila Avilés with her Barbie Role Model doll. (Mattel)
Mexican filmmaker Lila Avilés was honored with a Barbie doll as part of the brand’s “Role Models” line, released yearly to commemorate International Women’s Day.
This year’s Role Model theme was storytelling.
Mattel, the company behind the world-famous doll Barbie, chose Avilés in recognition of her achievements in the film industry. She’s joined by actresses Helen Mirren and Viola Davis along with Canadian country-pop artist Shania Twain, Australia’s Kylie Minogue, German comedian Enissa Amani, Japanese model Nicole Fujita and Brazilian Indigenous influencer Maira Gomez.
The 42-year-old filmmaker is the director of the acclaimed film The Chambermaid (2018), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), and her latest movie, Tótem (2023), has been selected for the long list of the Best International Feature category at the Oscars.
Speaking to Variety magazine, Avilés said her selection was an “incredible, beautiful and surreal surprise.” The doll features her with a camera on her shoulder, a script in one hand, and her cat by her feet.
“It is not only me who the doll is honoring, but my entire career,” she added.
Avilés most recent move, Tótem, is a candidate for the Best International Feature category at the Oscars. (IMDb)
Tótem, which delves into childhood and the idea that childhood defines our destiny, has been showcased in over 100 film festivals around the world and will soon be released in more than 40 countries, including the United States, where it is still being screened. The movie will also be featured on Criterion Channel and is now available on Netflix Latin America.
“People ask me if my movies are feminist. In as much as my protagonists are women, they are, in an organic way,” she noted. “The Chambermaid, my feature debut, gave voice to a woman who’s ostensibly invisible to many,” she said.
Avilés was born in Mexico City in 1982. She started her career in theater before moving into filmmaking. Her first feature film earned her various national and international awards and was screened in more than 70 film festivals worldwide.
“This Barbie is more than a trophy for me; it’s like my Oscar,” Avilés told newspaper Milenio. “I love what I do very much, and I hope I can continue on this path to inspire many more women,” she said.
The three candidates running for mayor of Mexico City are (from left to right): Clara Brugada of Morena, Santiago Taboada of the PAN-PRI-PRD coalition and Salomón Chertorivski of the Citizens Movement party. (Cuartoscuro/X)
Around 20,000 municipal, state and federal positions will be up for grabs in Mexico’s biggest-ever elections on June 2.
Excluding the presidency, the biggest single prize on offer is considered by many to be the mayorship of Mexico City, the national capital and the country’s largest city.
Mexico City has state-like status, and therefore the power of its mayor (jefe/jefa de gobierno in Spanish) is akin to that of a governor.
In 2024, one woman and two men will contest the mayoral election in the capital. The winner will occupy a position previously held by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2000-05), former foreign affairs minister Marcelo Ebrard (2006-12) and presidential aspirant Claudia Sheinbaum (2018-23), among other well-known politicians.
Here is a guide to this year’s mayoral race in Mexico City, where on June 2 citizens will also elect mayors in each of the capital’s 16 alcaldías (districts or boroughs) as well as 66 local lawmakers.
Mexico City’s 3 mayoral hopefuls
Morena candidate Clara Brugada (right) with the party’s presidential candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, who was formerly the mayor of Mexico City. (Clara Brugada/X)
Clara Brugada, candidate for a coalition made up of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), the Labor Party (PT) and the Ecological Green Party of Mexico (PVEM)
Brugada, a 60-year-old former mayor of the Mexico City borough of Iztapalapa, is aiming to extend Morena’s rule in the capital from six years to 12.
Founded by López Obrador, the leftist Morena party took office in the capital for the first time in 2018 under the leadership of Sheinbaum. If Brugada wins on June 2, she will succeed Martí Batres, who took over from Sheinbaum when she left the mayorship to focus on winning Morena’s nomination for president.
At an event at the National Auditorium on Sunday, Brugada outlined a range of other proposals for the government she would lead in Mexico City. Her plans in three key areas are detailed below. Unsurprisingly, she also committed to leading an honest and transparent government with zero tolerance of corruption.
Water
Brugada expressed confidence that Sheinbaum will be the next president of Mexico, and pledged to work with her and México state Governor Delfina Gómez to solve Mexico City’s water scarcity problem.
Water scarcity in Mexico City has led to some neighborhoods going for days without municipal water and dependent on deliveries by truck. (Cuartoscuro)
“I know the problem and we’re going to resolve it as a priority,” said the mayoral aspirant, who pledged to create a water-focused ministry, expand the capital’s rainwater harvesting program and establish a new program for the “rehabilitation” of 11 water sources, among other measures.
She said she would allocate “billions of pesos” to water projects in the capital, where many residents don’t have running water in their homes and depend on deliveries from trucks known as pipas.
Security
Brugada declared that she wants to make Mexico City “the most video-surveilled city” in the Americas with more cameras than New York. In addition to installing more security cameras, the mayoral aspirant said she would improve street lighting to make the capital “the most illuminated” city in Latin America.
Brugada asserted that not a lot needs to change in terms of security policy as crime has declined during the term of the current Morena government. However, she committed to strengthening the capital’s police force and equipping it with “the best and most modern technological resources available.”
Transport
Brugada pledges to expand the aerial cable car public transit network if elected. (Cuartoscuro)
Brugada pledged to build five additional public transit cable car lines, open two new Metrobús lines and extend line 12 of the Mexico City metro to the Observatorio station, where the Mexico City terminus of the Mexico City-Toluca train line will be located.
Among other transport plans, she said that a government she leads would expand the capital’s bike-share program, called Ecobici.
Santiago Taboada, candidate for a coalition made up of the National Action Party (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD)
Polls shows that Taboada, a 38-year-old former mayor of the borough of Benito Juárez, is the only candidate with a legitimate chance of beating Brugada on June 2. A victory for the former Mexico City and federal lawmaker would return the PRD to power in the capital after an absence of six years.
Senator Miguel Ángel Mancera (2012-18), Ebrard and López Obrdor all governed the capital as representatives of the leftist PRD, as did Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas (1997-99), Mexico City’s first jefe de gobierno. (Mexico City was previously administered by regentes, or regents, who were appointed by the president of the day).
Neither the conservative PAN of the once-omnipotent PRI has governed the capital since the commencement of democratic mayoral elections in 1997.
Santiago Taboada is representing the opposition PAN-PRI-PRD coalition in the contest. (GALO CAÑAS/CUARTOSCURO.COM)
“Mr. President, don’t be mistaken, this neighborhood, like many in Mexico City, is aspirational and [the residents] are aspirational; they aspire to have better urban services, greater security, better work, better schools and quality health care. That’s legitimate aspiration and as a government we are obliged to provide it,” responded Taboada, who at the time was mayor of Benito Juárez, where Colonia del Valle is located.
Accompanied by PAN-PRI-PRD presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez at an event at the capital’s Bicentennial Park on Saturday, Taboada outlined his vision for Mexico City, including his plans to address the water problem, improve security and expand the public transport network.
Water
In a nutshell, Taboada’s water plan consists of three proposed “actions.”
He said a government he leads would repair leaks — a major cause of water loss in Mexico — recycle more water and capture more rainwater.
Taboada charged that the current Mexico City government has neglected to address the water problem in the capital and is “losing water” as a result.
Security
The National Autonomous University-educated lawyer portrayed himself as the best person to improve the security situation in Mexico City, the country’s 16th most violent entity in 2023 in terms of total homicides.
Taboada has pledged to expand his “BlindarBJ” security initiative if elected mayor of Mexico City. (Alcladía Benito Juárez)
He pledged to implement across the capital the security strategy he used in Benito Juárez, a mainly middle-class borough where perceptions of insecurity among residents are lower than in any of the 90 cities across Mexico that are included in the National Survey of Urban Public Security, which was last conducted in late 2023.
That strategy is known as “BlindarBJ” or ShieldBJ (Benito Juárez) and involved, among other measures, increasing police numbers and ensuring a police presence in 28 different “quadrants” in the borough in order to reduce response times.
“In Benito Juárez we have the best [security] results,” Taboada said, adding that six of the city’s “riskiest” neighborhoods “where people suffer from insecurity the most” are located in Iztapalapa, where Bruagada was most recently mayor between 2018 and 2023.
“That’s not fair and we’re going to change that,” he declared.
Transport
Tabaoada also claimed that he is best placed to carry out the maintenance work required to ensure that the Mexico City metro functions safely and efficiently.
“Those who buried 26 people due to poor maintenance aren’t going to fix the metro,” he said, referring to the Line 12 accident that claimed that number of lives in May 2021 while Sheinbaum was mayor.
In addition to carrying out maintenance work, Taboada said that, as mayor, his government will extend the metro system so that people can reach 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup matches at the Estadio Azteca (Azteca Stadium) in southern Mexico City by train. The stadium is currently served by a station on the capital’s sole Tren Ligero (Light Rail) line, which connects to the metro system at the Tasqueña station.
Taboada also said he would add “cablebús” cable car lines, but only proposed three projects in as many boroughs, two fewer than Brugada.
Taboada has proposed extending the metro system to connect directly with Azteca Stadium. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)
Salomón Chertorivski, candidate for the Citizens Movement (MC) party
The third candidate in the Mexico City mayoral contest is 49-year-old Salomón Chertorivski, a former federal lawmaker who served as health minister in the final year of the 2006-12 federal government led by ex-president Felipe Calderón.
The results of recent polls (see below) show that Chertorivski has scant support, and therefore he doesn’t currently appear to be a serious contender for the mayorship.
Still, he is aiming to portray himself as a viable alternative to the two main candidates — as MC presidential candidate Jorge Álvarez is attempting to do at the federal level — and has outlined a detailed water plan that includes a “Zero Leak” infrastructure renewal program and a campaign aimed at getting citizens to take better care of water resources.
Chertorivski, who has master’s degrees in both economics and public policy, said on Monday that over the course of the 12-week campaign, he will present his plans to address 12 different problems faced by Mexico City. He started with water on Monday, and will hold press conferences on each coming Monday prior to election day.
“We’ll speak in depth about each of what we consider to be the 12 biggest problems for our citizens and we will explain with complete detail what the solution [for each one] is,” Chertorivski said.
MC party candidate Salomón Chertorivski announced plans to present detailed policy proposals during his long-shot campaign for mayor. (Salomón Chertorivski/X)
Who’s going to win?
Brugada is the clear favorite to become the next mayor of Mexico City, but a close race is not out of the question.
The results of a poll conducted in mid-February by the company Enkoll for the El País newspaper found 56% support for the Morena candidate, giving her a 16-point advantage over Taboada on 40%. Chertorivski was in a distant third place with just 4% support among just over 800 respondents. (Those who didn’t specify who they would vote for were excluded from the results.
However, the difference in the levels of support between Brugada and Taboada was just 3.6 points in a poll of 1,000 people conducted last week by Massive Caller. The Morena-PT-PVEM candidate had 41.1% support, while the PAN-PRI-PRD hopeful was the preferred option of 37.5% of those polled.
With just over 17% of respondents saying that they hadn’t yet made up their mind about who they would vote for on June 2, there is a chance for Taboada to make up the ground required to beat Brugada and become the next mayor of Mexico City, at least according to that poll.
As politicians sometimes like to say, the only poll that ultimately counts is the one on election day, when the millions of Mexico City residents who go out to vote will have the power to decide who and which party will govern the capital for the next six years.
The comfortably appointed Jose Cuervo Tequila Train Express Wagon - the perfect location for the ride of your life. (All photos by Bethany Platanella)
I’ll be the first to admit it. I hesitated over the “Book Now” button that would secure my Jose Cuervo Sunrise Express Wagon Train trip from Guadalajara to Tequila, better known as the Tequila train.
Visions of sloppy bachelor parties and guide book-toting tourists with wide-brimmed hats started to swirl through my mind. I quickly pushed these nightmarish reservations to the deep recesses of my brain, took a deep breath, and CLICK.
Booked.
Step into some luxury – and enjoy plenty of tequila while you’re at it!
I had decided long ago that there was no way I was going to Guadalajara without hopping on that infamous Tequila train. That’s like going to Paris and not picnicking in front of the Eiffel Tower with a bottle of crisp Champagne. Is it touristy? Yes. Am I a tourist? Also, yes.
But as my long-awaited trip to Jalisco moved closer to reality, so did my reluctance to participate in something that seemed so kitsch. Will the experience be worth the not-so-economical ticket? Will I just be one gringa in a sea of gringo tourists? Do I really want to risk sitting in a packed train car of drunk 20-somethings taking obnoxious videos just to post to social media? Not particularly, but I had to give it a try.
The verdict? I absolutely loved it.
The Tequila train is not to be feared. My assumptions of what to expect were, as assumptions generally are, completely unwarranted.
A Gringa in an agave field, enjoying the experience much more than originally anticipated.
There were no sloppy bachelor parties present.
While there were definitely some TikTok photo shoots going on, it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.
Tourists were from all parts of the world — Germany, Spain, Mexico, France, the U.S., Canada, and Britain.
It was well worth the money. Ample tequila, water, and food were available.
Myself and two friends arrived at the train station, a 30-minute ride from our rented apartment in Colonia Americana. We were greeted by Luis Miguel ballads in the lobby where we checked in. After receiving a wristband we were guided to a waiting area with complimentary cafe de olla, hot chocolate, fruit, and pan dulce.
Twenty minutes before departure, we boarded the train. Recorded mariachi music played with gusto in the nostalgic and elegant train cars. Well-dressed servers presented us with trays of breakfast cocktails, from which I chose (and recommend!) a Paloma. A shot of Vitamin C with my morning tequila couldn’t hurt!
The wheels started rolling promptly at 9:00 a.m. and a guide started talking, giving a brief history of Jose Cuervo, an overview of the landscape, and the differences between types of tequila. While she chatted, guests were offered fruit cups and tacos al vapor and a shot of Jose Cuervo Tradicional Cristalino, which we sipped according to the guide’s instruction.
A traditional agave oven at La Rojena Mundo World distillery.
An hour of unlimited cocktails and water later, we arrived at Tequila, a designated Pueblo Mágico since 2003. We were guided in orderly groups through the Juan Beckmann Gallardo Cultural Center, a museum celebrating Jaliscan culture.
All of which led us to La Rojeña, the oldest distillery in Latin America. We followed the transition cycle of piñas, or agave hearts, from chopping to toasting to liquefying. I had seen piñas in photos but never up close like this, and was struck by how geometric and beautiful they are. They’re also huge — some were double the size of a basketball and weighed 150 pounds!
The end of the distillery tour concluded with a cocktail at 1:00 p.m., at which point we were free to explore and have lunch on our own. We went to Casa Sauza’s highly-rated garden restaurant. The food, tequila, and service were excellent.
Even though the center of Tequila is small, I found that three hours was a perfect amount of time to enjoy our leisurely lunch and exhaust the main sights. We could have popped into the Museum of Tequila (if we wanted to).
Had I not been on the tequila train tour, I would have opted for the equally-kitsch Barril Tequilero, a giant vehicle in the shape of an oak barrel that takes guests through Tequila, stopping at various distilleries.
At 4:10 p.m., we wandered to our next engagement, a live mariachi show which we were sure wouldn’t start on time because, well, this is Mexico.
We were 10 minutes late.
The average size of a piña, or agave heart, is bigger than you might expect and can weigh hundreds of pounds.
Let me take this moment to reiterate that the experience was extremely well-organized. Having worked as a travel planner myself, I know first-hand the challenge of executing events of this size, and the precision impressed me.
The concert was a blast. Many of the guests were of Mexican heritage, and the entire venue erupted in song multiple times while servers walked around with trays of frozen cocktails.
When the show finished, we boarded buses for a 30-minute ride to the countryside. As urban sprawl gave way to rural terrain, I felt butterflies in my stomach. Mexico does this to me, with its ever-changing landscape full of surprises.
When we arrived at the fields, I had no choice but to rush within the neat rows of spiky agave plants to snap a classic “gringa in the middle of an agave field, hashtag justanothersaturdayinmexico” shot. I was pulled from my photographic glory to witness a short demonstration on how to chop the thing open with an ax, and then the whole dang event turned into a party.
Imagine the scene: a giant, wooden pavilion decorated with string lights, picnic tables, and a dance floor. Food carts abound, offering esquites, churros, palomitas, and tlacoyos, with dozens of bartenders pouring drinks for all. Classic Mexican music pumps from giant speakers and everywhere you look are undulating hills covered in agave. The sun is setting, everyone is laughing and having a good time. It might sound corny, but I found it quite magical.
When it was time to go, each guest was given a final shot for a ‘goodbye cheers’. We boarded our buses and 40 minutes later arrived at Guadalajara, culminating an 11-hour tour. For a visual, watch my reel on Instagram.
At no point were we encouraged to purchase anything. I found this strange, as I would have been open to buying a bottle from the source, but also refreshing, as it made the experience feel more genuine.
There are two departure options: Sunrise, which starts at 9:00 a.m., takes you into town by train and back to Guadalaraja by bus. Sunset starts at 11:00 a.m. and does the opposite. The train and bus stations are not close to one another, so if you leave a car at your starting point, you’ll have to Uber back at the end of the tour.
The bus drop-off is the least organized part of the Sunrise tour. There is a very small parking lot with just a few taxis and hundreds of people ordering carshare simultaneously. I would suggest ordering your Uber as you pull into the parking lot to save time.
There are four categories to choose from: Express, Premium Plus, Diamond, Elite. My account is based on the Express option.
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.
Spectators at the International Pyrotechnics Festival in Tultepec, México state, bask in the glow of a torito, a traditional bull-shaped structure loaded with fireworks that is part of the annual festival. (File photo/Diego Simón Sánchez for Cuartoscuro)
The opening of the 35th International Pyrotechnics Festival brightened the Saturday night sky above Tultepec, México state — Mexico’s fireworks capital.
The event, which lasts through March 17, features rock concerts, artisanal food, folkloric ballet, a battle of the bands contest, a concert by local schoolchildren and much more.
Competing fireworks makers at the festival aim to wow, as part of the judges count is audience reaction to the display. (International Pyrotechnics Festival)
Opening night was a hit with its castillo de torre (tower castle) contest. With thousands in attendance, fireworks companies demonstrated their talents with colossal, towering structures adorned with all kinds of fireworks.
The pyrotechnics structures are as much about creativity as they are about firepower. While some are simply made into geometric shapes, some are made to look like recognizable figures — such as Jesus on the cross, San Juan de Dios (St. John of God, considered the patron saint of fireworks artisans in the region) and Texcocan poet-king Nezahualcoyotl — or iconic imagery such as the Mexica calendar.
The castillos are judged on artistic presentation, colors, creativity, degree of difficulty and the quality of the fireworks — as well as audience reactions.
Other popular pyrotechnic events still to come during this year’s two-week fair include the popular March 8 parade of the toritos — fireworks connected to bull-shaped structures — a musical fireworks contest on March 9 and an international musical fireworks contest on March 16. Among the countries taking part in the latter contest are Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom and El Salvador.
For a schedule of the events for the remainder of this year’s festival (in Spanish), go here.
The fair has its roots in 19th-century torito parades sponsored by Tultepec fireworks guilds and held on St. John of God’s feast day, March 8. The event now serves to promote Mexico’s traditional fireworks industry, which produces nearly 6 billion pesos (US $354 million) of recreational explosives annually.
Tultepec produces roughly three-quarters of the nation’s fireworks and about 40,000 local families — nearly 60% of the municipality’s population — work in the production and distribution of fireworks.
There are more than 300 workshops here. Although specialized training has made the industry safer, accidents remain a danger.
In 2018, 24 people were killed and dozens were injured by a series of explosions in the municipality. Twenty-two of the dead were rescue personnel killed by subsequent explosions after approaching the scene following the initial explosion.
Critics say gunpowder and other materials are too often stored in homes and bodegas illegally and under unsafe conditions. A December 2016 blast in the Tultepec fireworks market killed 42 people, the worst incident in the city’s history and one that made international news.
The same market was previously destroyed in a 1988 fire, after which local authorities banned the manufacturing and wholesaling of fireworks within the city limits. The ban was lifted a year later, and the International Pyrotechnic Festival was inaugurated to compensate for the loss of revenues.
While both countries head into presidential elections, Travis Bembenek sees major contrasts between the two political scenes. (Shutterstock)
It’s Super Tuesday in the United States, and the federal Mexican campaigns officially began last week, so we thought it made sense to take a moment to talk presidential politics.
Back in August, Mexico News Daily CEO Travis Bembenek shared his view of the upcoming presidential races in the two countries in 2024, and how in his opinion, they could not be more different.
The world-renowned film festival founded by Robert Redford in 1978 will host its inaugural event in Mexico's capital in April. (Shutterstock)
Get ready, cinephiles: the Sundance Film Festival is coming to Mexico City.
Officials with the Sundance Institute and Mexico’s Cinépolis movie theater chain announced recently that a program of films that played at Sundance earlier this year will be shown in a Latin American country for the first time. Actors and directors have also been invited to appear in person at red carpet events and discussion panels.
Morelia Film Festival President Alejandro Ramírez, left, was likely instrumental in Sundance’s imminent arrival in Mexico. For years, Ramírez has cultivated ties with the Utah festival’s founder, Robert Redford, second from left. (Morelia Film Festival)
The events will take place April 25–28 in two theaters located in the heart of the capital: Cinépolis Diana on Paseo de la Reforma and Cinépolis VIP Miyana in the Polanco neighborhood. The yet-to-be-announced films were screened at the 40th Sundance festival, which took place in January in Park City, Utah and nearby Salt Lake City. Sundance programming directors Kim Yutani and Eugene Hernández will lead the film curation team for the Mexico City event.
“Mexico City is such an important city in terms of cinephiles and film lovers,” said Alejandro Ramírez, Cinepolis’ general director and one of Mexico’s leading entrepreneurs. “However, there are only a handful of festivals throughout the year. We hope it becomes the film festival that the population of Mexico City is looking for.”
Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024, as the event will be known, will also feature panels with film insiders, post-film Q&A’s, discussion sessions and other industry-related events.
The name of the festival’s Mexico edition will be Sundance Film Festival CDMX. (Cinepolis)
As president of the FICM — one of the most important film festivals in Latin America — Ramírez has built a strong association with Sundance over the years — as well as with Redford, who stayed at Ramírez’s house in 2019.
Ramírez’s grandfather, Enrique Ramírez Miguel, founded in 1971 what would become the Cinépolis chain with a single movie theater in Morelia. It is now the world’s fourth largest cinema circuit, with upward of 800 complexes, 6,800 screens and 1 million seats in 17 countries.
“This association marks a milestone in the country’s cinematographic history,” Mexico City officials proclaimed on the website of Procine, the city’s trust for the promotion of Mexican cinema.
Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente agreed.
“Being able to engage with the local community through innovative films and compelling conversations, while maintaining the power to connect artists and their works with audiences, shows a clear synergy between Sundance and Cinépolis,” Vicente said.
Schedules, ticket prices and other details will be revealed in the coming weeks. Stay tuned at Sundance.org or Cinepolis.com.
A Good Friday procession in San Miguel de Allende. (Shutterstock)
March 21 is a national holiday in Mexico, marking the birth of Benito Juárez, a national hero and president of Mexico from 1858 to 1872.
To commemorate the day, the third Monday of March is usually a public holiday, making it a three-day weekend. However, all schools affiliated with the National Ministry of Education (SEP) will have a four-day weekend this year.
The four-day weekend applies only to elementary and middle school students. For high school and college students, as well as regular employees, the holiday weekend will include Saturday, March 16, through Monday, March 18.
What are the official school holidays on the March calendar?
According to the calendar for the 2023-2024 school year, students will have a long weekend starting on Friday, March 15 through Monday, March 18. On Tuesday March 19, students go back to school.
The first day of the long weekend is an administrative work day, according to the SEP. The last day is a public holiday in commemoration of the birth of Benito Juárez.
For many, Semana Santa is the perfect time for a trip to the beach. (Sector Guerrero/X)
Shortly after the long weekend, students will welcome the Semana Santa (Holy Week) break, which often coincides with spring break in the U.S. and Canada.
The two-week break includes the Holy Week and Easter Week. It starts on Monday, March 25, and ends on Friday, April 5. Students go back to school on Monday, April 8.
How many days will students be out of school?
Including weekends, students will be out of school for 13 days in March. In April, students will be out of school for eight days during Easter Week.
What are the official holidays for banks?
As part of the Holy Week celebrations, banks in Mexico will remain closed on March 28 and 29, which fall on Good Thursday and Good Friday respectively. For the rest of the week, their branches will remain open at regular hours.
Versalles, Puerto Vallarta is maybe the city's best neighbourhood - find out why. (Tripadvisor)
Puerto Vallarta’s Versalles neighborhood was never supposed to be my neighborhood. Technically I live in Santa Maria, across from the busy Avenida Francisco Villa. But after hearing so much buzz around one of the “hottest neighborhoods” in Puerto Vallarta, I went to check it out a few years ago and have been calling it my stomping grounds ever since.
Versalles is truly PV’s colonia del día. Read any local article about the city’s rising stars, and Versalles always tops the list. A quick scan of the skyline of the neighborhood reveals crane after crane constructing new condo buildings (a bummer, if you ask me), and its cobblestone streets are flanked by emerging restaurants and creative cubby-sized bars. Most people who live in Puerto Vallarta know Versalles as the culinary hotspot in the city – a place where cheap eats rub elbows with finer dining, or at least as fine as dining gets in Puerto Vallarta.
The Versalles neighborhood is considered one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in Puerto Vallarta. (Venecia-Palm Springs)
The Versalles neighborhood is considered one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in Puerto Vallarta. Sandwiched between the borders of Calle Viena, Avenida Los Tules, Avenida Fluvial and Avenida Francisco Villa, this grid of European city-named streets is one of the best spots in the city to escape the rattle and hum of the over-touristed Centro and Zona Romantica. It’s near the beach, but not on the beach, which means prices are cheaper here than in more centrally located neighborhoods – though with the construction of so many new condos, prices are rising dramatically. Still, the quietness and proximity to such fantastic restaurants are why Versalles is the best area to stay in Puerto Vallarta.
Things to do in Versalles
Versalles is first and foremost a residential neighborhood. Years ago, the area was just a few extravagant houses surrounded by farmland. It’s only in recent years that Versalles got an upgrade, with fresh pavement and fancy condos. And it’s even more recent that aspiring and creative chefs started moving in and opening up their funky restaurants, bodega-style wine bars and cocktail hideaways. This is all to say, what you’re coming to Versalles for is to eat. But I’ll get to that in a bit.
Versalles provides a much more affordable place to stay for tourists than downtown Puerto Vallarta because it’s a 15-minute taxi ride to Zona Romantica. It’s also not on the beach, which is a drawback for many first-time visitors to PV. Still, the closest beach, Playa Las Glorias, is less than a 10-minute walk away and is one of the quieter beaches in the city because it isn’t overwhelmed with amenities.
Best Restaurants in Versalles
Let’s get on to the good stuff, shall we? You’ve come to Versalles to eat and that’s exactly what you’re going to do. Versalles seems to be a neighborhood created specifically for foodies, and the volume of restaurants that open each year means the culinary landscape is constantly evolving. Here are the spots where I love to eat and drink in Versalles:
Versalles is home to some truly amazing food too, from seafood to Italian. (Abulón Antojería del Mar/Facebook)
El Puerco de Oro: This humble, hole-in-the-wall taco shop makes only one thing: pork belly tacos. But they will probably be the best pork belly tacos you’ve ever had. The crunchy, salty, juicy pork belly is heaped onto blue corn tortillas and topped with raw onion and cilantro. You can customize your taco with an array of salsas, pickled onions, peppers or anything else you may require for the taco of your dreams. At 25 pesos a pop, this is one of the most affordable, unforgettable meals you’ll get in town.
Abulón, Antojería del Mar: A bougainvillea-draped outdoor courtyard sets the scene for amazingly fresh seafood and strong cocktails. I love Abulón, Antojería del Mar so much that it’s usually the first place I go whenever I get back to town. We come for the shrimp tacos al pastor and the fresh seafood tostadas – La Mulata is my favorite, heaped high with chunks of fresh tuna.
Barbacow: This open-air taco restaurant is known for its juicy, rich barbacoa tacos, but every taco on its menu is fantastic. The shrimp adobada tacos are a must. Each order comes with a selection of about eight different salsas, so you can have a different flavor in every bite if you like. Pro tip: the pineapple habanero salsa is excellent on the shrimp tacos.
Coco Machete: Coco Machete may look like a tiny cocktail bar, but pass through the second door and you’ll emerge into a beautiful grassy courtyard. The courtyard is a shared space, called El Jardín de la Versalles. There, you’ll be able to order cocktails from Coco Machete, craft beer from Los Cuentos and homemade woodfired pizzas. The space puts on nightly entertainment, from live music and comedy to quiz nights on Sundays.
La Tosca Trattoria: Puerto Vallarta has its fair share of Italian restaurants, but my favorite in Versalles is La Tosca. I love the open-air courtyard dining, the friendly service and the homemade pasta.
Lamara: Lamara has quickly gained the reputation for having the best ceviche and tostadas in town. They do Pacific-style aguachiles and ceviches with a bit of an Asian twist, using soy sauce and sesame seeds in a lot of their recipes. The restaurant is so popular that it has two other locations: one in Zona Romantica and one in Bucerías.
Masame: I love Masame for brunch, particularly because everyone else is usually in line over at nearby Cha’. Masame serves heaping plates of Mexican breakfasts, from huevos mexicanos to an entire menu of chilaquiles. They are known for their birria here, too, and make a very interesting and luxurious birria ramen.
Nightlife in Versalles
It’s not just food – Versalles is also home to some of Puerto Vallarta’s best bars. (Barra 322/Facebook)
One of the things I love most about Versalles is that it’s a very relaxed neighborhood. You won’t find clubs or late-night parties here. Instead, the bars are low-key and small. Most nights, the streets of Versalles get quiet by 10.
I would recommend Coco Machete for drinks, but I also love La Bodega de Tony, which is a wine shop-turned-tasting room. Barra 322 is another tiny watering hole, which offers sidewalk seating. Skip the food menu here and enjoy a drink or two before dinner.
Where to stay in Versalles
Since Versalles is a residential neighborhood, it is sorely lacking in hotels. Instead, most people here are renting long-term or are staying in an Airbnb. Airbnb can be a plague on the housing market for locals so I hate to endorse it, but the reality is, that’s how the majority of visitors stay in Versalles.
Meagan Drillinger is a New York native who has spent the past 15 years traveling around and writing about Mexico. While she’s on the road for assignments most of the time, Puerto Vallarta is her home base. Follow her travels on Instagram at @drillinjourneys or through her blog at drillinjourneys.com.
A front end loader moves ballast as it prepares a section of track for the Maya Train in Yucatán. (Martín Zetina/Cuartoscuro.com)
Investment in construction projects and spending on machinery and equipment surged last year as Mexico’s nearshoring trend continued to grow and the federal government rushed to complete major infrastructure projects before the end of its six-year term in September.
Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), as investment in construction projects, machinery and equipment is called, increased 19.7% in annual terms during 2023, the national statistics agency INEGI reported Monday. The increase was well above the 6% GFCF growth recorded in 2022.
Investment in construction projects rose 20.8% compared to 2022, while spending on machinery and equipment increased by a slightly more modest 18.5%.
Private and public investment both spiked
Both private and public GFCF increased by close to 20% last year. Private investment was up 19.7% while public investment rose 19.6%.
Private spending on construction projects rose 20.3%, while public spending in the same area increased 23.4%.
Private and public GFCF both increased by nearly 20% in 2023. (Gobierno de CDMX)
Meanwhile, the federal government last year allocated large sums of money to key infrastructure projects, some of which opened or partially opened in late 2023. They include the Tulum airport, which opened in December, and the Maya Train railroad, which now has several sections in operation.
The 20.8% increase in overall construction investment came from a 39.2% surge in spending on non-residential projects, and a 1.8% uptick in the outlay on residential projects.
Spending on transport equipment surged
Spending on imported transport equipment — cars, buses, trains, planes and the like — increased 55.4% last year, while the outlay on Mexican-made transport equipment also rose significantly, albeit by a less striking 26.6%.
Spending on imported machinery, equipment and “other assets” rose 17.5% in 2023, while expenditure on the same national goods increased 3.5%.
A 19.2% increase in private spending on machinery and equipment drove the overall investment growth of 18.5% in that area. Public expenditure in the same area increased by just 1.7%.
Government spending on projects like the Tulum Airport pushed up GFCF last year. (Mara Lezama/X)
Another positive sign for the Mexican economy
The increase in GFCF in 2023 could help spur stronger GDP growth in the future as investment in things such as new machinery can help companies increase their productivity and overall output. The use of new machinery and the opening of new manufacturing plants could help Mexico boost its exports in coming years.
The publication of the positive GFCF data comes after INEGI reported in late February that the Mexican economy grew 3.2% in annual terms in 2023.
Mexico's airline seat offering was more than double that of runner-up Brazil. (Shutterstock)
Mexico is No. 1 in international air connectivity among Latin American nations by a large margin, according to a study released last week at Colombia’s national tourism fair.
Mabrian, a travel and tourism data intelligence company, projects that Mexico has 27.3 million seats on offer for the first nine months of 2024, a total that dwarfs second-place Brazil (11 million seats) and third-place Colombia (9.9 million).
The projected increase for Mexico is impressive considering the numbers of passengers who flew in 2023. A Tourism Ministry report issued in January indicated 119 million passengers traveled on national and international flights.
Among Mexican airlines, Aeroméxico and Volaris carried 12.2 million international travelers between them last year, an increase of nearly 18%.
American Airlines and United led international carriers, transporting a total of 12.9 million passengers, up 17.9%. Even more impressive, the 2023 figures represent a 23.5% increase over 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic slammed the industry.
Among Mexican airlines, Aeroméxico and Volaris carried the most passengers. (Shutterstock)
Mexico has been further assisted by the restoration of the Category 1 designation by the US Federal Aviation Administration. This classification indicates that Mexico is in compliance with the global standards required by the International Civil Aviation Organization. It also means Mexican airlines are permitted to increase flights and establish new routes to and from the United States.
Immediately after being restored to Category 1 in September, Mexico’s Transport Minister Jorge Nuño Lara said in a statement: “There will be more flights between both nations, which will strengthen air connectivity; [greater] competition will be encouraged and the quality of services for travelers will improve.”
Mabrian’s Latin America delegate Benjamin Jiménez described his company’s report as a healthy indicator of Latin America’s attractiveness and the confidence the region has inspired among tourists and the business community.
The full Top 10 for Latin America:
Mexico (27.3 million seats, up 8.9%)
Brazil (11 million seats, up 18.43%)
Columbia (9.9 million seats, up 18.03%)
Panama (9.4 million seats, up 21.3%)
The Dominican Republic (8.7 million seats, up 10%)
Puerto Rico (6 million seats, up 3.8%)
Argentina (5.8 million seats, up 15.3%)
Chile (5.2 million seats, up 25.7%)
Peru (4.9 million seats, up 17.7%)
Costa Rica (3.8 million seats, up 17%)
The increasing accessibility of Mexico and Latin America has the potential to boost economies, international trade and investment.
