Mexican cyclist Isaac del Toro scored an incredible career goal in France, but fans are still confused over what it means. (This image was generated using AI tools)
MEXICO CITY — The Mexican Foreign Ministry issued a clarifying statement Monday confirming that Isaac del Toro’s historic Stage 2 victory at the Tour de France does not count as beating France, ending three days of excitement among fans who had already begun printing T-shirts.
Del Toro, a 22-year-old from Ensenada, became the first Mexican in 36 years to win a Tour stage, crossing the finish line arm-in-arm with his Slovenian teammate, a gesture widely praised as sportsmanship but mistaken by some, still in the grips of World Cup fever, as a penalty-kick celebration. The presence of Merlin the duck in a yellow jersey only added to the sense of confusion.
Isaac del Toro crosses the finish line in Barcelona just ahead of teammate Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia (left) to show the French that actually, Mexico is good at more than just soccer. (UAE Team Emirates/Facebook)
“We are thrilled for Isaac and for cycling,” said a spokesperson for the Mexican Football Federation, adding that the achievement was “completely unrelated” to the national team’s run in the 2026 FIFA World Cup; this did not retroactively improve Mexico’s head-to-head record against France, which remains a sensitive subject dating back to at least 2010.
President Claudia Sheinbaum congratulated Del Toro on social media with a single word, “felicidades,” a message that was reposted over 40,000 times, analyzed for hidden World Cup subtext by at least two morning talk shows, and eventually confirmed by presidential aides to mean exactly what it said and nothing more.
Sports historians noted that the last Mexican to win a Tour de France stage, Raúl Alcalá in 1990, also did not defeat France in a World Cup match that year, a pattern researchers are calling “statistically consistent” but “emotionally difficult to accept.”
By Tuesday, the stage route itself had become a minor point of national pride after fans discovered it passed through both French and Spanish territory near the finish, prompting one radio host to declare, on air, that Mexico had “technically played away games in France and Spain and won,” a claim the Tour de France press office declined to dignify with a response.
Del Toro, when reached for comment, said only that he was “very happy” and “did not realize this was about soccer.”
The thief stole four bronze sculptures and several plaques, including the Leonora Carrington sculpture Black Dog. (Padre José de Jesús Aguilar)
Mexico City authorities confirmed on Wednesday the arrest of a suspect for the theft of historic sculptures from the Parish of San Cosme in the capital’s San Rafael neighbourhood, including a sculpture by British-Mexican painter Leonora Carrington, a towering figure in the 20th-century surrealist movement.
The theft was reported by Father José de Jesús Aguilar Valdés, who posted a video captured by security cameras on his social media accounts to ask for help in identifying the perpetrators.
— PadreJosedeJesusAguilar (@PadreJosedeJes) July 7, 2026
According to the priest, the pieces stolen from the church’s garden early Tuesday morning include Carrington’s Black Dog; a bronze sculpture by artist César Ruiz Cureño inspired by the Remedios Varo sculpture, Woman Leaving the Psychoanalyst; as well as two bronze angels and several plaques.
Following the priest’s public statements, the Mexico City Ministry of Citizen Security (SSC) arrested a 26-year-old man identified as the likely perpetrator, based on surveillance footage. Officials have yet to report the recovery of the stolen sculptures and plaques, and the investigation remains open to locate the other individuals involved.
The stolen pieces were part of a garden beautification project conceived as a space for contemplation open to the community, which included 15 artworks alluding to animal protection, art and various social causes, like that of the madres buscadoras (searching mothers).
One of the stolen plaques is of special relevance as it explained that Carrington and Varo were neighbors in the San Rafael neighborhood, for which they were frequent visitors to the parish. According to the plaque, Carringotn lived in the Grégoire de Wollant building, while Varo resided at Gabino Barreda 18, just a few blocks away.
Both artists were exiled to Mexico during World War II, where they became key figures in the country’s surrealist art movement. Beyond maintaining a close friendship, they developed much of their work in Mexico City, including some of their most renowned pieces.
The parish urged the general public not to purchase any items that may have been stolen, emphasizing that the value of the artworks goes far beyond their scrap-metal value, as they represent stories and symbols built by the community over the years.
“We will keep ensuring that the parish of San Cosme is a place of faith but also of art,” Aguilar said.
Elton John's announcement of two Mexico City concerts in October came as a surprise, but an especially pleasant one for his Mexican fans who will get a chance to see him perform one last time.
(Francisco Rodríguez / Cuartoscuro.com)
Elton John has announced he will return to Mexico this year with two farewell concerts in Mexico City, in what is already shaping up as one of the most anticipated pop music events of the year.
The British singer and composer confirmed he will perform live at Banorte Stadium (formerly Estadio Azteca) on October 2-3.
The dates and venue are set for Sir Elton’s Farewell to Mexico concerts: Oct. 2 and 3 at Estadio Azteca. (Elton John/Instagram)
The surprise farewell to Mexico dates interrupt his retirement from touring, announced after the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which COVID-19 prevented him from extending into Mexico at the time.
John wrote on his official Instagram account, “I was truly disappointed that the pandemic kept me from touring Latin America during my Farewell tour, which makes this return especially meaningful.”
John’s concert will offer fans in Mexico the opportunity to say goodbye to one of the most influential figures in contemporary pop and soft rock. The show will take the audience on a journey through the artist’s career, featuring classics such as Rocket Man, Tiny Dancer and Your Song, which have touched the lives of several generations of fans.
Tickets for his concert will go on sale between July 13 and 16 through Superboletos as follows:
Banorte Presale: Opens July 13 at 12 p.m. and ends July 14 at 11:59, exclusive to Banorte cardholders.
With a career spanning more than five decades, John has sold over 327 million records andplaced more than 85 songs in the Top 40. He has received one Emmy, six Grammy Awards, two Oscars and a Tony, earning him the coveted EGOT honor for winning all four major American entertainment awards.
Vertiv's Reynosa expansion is expected to create 1,000 new jobs as it increases its manufacturing capacity for critical infrastructure for data centers. (Gobierno de Reynosa)
Data center infrastructure company Vertiv plans to expand operations at its Reynosa facility on the state of Tamaulipas’s border with the United States, investing US$ 150 million.
The firm made the announcement during a recent meeting at its Reynosa facilities, attended by state and municipal officials. The expansion is expected to create over 1,000 new jobs and help establish Reynosa as a leading hub for advanced manufacturing and an investment destination for high-value industries in northern Mexico.
Vertiv will expand manufacturing capacity for critical infrastructure for data centers, electrical systems, and technological applications, as it responds to the growing global demand for artificial intelligence.
“Vertiv’s expansion fosters confidence in attracting companies involved with data centers [and] artificial intelligence,” Rodolfo González Núñez, acting head of the Reynosa Municipal Ministry of Economic Development, told the gathering.
Reynosa’s municipal government has agreed to provide Vertiv with institutional support and facilitate coordination with the relevant agencies.
By 2030, Mexico is expected to have attracted around $18 billion in data center infrastructure investment since 2005, with several projects already established or under development, according to Vertiv’s Vice President of Sales for Latin America Alex Sasaki.
Companies that want to compete must start developing their data centers now, Sasaki said.
Mexico has become a major data center host in the Americas, with Querétaro, Monterrey, and Guadalajara dominating development.
Three major factors attract investors to the Mexican market: population density, a skilled technical workforce, and a geographic location that supports nearshoring strategies.
Vertiv has four Mexican plants in Tijuana, Mexicali, Reynosa and Monterrey, as well as a service center in Querétaro, which it opened last year. In June, the company opened the Vertiv Academy in Mexico City, which will enable it to train technicians to operate its facilities.
Sasaki stressed that flexibility and modularity are key to data center development.
“Data centers are no longer designed as fixed structures that last for decades without changes, but as systems that can scale, adapt, and absorb technologies that don’t yet exist,” he said. “You have to design something future-proof.”
The 60 million viewership figure for Mexico's round of 16 match was almost equivalent to half the nation's population. (Graciela López/Cuartoscuro)
The World Cup match between the Mexican and English national teams on Sunday drew a record television audience of 60 million viewers, making it the most-watched match of the Mexican century, Gabriela Cuevas, head of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Coordination in Mexico, reported on Tuesday.
With a number of viewers equivalent to nearly half of Mexico’s 130 million population, Sunday’s game marked the fourth occasion that Mexico broke its own audience record during the tournament.
The many fan fests across the nation gave fans the convenience (and savings) of watching the Mexico-England game on television while sharing the experience with large crowds of fellow El Tri supporters — although at least one attendee at the fan fest in Mexico City’s Zócalo seems to have preferred a higher being. (Graciela López/Cuartoscuro)
The Mexico-England round of 16 match drew just over 80,000 spectators to the Mexico City Stadium. The one-hour delay of the game’s starting time couldn’t quash the fans’ energy as they belted out songs by Los Ángeles Azules and Juan Gabriel and booed English classics by Oasis, Blur and Queen.
England ultimately won 3-2, eliminating Mexico. Nevertheless, multiple videos emerged on social media showing Mexico fans congratulating English fans and celebrating with them.
Between June 11 and July 5, 789,766 people attended 13 World Cup matches in the three host cities: Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. Mexico City Stadium topped the list with 404,120 attendees across the matches, while Monterrey Stadium attracted 204,716 fans and Guadalajara Stadium hosted 180,930 spectators.
The World Cup generated over 50 billion pesos in revenue for the three host cities, according to Cuevas, while hotel occupancy rose to 80% across Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, and reached 95% in the beach destination of Cancún. In addition, Mexico City International Airport (AICM) brought in 6.5 billion pesos (US $370.3 million) during the event.
Cuevas emphasized the involvement of 99,000 security personnel and 583 hospitals designated as part of the so-called “World Cup Hospital Network” in the hosting efforts.
Images of Mexican fans celebrating the sport’s event in the streets and public squares circulated across media outlets worldwide.
“What we experienced here will remain in the memory of millions,” Cuevas said.
Puerto Vallarta still has its wild side, but recent stories also provide evidence of a city that is changing fast. (Ondrej Bocek/Unsplash)
For many tourists, Puerto Vallarta is a place to escape everyday life. But for the hundreds of thousands who call the city home, the conversations of recent weeks have centered on something quite different: learning to coexist with wildlife, concerns over public safety, pressure on water infrastructure and the growing pains of a city that continues to evolve.
None of these stories defines Puerto Vallarta. Together, however, they paint a picture of a destination that’s also a community, balancing extraordinary popularity with the very real challenges that come with growth.
Living alongside wildlife after a tragedy
Crocodiles have always been a common sight in Puerto Vallarta, but a recent fatal attack has thrust their presence, and the potential dangers, back into the spotlight. (Plaza Pelicanos Grand Beach Resort Puerto Vallarta)
The recent crocodile attack that claimed the life of a 28-year-old visitor from Mexico City shocked residents and visitors alike. Fatal attacks remain exceptionally rare in Puerto Vallarta. However, tragedy has renewed questions about how a city built around rivers, estuaries and mangroves can safely coexist with one of western Mexico’s most recognizable predators.
In response, authorities have increased monitoring and renewed warnings around the Ameca River, Estero El Salado and other areas where crocodiles are commonly found. Residents and visitors are being urged to avoid swimming near river mouths during the rainy season, when rising water levels can push crocodiles beyond their usual territory.
For residents, crocodiles are nothing new. Sightings in canals, lagoons and around Marina Vallarta are relatively common, although attacks remain exceedingly rare. The American crocodile has been part of the region’s ecosystem for centuries, long before Puerto Vallarta became one of Mexico’s best-known beach destinations.
The challenge is that the city has changed dramatically over the past two decades. Hotels, housing developments and roads now sit alongside habitats such as Estero El Salado, one of Mexico’s few protected urban estuaries, while many visitors remain unaware that crocodiles are a natural part of the local environment.
The tragedy has prompted renewed discussion about whether warning signs, public education and monitoring are keeping pace with the city’s growth. For a city built around both nature and tourism, striking that balance is becoming increasingly important.
Safety concerns reach one of Vallarta’s fastest-growing neighborhoods
The recent robbery of a woman in Versalles has once again placed neighborhood safety under the spotlight. After dropping her daughter off at school, the woman was approached as she walked back to her car, threatened with a knife, and robbed of her iPhone. The suspects reportedly fled in a white SUV.
In many ways, Versalles reflects the city’s transformation. Once a quiet residential district, it’s become one of Vallarta’s most desirable neighborhoods, attracting acclaimed restaurants, cafés, boutique hotels and an increasing number of residents from both Mexico and abroad.
As neighborhoods grow, so too do expectations around public safety. More people mean busier streets, increased traffic and greater demand for visible policing and well-maintained public spaces. While one incident doesn’t define a neighborhood or signal a broader crime trend, it can influence how residents feel about the places where they live, work and raise their families.
In the days following the robbery, familiar conversations resurfaced about police patrols, street lighting and ensuring public services keep pace with rapid development.
Puerto Vallarta remains one of Mexico’s most popular destinations, but as more people choose to make it their permanent home, maintaining a sense of safety in neighborhoods like Versalles will be just as important as continuing to attract visitors.
Water under pressure as the city continues to grow
If there’s one issue likely to shape Puerto Vallarta’s future more than any other, it’s water.
For most visitors, it’s something they rarely think about. For Vallarta’s System of Potable Water, Drainage and Sewerage (Seapal), however, meeting the needs of a rapidly growing city is becoming one of its greatest challenges.
The recent collapse of a water collector in Puerto Vallarta is evidence of larger concerns with the city’s water service network. (Seapal Vallarta)
Recent weeks have highlighted just how much pressure the system is under. The collapse of part of Seapal’s Centro-Norte collector created a sinkhole near the junction of Avenida México and Prisciliano Sánchez, forcing lane closures, traffic diversions and emergency repairs to one of the city’s principal wastewater lines.
The repairs were completed quickly, but it underscored a much larger issue. Much of Puerto Vallarta’s water and sewer infrastructure was built for a considerably smaller city. Today, new housing developments, hotels and businesses continue to place additional demands on the network, making ongoing investment essential.
For residents, the effects are often measured in everyday inconveniences like road closures during repairs, service interruptions and the hope that maintenance carried out today will prevent much larger problems tomorrow.
Building for the future and living through the disruption
Construction cranes have become an increasingly familiar part of Puerto Vallarta’s skyline. Across the city, new apartment buildings, hotels and mixed-use developments reflect continued confidence in Vallarta’s future. At the same time, roadworks and utility projects along major routes, including Francisco Medina Ascencio, have brought detours, congestion and disruption that residents know all too well.
For many residents, the disruption is accepted as the price of progress, provided infrastructure keeps pace with development. That’s the challenge facing Puerto Vallarta. Growth has created jobs, attracted investment and strengthened the local economy, but it’s also increasing pressure on roads, utilities and public services.
Questions about housing affordability, transport and infrastructure are becoming increasingly common as Puerto Vallarta evolves from a seasonal resort into a year-round city. Residents are asking not just what’s being built, but whether the city’s infrastructure is growing alongside it.
A city in transition
The face and infrastructure of Puerto Vallarta is forever changing as the city seeks to keep pace with its exceptional growth. (Ondrej Bocek/Unsplash)
Viewed in isolation, each of these stories tells us something different about Puerto Vallarta. Together, they tell us something much more important. A crocodile attack highlights the realities of living alongside a remarkable natural environment. A robbery in Versalles prompts conversations about neighborhood safety. Water infrastructure reflects the demands of a growing population. Construction reminds us that prosperity often comes with growing pains.
Perhaps that’s the real story of Puerto Vallarta today. Not simply a destination, but a city learning how to balance extraordinary success with the responsibilities that come with it.
For visitors, Puerto Vallarta may always be a place to escape everyday life. For the people who live here, it’s home. And like any home, it’s constantly changing.
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.
Mexico's revenue from exports to the U.S. was up 17.5% compared to May 2025, when Mexico exported goods worth $46.11 billion to the United States. (Unsplash)
Mexico set a new monthly record for exports to the United States in May, sending goods worth US $54.18 billion to its northern neighbor, according to U.S. data.
The revenue represents an increase of 17.5% compared to May 2025, when Mexico exported goods worth $46.11 billion to the United States. Mexico exports a wide range of goods to the United States, including vehicles, auto parts, computers, televisions, medical devices, fresh food products and alcoholic beverages such as beer and tequila.
Mexico’s Economy Ministry said in a statement that the revenue from exports shipped to the U.S. in May is a “historic record for any month.”
The record was set despite the U.S. government last year imposing tariffs on Mexican vehicles, steel, aluminum and goods not covered by the USMCA free trade pact. Still, the majority of Mexico’s exports to the U.S. enter the country tariff-free thanks to the three-way trade agreement.
A U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report published on Tuesday also shows that Mexico’s exports to the United States between January and May were worth $242.9 billion, an annual increase of 10.8%.
The data in the report shows that Mexico was the top exporter of goods to the United States in May and in the first five months of 2026.
The publication of the report came six days after the U.S. government announced that it had declined to renew the USMCA for an additional 16 years. However, the trade pact remains in effect, and President Claudia Sheinbaum is confident that Mexico, the U.S. and Canada will reach an agreement to renew it for 16 additional years at some point in the future.
Imports from US also increased
The U.S. data shows that Mexico imported goods worth $33.05 billion from the U.S. in May, a 17.5% annual increase.
In the first five months of 2026, Mexico imported U.S. goods worth $161.66 billion, a year-over-year increase of 15.4%.
Mexico was the world’s top buyer of exported U.S. goods both in May and in the first five months of the year. Among Mexico’s imports from its northern neighbor are natural gas, petroleum products, yellow corn, auto parts and other intermediate goods (manufacturing inputs).
Mexico had a trade surplus of $21.13 billion with the U.S. in May, and a surplus of $81.23 billion in the first five months of 2026. Mexico’s surplus in May increased 17.5% compared to the same month last year, while its surplus in the first five months of 2026 was 2.7% higher in annual terms. The increase in the surpluses would not please U.S. President Donald Trump, who has railed against the trade imbalance between Mexico and the United States, and has even suggested that Mexico’s surplus constituted grounds for the country becoming a U.S. state.
When announcing the decision to not renew the USMCA, U.S. Trade Representative said that the U.S. would “continue to engage with Mexico and Canada to address the Agreement’s shortcomings and our trade deficits with these countries.”
Mexico and the US remain each other’s largest trade partners
The U.S. data shows that two-way trade between Mexico and the United States was worth $404.56 billion in the first five months of 2026. That amount accounts for 16.5% of the United States’ total trade with all countries around the world.
Trade between Canada and the U.S. — worth $307.48 billion between January and May — accounts for 12.5% of the United States’ total trade in the first five months of 2026. Canada is the United States’ second largest trade partner after Mexico.
In its statement, the Finance Ministry highlighted that Mexico’s exports to the United States in the 12 months to the end of May were worth $558 billion, an 8% year-over-year gain. It also noted that Mexico’s imports from the U.S. in the same period were worth $358.9 billion, an annual increase of 7%.
“Based on these figures, Mexico has cemented its position as the United States’ largest trading partner, ahead of Canada, China, Taiwan, and Vietnam,” the Finance Ministry said.
“Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said that Mexico’s record exports to the United States are explained by our country’s preferential access to the U.S. market,” the ministry said.
On social media, Banco Base’s director of economic analysis, Gabriela Siller, posted a graph on Tuesday that shows that the average tariff Mexican goods face when entering the U.S. is 3.65%.
“Mexico continues to be among the countries with the lowest average tariff in the United States,” she wrote.
Land’s End in Cabo San Lucas (pictured top left) is a spectacular place, above and below the waterline, but the commerce that surrounds it is degrading its Protected Natural Area, designated in 1973. (Cabo Adventures)
The first Protected Natural Area (in Spanish, Área Natural Protegida, or ANP) in Baja California Sur was established in 1972, two years before the then territory officially became a Mexican state. That was the Ojo de Liebre Lagoon Complex, a gray whale sanctuary whose designation as a Biosphere Reserve helped pave the way not only for the state’s whale watching industry but for the 12 other ANPs that would subsequently be added.
These protected areas have been the site of many conservation success stories, but there have also been numerous setbacks, both due to climate change and to the pressures on these ecosystems from business and tourism-related developments. This is particularly true for the three oldest ANPs, which all date to the 1970s.
Ojo de Liebre Lagoon Complex and El Vizcaíno
The Ojo de Liebre Lagoon Complex has been a federally protected breeding sanctuary for gray whales in Baja California Sur for over 50 years. (Simec/Conanp)
Ojo de Liebre is a case in point. By 1988, it had been rolled into the larger El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, at 2.5 million hectares (or about 9,600 square miles), the largest wildlife sanctuary in Mexico. But in the 1990s, both dwindling numbers of Baja’s unique, desert-adapted antelope, the Peninsular Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana peninsularis) and the whales who came to breed in Ojo de Liebre each winter were threatened by a proposed saltworks from the Mitsubishi Corporation that would have operated within the bounds of El Vizcaíno and emptied a highly toxic, hyper-saline fluid called bitterns (or residual brine)into the lagoon complex.
That project was canceled by the Mexican government in 2000, after concentrated opposition from locals, scientists and environmental activists. The Peninsular Pronghorn is still endangered, but numbers have more than tripled in the decades since — thanks in part to captive breeding programs — from a low of less than 200 in the 1990s to over 600 now.
Gray whale challenges
Gray whale numbers, meanwhile, have dropped precipitously from a high of 27,000 in 2016 to between 11,700 and 14,450 as of 2025, but that’s not because of any failures on the part of Ojo de Liebre or El Vizcaíno. Rather, the Unusual Mortality Events in recent years contributing to the plunging population have been the result of malnourishment caused by a collapse of food sources in the whales’ summer Arctic feeding grounds; namely, bottom-dwelling amphipods.
El Vizcaíno is still an amazing place, home to endemic animals such as the Peninsular Pronghorn, the Vizcaíno Ground Squirrel (Notocitellus atricapillus), the Baja California Rat-Snake (Bogertophis rosaliae) and Baja California Legless Lizard (Anniella geronimensis), as well as more than 90 endemic plant species.
Cabo San Lucas
The state’s second ANP, Cabo San Lucas, remains the least managed, with virtually no formal rules to speak of, save a ban on fishing within its 3,996 hectares. That’s because Cabo San Lucas also happens to be the state’s leading tourist destination and revenue generator, and it has proven nearly impossible to reconcile conservation with commerce.
“Los Cabos is such an important destination from an economic point of view,” Benito Bermúdez Almada, regional director of the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (Conanp), recently told Sudcaliforniano, that “there is nothing to discuss, and from an environmental point of view, although everyone underestimates it, it is the best alert site for the behavior of oceanographic conditions in northwestern Mexico; the antennas are there.”
A map showing the 12 federally protected areas in Baja California Sur, as well as the one that is protected by the state: the San José del Cabo Estuary. (Gobierno de Baja California Sur)
But lack of any meaningful regulation, combined with large-scale tourism — nearly four million people a year visit Los Cabos, with Cabo San Lucas’ Land’s End the focus of innumerable outdoor activities, from boating and diving to snorkeling, kayaking, paddle boarding and others — is certainly degrading the area around Land’s End, and having significant impacts on marine life.
Ecosystem challenges and possible solutions
Mexico’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) inventoried 839 native species in the protected area in 2010, at least 94 of which are currently at risk (12 endangered, 24 threatened, 58 under special protection).
When the Cabo San Lucas Flora and Fauna Protection Area was officially designated in 1973, it was primarily as an underwater refuge brought on by the discovery of underwater sand falls around Land’s End — the headland which accounts for about 5% of the ANP’s total area. Encouraged by Jacques Cousteau, the French oceanographer forever famous regionally for dubbing the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortés) as “the world’s aquarium,” the decree was signed by Mexican President Luis Echeverría on November 29, 1973, to protect what was recognized as a unique and fragile ecosystem.
In 2023, Conanp proposed an expansion to the area that would cover more areas at particular risk, including the underwater sandfalls and shallow reefs that act as nursery areas for fish populations, as well as put a cap on boat traffic. But the existing confusion caused by the lack of a management plan — 53 years after the ANP’s designation — combined with the exigencies of commerce, suggests nothing is going to happen in the short term.
Islas de Golfo de California
This protected area, first established in 1978 and later upgraded in 2000 under the same Flora and Fauna Protection Area classification given to Cabo San Lucas, is absolutely massive in its extent: 374,553 hectares encompassing more than 900 islands, islets, coves and coastal zone that fall within the boundaries of four Mexican states: Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa and Sonora.
These islands are known for their unique endemism: 43 reptile species, such as the rattleless rattlesnake of Santa Catalina Island, and 80 to 90 fish species, including the endangered totoaba and vaquita porpoise, are found nowhere else in the world.
The view from Isla Cerralvo looking westward towards the coast of mainland Baja California Sur, where a new megaproject is in the works. (James Connolly Davis/Wikimedia Commons)
The problem, of course, is these mostly uninhabited islands are almost impossible to police in any meaningful way, not only because of the jurisdictional nightmare but because of their remote nature.
Then there are the problems posed by tourist developments like the megaproject Península de los Sueños at Punta Arena in La Paz municipality, where real estate interests are pushing to build 7,000 residences and 7,000 hotel rooms, as well as an airstrip and 446-berth marina right across the narrow channel from Cerralvo Island (aka Isla Jacques Cousteau), one of the core islands protected under the Islas de Golfo banner.
A direct challenge to Islas de Golfo
Heavy yacht traffic and noise pollution are two issues that could arise for the island’s protected flora and fauna, although neither would likely be as serious as the 7.98 million gallons of highly concentrated salt brine that would be pumped back into the Sea of Cortés daily because of three proposed desalination plants.
“They think desalination plants are the magic solution,” notes Frida Lara, scientific coordinator at Orgcas, a women-led non-profit in La Paz dedicated to marine conservation, per Causa Natura. “The big question is what is going to happen with the management of the brine, and there is no very clear answer as to what they are going to do with it. Another question is that it uses a lot of energy, in a region where electrical energy is limited and depends a lot on fuel oil, which is polluting.”
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.
As an apex predator, the black hawk-eagle, águila tirana in Mexico and Spizaetus tyrannus in ornithology, has a key role in regulating prey populations to maintain ecological balance. (Conanp)
The first confirmed sighting of a black hawk-eagle — an apex raptor listed as endangered in Mexico — has been recorded in a nature reserve in the state of Querétaro.
The finding in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve marks a significant expansion of the species’ known range, authorities said.
A map released by Mexico’s National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (Conanp) pinpoints the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve where the raptor was spotted, some distance from the black hawk-eagle’s recently registered locations to the southeast. It also illustrates how the apex raptor remains common from Mexico’s southern border on down into South America, while becoming rare in Mexico itself due to habitat destruction. (Conanp)
The National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (Conanp) reported this week that the Águila Tirana — known locally as the tyrant eagle and in English as the black hawk-eagle — was documented for the first time in the protected area in northern Querétaro.
The agency said the finding resulted from ongoing biological monitoring and coordination with residents of the Ayutla ejido in the municipality of Arroyo Seco.
The species had not previously been officially reported in the region, which lies more than 150 kilometers from its historically documented range — the lowland and mid-elevation tropical forests of Mexico’s southeast, particularly along the Gulf of Mexico.
In a press release, Conanp described the raptor as an apex predator in tropical ecosystems, noting its presence reflects healthy habitat conditions within the reserve.
The Sierra Gorda landscape includes canyon systems with oak forests and seasonally dry tropical forests that form part of the Sierra Madre Oriental biological corridor.
Listed as an endangered species and protected under Mexican law, Spizaetus tyrannus depends on the conservation of tropical and cloud forest ecosystems and habitat connectivity for survival. Authorities said its role as a top (apex) predator helps regulate prey populations and maintain ecological balance.
The discovery adds to a series of notable eagle-related conservation developments in Mexico in recent years. In 2026, officials confirmed a golden eagle nesting site in Coahuila, while in 2025, the mystical-looking harpy eagle — long believed extinct in the country — was documented in Chiapas.
But while the bird of prey is still common in tropical forests from Mexico to northern Argentina, the species appears to be in decline and is treated as endangered within Mexico’s borders due to habitat loss.
Our headline finding for June 2026 indicates that the peso was overvalued against the dollar by 2.91%, a decrease of 1.12 percentage points compared to the 4.03% overvaluation we determined for May. (Mexico News Daily)
THE MND PESO INDEX™
Tracking the exchange rate people actually experience
MND Intelligence · Third edition
Welcome to the third edition of the MND Peso Index™, part of the MND Intelligence™ suite of data products developed by Mexico News Daily.
The MND Peso Index™ is a monthly purchasing power parity measure that assesses whether the Mexican peso is overvalued or undervalued against the US dollar by comparing the prices of a standardized basket of 20 goods and services in Mexico and Dallas, Texas.
Our headline finding for June 2026 indicates that the peso was overvalued against the dollar by 2.91%, a decrease of 1.12 percentage points compared to the 4.03% overvaluation we determined for May.
For a detailed explanation of the purpose of the MND Peso Index™, the makeup of the basket and more, please refer to our previous index article. You can read even more about the index in our introductory article published in early May.
What did the MND Peso Index™ tell us in June 2026?
In June 2026, the MND Peso Index™ suggests that the USD:MXN exchange rate on the date we collected prices in various Mexican cities and in Dallas, Texas, overvalued the Mexican peso by 2.91%.
The Mexican and Dallas prices were collected on June 29, 2026. The mean implied exchange rate across all 20 items — the MND Peso Rate — came in at 18.01 pesos per dollar, whereas the Banxico FIX rate on June 29 was 17.50 pesos per dollar.
The gap between those two figures indicates that the peso — at a rate of 17.50 to the US dollar — was overvalued by 2.91% in late June.
In other words, the USD:MXN exchange rate — if it reflected the rate at which the peso could buy the basket’s goods and services in Mexico at the same dollar prices as in the United States — would be 18.01.
In the table below, you can see the Mexico and U.S. prices for all 20 goods and services in the basket, the total costs of the two baskets, the implied exchange rate for each item, the MND Peso Rate (ie., the overall implied rate), the Banxico FIX rate on the date prices were collected and the overvaluation assessment for the peso.
If the implied rate is lower than the current exchange rate, it implies that the item is less expensive in Mexico than you would expect it to be, and vice versa.
(Mexico News Daily)
Why did the peso’s ‘overvalued’ assessment decrease between May and June?
The MND Peso Rate — the mean implied exchange rate — barely changed between May and June, declining by just one centavo from 18.02 to 18.01.
By contrast, the difference in the Banxico USD:MXN fix rate we used in May (17.32) and that we used in June (17.50) was 18 centavos. Therefore, the decline in the overvaluation assessment for the peso was almost entirely due to the currency’s depreciation against the dollar.
The peso depreciated by 1.02% between the date on which we collected prices in late May and the date on which we collected prices in late June. The 1.12-percentage-point reduction in the overvaluation assessment for the peso was helped only ever so slightly by the change in the MND Peso Rate from 18.02 to 18.01.
The MND Peso Index™ has now found the peso to be overvalued during 3 consecutive months
Through the use of the MND Peso Index™, we have now determined that the peso was overvalued against the US dollar by 2.83% in late April, 4.03% in late May and 2.91% in late June.
The difference between the lowest overvaluation assessment and the highest is just 1.2 percentage points.
(Mexico News Daily)
Our most recent MND Peso Rate (mean implied rate) — 18.01 — is just 23 cents, or 1.3%, higher than where foreign exchange (FX) experts who were recently polled by Reuters think the USD:MXN rate will be at the start of July 2027. The median estimate of 24 FX specialists polled by Reuters is that the USD:MXN exchange rate will be 17.78 on July 1, 2027.
So far in 2026, the peso has appreciated 2.8% against the US dollar. It closed at 18.00 to the greenback on the final day of 2025, according to the Bank of Mexico, while the closing USD:MXN rate on Tuesday July 7 was 17.51.
* Price sources: Mexico prices were collected from the websites and apps of Walmart México, Costco México, AutoZone México, Telmex, Cinépolis, Petco México, and the Mexican outlets of McDonald’s, Starbucks, Netflix and Planet Fitness. Dallas prices were collected from their U.S. equivalents. The Banxico FIX rate of 17.50 published on June 29, 2026 was used as the official exchange rate reference.
