Former Mexican president Vicente Fox was suspended on the social media platform X after a controversial post. (ANDREA MURCIA /CUARTOSCURO.COM)
The X (formerly Twitter) account of Vicente Fox has been suspended after the former president described the wife of Nuevo León Governor and presidential aspirant Samuel García as an “escort.”
Fox, president of Mexico between 2000 and 2006, called Mariana Rodríguez a “dama de compañia,” or escort, on the social media platform last week.
Samuel García with his wife Mariana Rodríguez and daughter Mariel. (Samuel García/X)
Rodríguez hit back at the 81-year-old ex-president, telling him on X that she is not an escort, but “a woman, university graduate, entrepreneur, wife and mother.”
“I will not allow you to speak to me or any other woman like that. We’re not accessories or objects. … What you did is called violence,” she wrote last Saturday.
Three days later, Fox’s X account disappeared from the social media site purchased by Elon Musk in late 2022.
Former first lady Marta Sahagún issued a statement on behalf of her husband, in which Fox said that his account – which had some 1.5 million followers – had been suspended “without any notice and in an arbitrary way.”
“We’re working to resolve this problem,” said the ex-president, who had been taking aim at García on X shortly before his account became inactive.
As of midday Tuesday, the message “This account doesn’t exist” still appeared below the @vicentefoxque X handle.
Fox is well known for using blunt, colorful and derogatory language, both on and off social media.
On X, he has called President López Obrador “autistic” and described presidential aspirant Claudia Sheinbaum as “Jewish and foreign at the same time.”
In a 2018 interview, Fox called Donald Trump a “wild beast,” and on social media the same year he told the then U.S. president that his mouth was “the foulest shithole in the world.”
It was unclear who at X took the decision to suspend Fox’s account. There was some speculation that the ex-president deleted it himself, but his statement appeared to debunk that idea.
Chinese companies made 19 investment announcements totaling US $8.14 billion between January and November 2023, so, why isn't China considered among Mexico's top 10 investors? (Wikimedia Commons)
When the Economy Ministry (SE) published foreign direct investment (FDI) data earlier this month, one country was conspicuous by its absence in the list of the top 10 investors in Mexico in the first nine months of 2023.
The United States was there, of course, occupying its entrenched position at the top of the list.
President López Obrador met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November of this year. (Facebook/Andrés Manuel López Obrador)
Spain was there, Germany was there, Japan was there, Canada was there, but China — the world’s second-largest country and an emerging superpower — was not.
That was surprising because numerous Chinese companies have announced investments or started operations in Mexico this year: Noah Itech in January, Xusheng in May, Asiaway in June, to name a few.
So why did China fail to crack the top 10 when, as the Economist reported last weekend, “Chinese investments have been pouring into Mexico lately”?
In this article, I’ll seek to answer that question and explore a couple of other issues related to Chinese investment in Mexico.
Investment announcements don’t immediately show up in FDI data
According to Integralia, a Mexico City-based consultancy that tracks foreign investment in Mexico, Chinese companies made 19 investment announcements totaling US $8.14 billion between January and November.
In the Economy Ministry’s FDI data for the first nine months of the year, Chinese investment wasn’t even reported as it was below the $500 million threshold required to get into the top 10.
Based on the $8.14 billion figure — which takes new (as yet unrealized) investment announcements and facility inauguration announcements into account — China is currently the second largest foreign investor in Mexico behind the United States.
Former Nuevo León Governor and presidential hopeful Samuel García with executives of the Lingong Machinery Group, which announced an investment of US $5 billion in the northern state. (Nuevo León state government)
However, money tied to investment announcements — including US $5 billion announced by Lingong Machinery Group last month — takes time to show up in SE data as the funds don’t immediately flow into the country, and in some cases never arrives because the project is canceled before it begins.
As Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at Banco Base, noted on the X social media platform on Monday: “There are a lot of announcements, but that doesn’t equal investment.”
Of course, Lingong’s $5 billion announcement couldn’t show up in the SE’s data for the first nine months of the year because it was made in October. It will likely take a considerable amount of time before the entire investment amount is reflected in official statistics.
The government of Nuevo León — a nearshoring hotspot that is popular with Chinese investors — “says billions in investments that have been announced there are not yet reflected in FDI figures and exports,” according to a Financial Times report published Sunday.
Some Chinese money is never counted as such
Some Chinese investment in Mexico isn’t reflected in SE data because the money comes into the country via United States subsidiaries of Chinese companies, according to Enrique Dussel Peters, an economist and coordinator of the Center for Chinese-Mexican Studies (Cechimex) at the National Autonomous University.
The FDI inflow is thus recorded as coming from the United States, when for all intents and purposes the money came from China.
Between 2001 and late 2022, the Economy Ministry recorded some $3 billion in Chinese FDI to Mexico, but according to Cechimex, the real figure for that period is around $17 billion.
“It’s almost six times higher!” Dussel told the El País newspaper. “It’s not 10% more or 5% more, but 500% more.”
This graphic shows FDI in Mexico by country of origin in the first nine months of 2023. (SE)
The establishment of joint ventures between Chinese and Mexican companies can also skew Chinese FDI figures in Mexico.
Why Mexico? Why now?
The Economist reported Saturday that “Chinese companies’ heightened interest in Mexico dates to 2018 when Donald Trump, America’s president at the time, launched a trade war that included raising tariffs on imports from China.”
U.S. President Joe Biden has kept those tariffs in place, and his “America-first policies, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, are encouraging companies to consider ‘nearshoring’ in North America, in large part to thwart China,” the London-based publication said.
“The irony,” Dussel Peters told The Economist, “is that the first to react positively to an explicit policy against China are Chinese firms.”
Mexico courted Chinese investment in 2008 when the Mexico-China Chamber of Commerce and Technology organized a series of events, but the attempt to attract more Chinese capital was unsuccessful, according to the chamber’s vice president César Fragozo.
“Back then,” The Economist reported, “China had no need to use Mexico as a way into America, which had yet to turn its back on Chinese companies.”
But 10 years later, with Trump in the White House, things changed. In the years since 2018, Mexico has become more attractive than China for many manufacturers for a variety of reasons, including geopolitical ones, rising wages and costs in China, supply chain issues and other factors related to the COVID pandemic.
Mexico gives China “a back door” into the United States because along with the U.S. and Canada it is party to the USMCA free trade pact, The Economist noted.
The United States has been much less friendly to Chinese companies in recent years, whereas Mexico has focused on strengthening relations with the eastern giant. (@POTUS/X)
“Depending on what components they use, Chinese companies based in Mexico cannot enjoy all the benefits of the trading bloc, whose rules dictate what percentage of a product must originate in North America. But, Mr. Dussel Peters notes, the average American tariff on imports from Mexico in 2021 was 0.2%, far lower than on those from China,” the publication said.
The Economist also noted that Chinese investors “have learned to deal with the challenges of working in Mexico, such as insecurity and poor infrastructure.”
Is increased Chinese investment a threat to the Mexico-U.S. relationship?
A growing Chinese presence in Mexico “could backfire if it raises tensions with the United States,” The Economist reported.
Some U.S. lawmakers have already expressed their dissatisfaction with the presence of export-oriented Chinese companies in Mexico.
A bipartisan group of United States representatives wrote to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai earlier this month to urge the Biden administration to raise the current 25% tariff on Chinese vehicles and request that it be ready to “address the coming wave of [Chinese] vehicles that will be exported from our other trading partners, such as Mexico, as [Chinese] automakers look to strategically establish operations outside of [China] to take advantage of preferential access to the U.S. market through our free trade agreements and circumvent any [China]-specific tariffs.”
“Indeed, [Chinese] automakers BYD, Chery, and SAIC Motors have already established themselves in Mexico,” the lawmakers continued.
A growing Chinese presence in Mexico could backfire if it raises tensions with the United States. (Margarito Pérez Retana/Cuartoscuro)
The four members of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party including chairman Mike Gallagher also said in their letter that they are “concerned by how the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is preparing to flood the United States and global markets with automobiles, particularly electric vehicles, propped up by massive subsidies and long-standing localization and other discriminatory policies employed by the PRC.”
“… We look forward to USTR’s response on whether the current rules of origin in our trade agreements need to be strengthened and what other policy tools are needed to prevent the PRC from gaining a backdoor to the U.S. market through our key trading partners,” they said.
The Economist said that if China “is too successful in skirting tariffs it may find its back door as well as the front entrance slammed shut.”
Writing in Mexico News Daily last month, Travis Bembenek argued that Chinese investment in Mexico “is a good thing” in a scenario in which China and North America “soon return to ‘normal’ relations in which there is good communication, trust, and cooperation between both regions.”
However, if Sino-North American relations further deteriorate, “North American countries need to urgently get more serious and coordinated with a plan for Chinese investment into the region,” the MND CEO wrote.
If the United States-China relationship worsens — in spite of Biden’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco earlier this month — and Mexico, in the absence of a regional plan, continues to welcome Chinese companies while defending their right to benefit from the USMCA, it is conceivable that Chinese investment here could indeed put a strain on the bilateral relations between Mexico and the U.S.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
An avocado packer sorts produce destined for export in Michoacán. (Cuartoscuro)
Mexico is on track to record its best year ever for exports after the value of shipments sent abroad in October increased 5.6% compared to the same month of 2022.
Mexican exports were worth US $51.97 billion in October, the national statistics agency INEGI reported Monday, lifting the cumulative total for 2023 to $493.51 billion.
The figure for the first 10 months of the year is a record high and an improvement of 3% compared to the same period of 2022.
Auto sector drives export growth in October
INEGI data shows that oil exports increased 14.1% annually in October to $3.19 billion, while non-oil exports rose 5.1% to $48.77 billion. The latter contributed to around 94% of Mexico’s export total last month.
Manufacturing exports increased 5.3% in October to $46.37 billion, equivalent to 89% of the total and 95% of the non-oil total.
Revenue from automotive exports increased to US $17.66 billion in October. (Gob MX)
Within that category, auto exports surged 20.9% to $17.66 billion while non-auto exports fell 2.5% to $28.7 billion.
Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at Banco Base, said that the auto sector export growth could have been higher if auto workers in the U.S. hadn’t gone on strike between mid September and late October.
“It was a good month, but it could have been better,” she said.
Agricultural exports spiked 12.3% to $1.71 billion in October, while mining exports decreased 15.1% to $698.8 million.
Mining exports from Mexico declined in October (above is the Peñasquito gold mine in Zacatecas). (ADOLFO VLADIMIR /CUARTOSCURO.COM)
INEGI noted that avocado exports were up 37.6% compared to October 2022, while shipments of citrus fruits and tomatoes increased 32.4% and 20.9%, respectively.
In contrast, exports of raw coffee beans and frozen shrimp both declined by over 60% on an annual basis.
A good year for Mexico’s automotive industry
Non-oil exports contributed to 94% of the $493.51 billion in export revenue in the first 10 months of the year. They increased 4.5% to $465.33 billion, while oil exports declined 16.3% to $28.17 billion.
Manufacturing exports increased 4.5% to reach $439.44 billion. Auto exports also drove the export growth recorded between January and October, increasing 15.2% to $156.61 billion. Non-auto manufacturing exports fell 0.6% to $282.83 billion.
Mexico’s agricultural exports increased 4.3% to $18.08 billion, while mining exports rose by the same percentage to reach $7.8 billion.
Most Mexican exports go to the US
INEGI data shows that just over 83% of Mexico’s export income is derived from shipments sent to the United States. Just under 17% comes from exports sent to the rest of the world, including Canada, China, Germany and South Korea.
Imports up in October, but down so far this year
The value of imports to Mexico rose 1.8% annually in October to $52.22 billion. The import of intermediate goods – inputs used in the production of other goods – contributed to about three-quarters of that amount, while consumer goods accounted for around 15%.
The value of imports between January and October was $503.84 billion, a 0.6% decline compared to the same period of 2022. The contributions of intermediate goods and consumer goods to the total was very similar to that seen in October.
Fuel imports declined 29.3% to $45.57 billion in the first 10 months of the year, allowing Mexico to record a slight decrease in its overall spending on foreign goods. President López Obrador is aiming to make Mexico self-sufficient for fuel, but the data shows there is still some way to go.
Mexico’s oil imports declined 29.3% this year. President López Obrador’s administration has prioritized reducing Mexico’s dependence on fuel imports, with projects like the Dos Bocas refinery in Tabasco. (Gob MX)
Non-oil imports – made more accessible to Mexican consumers due to the appreciation of the peso this year – increased 3.6% between January and October.
A declining trade deficit
Mexico recorded a trade deficit of $10.33 billion between January and October, a reduction of 62.7% compared to that recorded for the same period of 2022.
The deficit in October was $252.5 million, a drop of 87.9% compared to a year earlier.
With 182 museums, you could spend a decade getting to know all of the art and history collections in Mexico City. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
Mexico City tops the list of the world’s best cities for culture, according to a Time Out magazine ranking that surveyed 21,000 city-dwellers around the globe.
The Time Out methodology involved quizzing locals on their city’s best cultural attractions, then asking them to score its overall cultural offering on quality and affordability.
The National Cinematheque in southern Mexico City is a symbol of the city’s cultural scene. (Denisse Hernández Rubio/Cuartoscuro)
Mexico City came out triumphant, leading a Top 10 list of cities that also included Prague, Cape Town, Buenos Aires, Athens, Edinburgh, Vienna, Madrid, Florence and Melbourne.
CDMX residents heaped praise on the city’s museum scene which, according to thecapital government’s listing, now includes a whopping 182 museums, spanning all subjects from pre-Columbian archaeology, to contemporary art, to planetary science.
Many of these museums are either permanently free or offer free entry on Sundays to Mexican residents, and several are housed in spectacular buildings that are attractions in themselves, including the neo-baroque Palacio de Bellas Artes and the ultra-modern Museo Soumaya.
Residents of CDMX also called attention to the capital’s unique street parades, variety of quirky, colonial and modern architecture, and its theater scene.
“What captivates me most is the diversity and vitality of the arts scene,” said Mauricio Nava, editor at Time Out Mexico City. In particular, he highlighted the Kurimanzutto contemporary art gallery in San Miguel Chapultepec, the iconic Frida Kahlo Museum in Coyoacán, and the Festival del Centro music, theater and dance event in April.
“CDMX is always redefining the boundaries of creativity, and that’s what makes it so vibrant,” Nava concluded.
Mexico City is not the only Mexican destination to top global travel lists. Last year, Time Out ranked Guadalajara’sColonia Americana district as the coolest neighborhood in the world, and readers of Condé Nast Traveler magazine votedSan Miguel de Allende the world’s best small city – for the fifth time.
Xóchitl Gálvez, who represents the PAN-PRI-PRD coalition in the 2024 presidential election, is known for wearing traditional huipiles at campaign events. How else is fashion playing a part on the political scene? (Denisse Hernández/Cuartoscuro)
The politics of fashion (and the fashion of politics) have been part of human culture since ancient times. From inspiring awe or exalting wealth, to preserving tradition or signaling rebellion, clothing has always been an integral part of political vocabulary.
In the United States, contemporary political fashion – for men and women – is mostly homogenous. There are some exceptions that break the rules, like John Fetterman in his shorts and hoodies or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “tax the rich” evening gown, but the uniform doesn’t vary much.
A surprisingly short time ago, women wearing pants in Congress was considered a faux pas – Senator Barbara Mikulski said it was as if she was “walking on the moon” when she became the first woman legislator to wear trousers on the Senate floor in 1993 – but now the pantsuit is standard-issue, even if it is also often derided. Two candidates may hold polar opposite positions or represent states on opposite coasts, but wear almost identical attire.
Political fashion in Mexico, however, is more colorful.
For the first time, the candidates representing the country’s major parties are women, and their fashion choices are inevitably subject to increased scrutiny. The third aspirant, Samuel García, mostly dresses as if for a boardroom, but has stirred up some controversy with his expressions of regional norteño identity – in September, he posted on X that he would soon be getting cowboy boots and a hat for his baby daughter Mariel, but “no huipiles.”
How do the candidates’ style differences speak to their supporters? How are the complexities of Mexican identity playing out in campaign wardrobes? Are these politicians guilty of cultural appropriation?
Citizens Movement 2024 candidate and Nuevo León’s former governor Samuel García often wears cowboy boots and other clothing identified with northern Mexico. (Samuél Garcia/Cuartoscuro)
Let’s take a short tour of fashion in Mexican politics by way of two distinctive garments: the guayabera and the huipil.
How the guayabera became a populist Latin American symbol
The origins of this linen, pleated tunic-like shirt for men are mysterious. However, by the 18th century, they were being manufactured and worn in Cuba and then imported later to the Yucatán peninsula. Mérida became the “capital” of this iconic garment of the Caribbean in Mexico.
They were not initially worn by wealthy men, but by field laborers, which has contributed to their popularity with populist leaders. In Mexico, the first president to wear them regularly was Luis Echeverría (1970-1976), and the shirt became not only part of the Mexican political wardrobe, but more broadly, a symbol of Latin American leftist politics. Fidel and Raúl Castro both favored guayaberas (once Fidel set aside the fatigues), and Hugo Chávez was rumored to wear a bullet-proof one.
President López Obrador is a fan of the guayabera shirt, which has been part of Mexican presidential wardrobes since the 1970s. (Andrés Manuel López Obrador/X)
While all Mexican presidents since Echeverría have donned the guayabera for some official events – particularly when visiting tropical regions – and gifted them to visiting dignitaries (yes, both George Bush Sr. and Jr. have donned one), President López Obrador is definitely the shirt’s biggest presidential fan in recent history.
He wears plain or embroidered guayaberas on many of his weekend tours of the country, when visiting his administration’s signature infrastructure projects like the Maya Train or the Isthmus of Tehuantepec trade corridor. Of course, both of these are in southern states with hot, humid climates. You could say that AMLO’s more south-facing presidency is reflected in his wardrobe.
The huipil as representation of Mexican identity
While the guayabera has been part of presidential garb in Mexico for decades, the huipil has not. Mexico’s first ladies have only worn it occasionally, such as on visits to Indigenous communities. But in this election season dominated by women, it has been described as the “other protagonist” of the campaigns.
This garment has many centuries of history throughout pre-Columbian Mexico and Central America, worn by women of high and low social status. The design varies by region, but in essence, the huipil (from Náhutal huipilli, which means shirt or dress) is made of rectangles of embroidered fabric, and worn as a tunic top. They were made originally on backstrap looms, woven from cotton or jute fibers, though after the Spanish conquest, wool and silk were also used.
Today, variations of this garment are worn in Indigenous communities across Mexico, with different styles associated with specific events or social status. You can find designer huipiles for hundreds of dollars at department stores, or handmade ones at a village market.
The Broad Front for Mexico (FAM) opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez appears to have a never-ending supply of long huipiles in every hue, wearing them even to ride her bicycle on the streets of Mexico City.
Gálvez’s background is Otomí, an Indigenous group in central Mexico, but she has not always worn traditional clothing. When she served as the head of the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples Development in former president Vicente Fox’s administration, and later as the mayor of Miguel Hidalgo borough in Mexico City, she often wore more modern attire.
The 2024 Morena party candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, has also taken to wearing huipiles at political rallies, though she still frequently appears in modern pantsuits and dresses. She is also more likely to pair a short huipil as a blouse with trousers or jeans, rather than the long style over a skirt, like Gálvez.
Morena candidate Claudia Sheinbaum has also worn traditional garments on the campaign trail. (Claudia Sheinbaum/X)
Sheinbaum’s grandparents emigrated to Mexico from Europe (Bulgaria and Lithuania) in the 1920s and 1940s, and she was born into a secular Jewish household. While she responded to social media rumors earlier this year about her birthplace by posting a photo of her birth certificate and stating “I’m more Mexican than mole!”, wearing the huipil is another visual way to reinforce this national identity – even though her ancestors would not have worn it.
“I wear the textiles of the original peoples of Mexico with emotion and pride,” Sheinbaum posted on Friday, along with a video with Indigenous tzeltal artisans. “…I am proud to be Mexican.”
The huipil as a symbol of Mexican national, rather than ethnic, identity is a delicate one.
When worn by politicians, they allude to an illustrious Indigenous heritage of creativity and artistry, and to a folkloric vision of national identity. But does this mean they are using the huipil as a patriotic costume, appropriating a way of dress that is wholly disconnected from the experiences of most Indigenous women today? Or does it finally give these communities a visibility long-denied?
Throughout its long history, the huipil has undoubtedly represented myriad things to the people who wear it, but since the Spanish conquest, there is one thing it has never symbolized: power. Perhaps that is changing.
Kate Bohné (kate.bohne@mexiconewsdaily.com) is chief news editor at Mexico News Daily. You can find her writing on The Mexpatriate.
Mariel Colón, former lawyer for "El Chapo", said that working for the drug lord "definitely" opened doors for her in the music world. (renedelvalleb/X)
Mariel Colón Miró, who by age 26 had already worked as a lawyer for the Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera and the late American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is making a name for herself as a ranchera singer.
In February of this year, the 31-year-old Puerto Rico native who grew up in the Mexican state of Durango released her debut single, “La Abogada” (“The Lawyer”). This fall, Colón has performed the song in several venues around Los Angeles, along with new releases “No Ha Nacido Otra” (“Another Girl Has Yet to Be Born”), “Te Perdí” (“I Lost You”) and “Encubiertos” (“Undercover”).
Mariel La Abogada debuted her first single, “La Abogada,” in February (mariellaabogada/Instagram)
In September, La Abogada sang her first single at a concert billed as “Celebrating the Patriotic Holidays of Mexico” at a venue in Lynwood, California. There, Colón was accompanied by one of her clients, former Mexican teen beauty queen and wife of “El Chapo” Emma Coronel, who had been released from prison only days earlier.
Since that first concert, Colón has performed at least 10 shows, according to her Instagram.
Colón has compared singing on stage in a club to making an appearance in court. “You have an audience, which is the judge and jury, and you have to convince them of a story,” she explained in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Another point in common? “Both are worlds led by men,” said the New York–based lawyer.
Colón poses for a selfie with her client and wife of El Chapo, Emma Coronel. (mariellaabogada/Instagram)
In her video for “La Abogada,” Colón portrays an attorney who falls in love with her accused client. “Good morning your honor, may I speak? Today I’m here to defend my heart,” she sings to the sound of trumpets and accordions. Ranchera-style music is iconically Mexican, with strong, emotional lyrics and deep, vibrant instrumentation.
Colón’s passion for music started early and was influenced by her father, Héctor Colón, a former music director and drummer for Menudo, a famous Puerto Rican boy band that has been active since 1977.
Insisting she isn’t abandoning the law for music, Colón said her intent is to balance both professions, stating on Univision’s show Despierta América, “The lawyer is still there. The singer is not going to eat the lawyer, nor the lawyer the singer. Both are going to coexist.”
In 2017, four months out of law school in New York but not yet licensed, Colón replied to a Craigslist ad seeking a Spanish-speaking paralegal. She got the job, which called for her to speak extensively with “El Chapo,” the notorious leader of the Sinaloa cartel who was awaiting trial in the U.S. In 2019, he was sentenced to life in prison.
Colón replied “Definitely!” when asked if working for “El Chapo” opened doors for her in the music industry. Emma Coronel often touts Colón’s singing abilities to her 788,000 Instagram followers.
Colón also has represented Rubén “El Menchito” Oseguera Gonzáles, a high-ranking member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and was part of Epstein’s defense team before the convicted sex offender committed suicide in 2019.
The popular cruise destination of Puerto Vallarta has seen a continual strong rise in passenger traffic this year, as the Mexican tourist industry returns to pre-pandemic levels. (Alonso Reyes/Unsplash)
The number of cruise passengers visiting the Pacific resort of Puerto Vallarta has increased by 50% between the January to October period compared to last year, according to data from the Puerto Vallarta National Port System Administration.
In the first 10 months of the year, 456,435 cruise passengers arrived at the Jalisco resort, aboard 142 international cruise ships, compared to 305,106 arrivals during the same period of 2022.
Puerto Vallarta has become a staple of the cruise ship itinerary. (Danya Soto/Vallarta Life)
“The increase in the arrival of tourists to Puerto Vallarta on cruise ships is a clear indication of the positioning that our beach destination has at an international level,” said Vanessa Pérez Lamas, Jalisco’s Tourism Minister.
“This drives us to maintain our efforts to improve our tourism offer and infrastructure with the aim of attracting a greater number of visitors and generating a positive economic impact for the sector and for Jalisco.”
Tourism Ministry figures show that 9% of visitors to Puerto Vallarta arrive on cruise ships. Each spends an average of US $80.64 in the town, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography – a 6.8% increase from the $75.51 they spent during the same period last year.
Although the latest figures show that Puerto Vallarta’s popularity as a cruise destination continues to grow, they also suggest that the post-pandemic recovery of cruise passenger numbers is beginning to level out. In thefirst quarter of this year, Puerto Vallarta registered cruise passenger arrivals double those during the same period of 2022.
Cruise passenger numbers at the Pacific port have slowed over the course of the year, but still remain much higher than in 2022. (SECTUR/X)
Puerto Vallarta is a major port on the Mexican Riviera route, which extends down the Pacific coast from Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego, California, through Mexican ports including Cabo San Lucas and Mazatlán.
Although Caribbean ports such asCozumel and Mahahual attract most of Mexico’s cruise tourism, the number of cruise visitors to Pacific ports like Puerto Vallarta has been growing at a faster rate. Official figures show that during thefirst half of the year, cruise passengers were up 89.4% year-on-year on the Mexican Pacific coast, compared to 65.3% in the Caribbean.
A captive ajolotl with leucistic coloring. (Pixabay)
For the second year in a row, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) has launched the “AdoptAxolotl” fundraising campaign to boost conservation efforts for axolotls, an endangered Mexican salamander.
People can virtually adopt an axolotl for one month (US $30), for six months (US $180) or for one year (US $360). The adoption comes with live updates on the axolotl’s health and an adoption certificate. Alternatively, donors can buy one of the salamanders a virtual dinner for US $10.
Though most wild axolotl are speckled brown, they can also be pink, gold or gray (UNAM Restoración Ecológica).
“There is no more time for Xochimilco,” Mexican biologist and aquatic community restoration specialist Luis Zambrano told the Associated Press.
Zambrano has been working on conservation plans to protect the axolotl’s natural environment for over 20 years. One of these projects is the maintenance of protected areas for the axolotls within the artificial islands (chinampas) of Xochimilco.
The chinampa method of building artificial islands has allowed farmers to grow crops on Mexico City’s historic waterways for nearly a thousand years. (Secretaría del Medio Ambiente CDMX)
Scientists leading the fundraiser told the Associated Press that in less than two decades, the population density of Mexican axolotls in their primary habitat has decreased by 99.5%.
A 1998 census found 6,000 axolotls per square kilometer. It dropped to just 36 in the latest census, carried out in 2014 — and it just keeps getting worse, Zambrano told news outlet Sin Embargo.
Without current data on the number and distribution of different axolotl species in Mexico, it is difficult to know how much time these creatures have left in the wild.
“All I know is that we have to work urgently,” Alejandro Calzada said, another researcher specializing in axolotls, adding that 18 species of axolotl in Mexico remain critically endangered due to water pollution, a deadly fungus that affects amphibians, and the presence of non-native rainbow trout.
San Miguel de Allende is one of the best spots to enjoy some Mexican Christmas spirit - but where else can you find everything you need this holiday season? (Bill Perry/Shutterstock)
From the mountain village of Tepoztlán to the year-round Christmas town of Tlalpujahua, these are the top five Pueblos Mágicos in Mexico to visit during the holiday season.
Tepotzotlán, State of México
Located just an hour’s drive from Mexico City, Tepotzotlán is a colonial town in the State of México well-known for hosting pastorelas and posadas – traditional religious plays celebrating the birth of Christ. The local church also performs Christmas carols.
Other attractions in the town include the Temple of San Francisco Javier, one of the most celebrated architectural wonders of the Mexican Baroque period, and the National Museum of the Viceroyalty.
Tepoztlán, Morelos
Less than two hours outside of Mexico City is the (very) similarly named, but quite different town of Tepoztlán, tucked away at the foot of an imposing mountain, and one of Mexico’s first officially designated Pueblos Mágicos.
With a cozy mountain vibe and cobbled streets lined with Christmas lights, visitors can enjoy the Ponche Fair (Dec. 8 and 9), brave the steep climb to the mountaintop ruins at Tepozteco, or visit the former Convent of the Nativity.
Not to be missed are the tepoznieves, artisanal ice cream that made according to pre-Columbian tradition with snow from the Popocatépetl volcano.
Chignahuapan, Puebla
Located in the north of Puebla, Chignahuapan is known as “the town of eternal Christmas” due to its year-round blown-glass Christmas ornament production.
The town of Chignahuapan, Puebla, has a giant Christmas bauble to celebrate the local industry. Chignahuapan is also known as the “town of eternal Christmas.” (Lorenzo Rivera/X)
To showcase its Christmas creations, some of which are even used to decorate the Vatican in Rome, the town hosts an annual Tree and Christmas Ornament Fair until Dec. 3, where visitors can buy hand-made Christmas ornaments from hundreds of local artisans.
Chugnahuapan’s main plaza also boasts Mexico’s tallest Christmas tree at 64 meters tall, along with a 12-meter diameter Christmas bauble.
Tlalpujahua, Michoacán
Found across the border from the State of México in Michoacán, Tlalpujahua is also a year-round production center of Christmas ornaments.
Running until Dec. 17, the town holds the annual Christmas Ornament Fair featuring over 28 million baubles produced locally using artisanal methods.
The town holds a weekly Christmas parade every Saturday until Dec. 16.
The Michoacán town of Tlalpujahua is famous for its year-round Christmas ornament industry. (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)
San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato
Last but not least is San Miguel de Allende, one of Mexico’s most popular international tourist destinations and one of the best places to spend Christmas according Condé Nast.
The first Friday of December sees the Christmas tree lighting in the main square (Jardín Principal) and the city’s streets are adorned with Christmas lights. Visitors may encounter groups of adults and children singing Christmas carols on the streets, nativity scenes, and of course posadas, which reenact Mary and Joseph’s Biblical journey to Bethlehem.
The first golf course to open in Los Cabos debuted in 1987. It was a modest beginning for Punta Sur, a 9-hole layout designed by renowned Mexican landscape architect Mario Schjetnan. Then, in the 1990s, a prominent local resort owner brought professional golfer and golf course designer Jack Nicklaus to Los Cabos.
Nicklaus’ reputation and the trio of world-class courses he designed – at Palmilla, Cabo del Sol’s Ocean Course (now Cove Club), and El Dorado – jump-started a golf boom in Los Cabos that is still going strong 30 years later.
Once Nicklaus put Los Cabos on the golfing map, other major champions followed in his footsteps, including Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, Tom Weiskopf, Fred Couples and Davis Love III. All five have designed heralded layouts, as have Robert Trent Jones Jr. and Tom Fazio, two acclaimed course architects with a couple of Los Cabos layouts to their names.
Los Cabos garnered fame for its links layouts blending desert and mountain terrains with spectacular ocean views and luxe amenities, and by 2018, Golf Digest dubbed it the “Golf Capital of Latin America.” As if to prove the truth of its claim, the publication ranked four local courses – Nicklaus’ Quivira and Cabo del Sol courses, Fazio’s Querencia, and Love’s Diamante Dunes course – among the world’s 100 best. Perhaps even more impressively, Los Cabos dominated the list of best courses in Mexico, taking 10 of the top 16 entries.
How many golf courses are there in Los Cabos?
There are 18 operating courses in Los Cabos, including layouts in Cabo San Lucas (Quivira, Solmar Golf Links, and the Dunes, El Cardonal and Oasis courses at Diamante); San José del Cabo (Club Campestre, Vidanta Los Cabos and Puerto Los Cabos); the Tourist Corridor (Cabo San Lucas Country Club, Cabo Del Sol’s Cove Club and Desert Courses, Twin Dolphin, Chileno Bay, Cabo Real, Eldorado, Querencia and Palmilla); and on the municipality’s East Cape (Costa Palmas).
Pueblo Bonito Resorts
What makes golf in Los Cabos so special?
Much of Los Cabos’ reputation for world-class golf is attributable to superb layouts from big-name designers. But what makes the region so special are its consistently spectacular views and over-the-top amenities.
Los Cabos didn’t invent mid-course cocktails and comfort food specialties, but as Golf Pass notes, Los Cabos “is the only golf destination that’s gone all-in on the comfort station. Almost every course worth playing, resort or private, offers the experience. It’s also part of the reason the courses at the tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula are generally quite expensive to play.”
However, for many golfers, it’s the views and vantage points that set Los Cabos apart.
The area boasts more than 100 miles of coastline, and nearly every local course is built with Pacific Ocean or Gulf of California views in mind. Nicklaus’ sixth and most recent design at Quivira in 2014, which Golf Magazine declared the best new international layout that year, flaunts ocean views from every fairway, for instance, with seven holes built directly along the magnificent Pacific coastline. Whales can be seen breaching from of Los Cabos’ courses during the winter months, adding to the allure.
What is the best course in Los Cabos?
The Tiger Woods-designed El Cardonal course at Diamante may have been the first in Los Cabos to host a PGA Tour event, but El Cardonal is not actually Diamante’s best or most famous course.
The first Diamante links-style course was designed by Davis Love III, and upon opening in 2009, “Dunes” was an immediate smash with golfers and critics alike. Golf Digest ranked it the 34th greatest in the world in 2020, and Golf Magazine also considers it among the Top 100. Perhaps not surprisingly, Diamante’s Dunes course is also currently rated the best course in Mexico.
Which courses are open to the public?
Pueblo Bonito Resorts
Golf courses in Los Cabos fall into three categories: public, private and resort courses with limited access. For example, staying at certain resorts or residential developments may provide tee-time access at affiliated courses. Attending time-share presentations, meanwhile, is another potential avenue to access at private clubs.
The best public courses are a trio of layouts managed by Questro Golf: Cabo Real, Club Campestre and Puerto Los Cabos. All feature first-class design, but the latter, offering a 27-hole layout designed by Jack Nicklaus (Ocean and Vista Courses) and Greg Norman (Mission Course), is definitely the most interesting. Cabo San Lucas Country Club, despite the name, is also open to the public – along with its locally popular driving range – as is Vidanta Los Cabos, the region’s first course and only 9-hole layout.
Which courses are private, and are they possible to play?
Two courses in Los Cabos, El Dorado and Querencia, are private, so much so that no one – save members and their guests – is welcome. Private but resort-affiliated courses, meanwhile, are playable based on one’s accommodation status.
Golf Pass is correct in its assessment that comfort food stations play a part in Los Cabos’ expensive greens fees. Public courses are the most affordable, but even these can be costly. Puerto Los Cabos, Questro Golf’s top option, charges more than US $300 for an 18-hole round during high season (November through May, twilight excepted). Private and resort courses are typically in the same range, if not more expensive.
How do locals play? Locals with IDs proving residence get discounts and also tend to play at twilight when rates are lowest. The most affordable course in Los Cabos is the first-ever course, Vidanta Los Cabos (formerly Punta Sur). But playing the 9-hole layout twice for a full-round experience will cost in the range of US $150 during high season. The Cabo San Lucas Country Club is another relative bargain, but this course can still top US $200 during the winter and spring months.
Yes, slow-season summer rates are slightly lower, and Questro Golf is famed for its multiple-round offers, which allow golfers to experience a trio of courses at discounted rates. But golf in Los Cabos is never cheap.
Chris Sands is the Cabo San Lucas local expert for the USA Today travel website 10 Best, writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook, and a contributor to numerous websites and publications, including Tasting Table, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise, Cabo Living and Mexico News Daily. His specialty is travel-related content and lifestyle features focused on food, wine and golf.
