San Felipe

Healthcare, San Felipe

San Felipe Hospital Gets a Much-Needed Upgrade (Finally!)

Good news, San Felipe — your community hospital just got a serious facelift. Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda stopped by recently to check out the upgrades, which came with a 40-million-peso price tag (that’s around $2.3 million USD, but who’s counting?).

The hospital, part of the IMSS Bienestar system, now boasts shiny new equipment, extra space, and — wait for it — actual specialists! That’s right, no more crossing your fingers that your sprained ankle or mystery stomach pain can hold off until your next trip to Mexicali.

The overhaul included 18 million pesos for infrastructure and 22 million for equipment. That translated into two operating rooms, a recovery area, 20 hospital beds, X-ray services, and a completely revamped emergency room with a shock room, an isolation chamber, and even a lounge for the doctors (because yes, rested doctors are better doctors).

Governor Marina del Pilar made it clear: this is part of an ongoing effort to make healthcare more reliable in San Felipe. With the hospital now in full swing — thanks in part to previous federal construction efforts and current coordination with President Claudia Sheinbaum — the aim is to ensure specialists are permanently stationed here, not just dropping in like seasonal tourists.

Speaking of help, six Cuban doctors are already on staff, and six more were flown in for the busy Semana Santa season. Their specialties cover internal medicine, surgery, anesthesiology, trauma, and orthopedics — basically, all the stuff you hope you won’t need but are glad to have just in case.

So, if you were thinking about testing your luck with that ATV jump — maybe don’t. But if you do, at least now there’s a decent hospital waiting for you on the other side.

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 Baja Norte, Breaking News, Ensenada, Local Politics, Mexicali, Rosarito, San Felipe, San Quintin, Tecate, Tijuana

Baja Voters Face a Judicial Marathon: 220+ Picks in Under 12 Minutes

On June 1, every citizen in Baja California will be hit with one of the most daunting ballots in history—over 220 judicial positions, including 172 state-level and 50 federal posts, with roughly 1,000 candidates in the mix.

According to election officials, casting a vote could take anywhere from 10 to 12 minutes per person. That’s right: voters will need to sift through hundreds of names to choose their judges, magistrates, and ministers. The process, described during a breakfast meeting by María Guadalupe Plaza Medina from the INE, could stretch to 12 minutes as some voters take their time reading and double-checking candidate details.

To keep things moving, each polling station will be set up with 8 to 15 voting booths so multiple people can cast their ballots at once. In total, Baja California will have 2,625 polling stations—Tijuana leading with 1,396, followed by Mexicali with 730, Ensenada with 287, Playas de Rosarito with 73, Tecate with 69, San Quintín with 59, and San Felipe with 11, plus six special sites in universities and transit hubs.

This “judicial” election, a first of its kind in the country, has already prompted a significant budget request of over 241 million pesos to cover everything from printing ballots to upgrading voting materials. The federal INE has also capped campaign spending for judicial candidates at about 220,000 pesos (11,000 U.S dollars) per person to ensure fairness.

With radio, TV, print, and social media campaigns, along with forums at universities and community centers, officials are working hard to prepare voters for what promises to be a true test of patience and civic duty. Can Baja handle the judicial marathon? Only time will tell.

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 Baja Norte, Breaking News, Ensenada, Mexicali, Rosarito, San Felipe, San Quintin, Tecate, Tijuana, Weather

Baja California Weather Alert: Brace for Strong Winds, Choppy Seas, and Cooler Days

Baja California kicked off the week with some challenging weather, according to the latest CONAGUA update. Two cold fronts are barreling in from the northwest and north, mixing with the subtropical jet stream to bring intense winds, rough seas, and scattered showers across the region.

Expect wind gusts between 50 and 70 km/h across both Baja California and Baja California Sur—strong enough to whip up dust clouds and reduce visibility on the roads and in the skies. The west coast will see waves between 1 and 3 meters, posing a risk for smaller boats.

Here’s a quick rundown of what to expect in key spots:

• Tijuana: Partly cloudy with light rains during the day, and thunderstorms in the early morning. Temperatures will hover between 13°C and 17°C, with NW winds reaching up to 30 km/h at night.

• Mexicali: Overcast skies with temperatures ranging from 18°C to 29°C. Strong west winds could hit 56 km/h in the afternoon.

• Ensenada: Expect intermittent clouds with light rain, with temps from 14°C to 20°C and west winds up to 30 km/h.

• Tecate: Cloudy with heavy showers, temperatures between 10°C and 16°C, and winds around 38 km/h.

• La Rumorosa: Partly cloudy with light rain by day turning into thunderstorms later; temperatures between 8°C and 15°C with SW winds gusting up to 79 km/h at night.

• Rosarito: Similar to Tijuana, light rain with occasional early-morning thunderstorms, temperatures between 14°C and 16°C, and winds up to 29 km/h.

• San Quintín: Partly cloudy with temperatures from 12°C to 22°C and winds between 30 and 54 km/h.

• San Felipe: A mix of sun and clouds, temperatures ranging from 18°C to 24°C, and SE winds between 23 and 39 km/h.

• San Pedro Mártir: Partly cloudy skies with temperatures from 7°C to 20°C and winds up to 55 km/h.

Residents are advised to take extra precautions, whether you’re on the road or at sea. Stay safe out there, Baja!

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 Baja Norte, Breaking News, Calendar of Events, Events, San Felipe, Sports

Everything Ready for the SCORE San Felipe 250 in Baja California

San Felipe is gearing up to host one of the most anticipated events on the international off-road racing calendar—the 38th edition of the SCORE San Felipe 250, running from April 3 to April 6. With strong support from the State Government led by Governor Marina del Pilar, this event is set to bring both adrenaline and a boost to local tourism.

So far, 234 teams have registered from all over the globe, including Argentina, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, the United States, Japan, and Mexico. Registrations remain open until April 3, with numbers expected to keep climbing.

State Tourism Secretary Miguel Aguíñiga Rodríguez put it best: “The SCORE San Felipe 250 is more than just a race—it’s a tourism engine that puts Baja California on the world stage. It celebrates the union of sport, adventure, and our unique hospitality as a destination.”

Participants have already begun familiarizing themselves with the official 250-mile route through extreme terrain—a challenging stretch that promises plenty of technical hurdles in the San Felipe desert.

Event Schedule:

• Thursday, April 3: Trophy Trucks take part in an exclusive qualification round.

• Friday, April 4: Official mechanical inspections (Tech & Contingency) kick off, with a meet-up for fans, media, and racers.

• Saturday, April 5: 6:00 a.m. – Motorcycles and Quads hit the track; 10:00 a.m. – Four-wheel vehicles officially take off.

• Sunday, April 6: The event wraps up with an award ceremony celebrating the off-road spirit.

For more details on the race, visit score-international.com and bajacalifornia.travel.

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 Baja Norte, Breaking News, San Felipe

Net Traps Used to Protect the Vaquita

Our federal authorities are taking extreme measures in order to protect the “vaquita marina”, the small porpoise living in the Sea of Cortez that is already in the brink of extinction, with a new project consisting of dropping huge cement blocks with a reversed hook in the ocean floor in order to “trap” any net that is used in the area.

Although the northernmost part of the Sea of Cortez is a no tolerance zone for fishing nets, there have been many ships caught using them in the area, that’s why there is constant patrolling in the area from the Mexican navy and the Sea Shepherd NGO.

Authorities dropped 193 of these traps in the protected zone and they have set in place a program to look for lost nets in the ocean to avoid the possibility of a vaquita getting trapped in one of them.

Given the continued rate of bycatch and low reproduction of the vaquita, it is estimated that there are fewer than 10 vaquitas alive as of February 2022.

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 Articles, Baja Norte, San Felipe

Ecological Patrol Attacked By Fishermen

The crew of one of 12 vessels operated by Sea Shepherd fell under attack by poachers inside the Vaquita Refuge in the northern part of the Sea of Cortez. Sea Shephard is an international conservation society dedicated to saving marine wildlife. Their mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans.

Dozens of angry fishermen in pangas raced alongside the Sea Shepherd ship Farley Mowat, hurling objects and attempting to foul the ship’s propellers with their illegal nets.

Sea Shepherd for months has been patrolling, removing the gillnets set by fishermen catching totoaba. Totoaba bladders are sold on the black market in China for up to $10,000 per bladder.

Nets used to catch totoaba are a threat to critically endangered vaquita porpoises, and Mexico has banned gillnet fishing but allows Sea Shepherd to patrol the refuge as part of an effort to save the vaquita from becoming extinct. (The vaquita population is estimated at fewer than 30.) Totoaba are also threatened with extinction, mostly because of the damming of the Colorado river where they spawn. And the crazy Chinese believe they are a treatment for fertility, as well as circulatory and skin problems. The Mexican government pays the fishermen to not fish, but they can’t pay as much as the profit from selling the fish.

Sea Shepherd said in a news release that the tense incident involved 35 pangas swarming around the monitoring vessel until the Mexican Navy  zoomed in to help.

 Part of the news release reads:

 

The Sea Shepherd ship approached the pangas where obvious illegal poaching was taking place, as totoaba fishing gear was detected being loaded into a boat. The poachers attacked by hurling lead weights, anchors, trash, dead fish and even Tabasco sauce at the vessel and its wheelhouse windows in addition to Molotov cocktails they hastily prepared. They also sprayed gasoline at the ship and poured gas in the sea around the vessel.

Poachers then dropped one of their illegal gillnets in front of the bow of the moving Sea Shepherd vessel in an attempt to foul the ship’s propellers. Five angry poachers boarded the Farley Mowat and looted multiple objects from the vessel’s deck while it was temporarily immobilized.”

Sea Shepherd crew used fire hoses to keep poachers from entering the ship, while calls for assistance were made. Navy sailors stationed on the ship were under orders not to fire on the fishermen.

The fishermen began to disperse as a Navy helicopter arrived overhead. As the Farley Mowat got under way after its propellers were cleared of netting, the vessel was met by a Navy ship and the situation was brought under control. It was not clear if any arrests were made, or if anyone was injured.

Stated Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson: “Sea Shepherd will not be deterred by violence. Our mission is to prevent the extinction of the vaquita porpoise and we will continue to seize the nets of poachers in the Vaquita Refuge. Sea Shepherd salutes the quick responsiveness of the Mexican Navy in defusing a dangerous situation”.

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 Articles, Baja Norte, Ensenada, Rosarito, San Felipe, Tecate, Tijuana

Welcome To the Northern Free Zone

One of the campaigns promises that gained more supporters around here for our new president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (or AMLO for short), was the proposal of a new “Free Zone” along the northern border that would reduce taxes, increase the minimum wage 100% and lower fuel prices to try and match those in the USA.

Since the first day of the year, this promise has become a reality, and you are now living in the new free zone for the northern border.

So, what does this mean for you? As a consumer, this means that you will now be paying 8% IVA on most products and services instead of the 16% you usually pay. For those of you unfamiliar with IVA, that’s the Mexican equivalent to the VAT in the US. Note that I said most; I will explain that later.

If you have a business, you will also have another benefit: Instead of paying the usual 30% on the ISR (income tax), you will now be able to receive credit for 10% of that. This means that you will only be paying 20% now.

Regarding gas prices, we have already seen some gas stations lowering their prices, since they have a special benefit in that they won’t be charging any VAT on gasoline and diesel; this reduced gas prices to exactly 16%. This reduction doesn’t actually match it to prices in the US, but it definitely closes the gap a little bit more.

Minimum wage was doubled to $176.72 pesos per day (about $9 USD); the older wage at $4.50 was a joke, and almost nobody was working for that.

Since the newly created Free Zone is defined by a decree and not a law, businesses must register for it and they will have to meet certain requirements; therefore, don’t shout bloody murder if you see 16% IVA in your ticket, since there is a possibility that some businesses don’t meet the requirements or just haven’t applied yet.

In order to be able to obtain the benefits businesses need to prove that at least 90% of their total sales are from the border region. They will also be asked to prove that they have a valid address in the region for at least 18 months. These two requirements are key in discouraging mainland businesses from establishing an address in the border just to obtain said benefits.

Businesses that are already established have until January 30th to file their application, and newly established businesses will have 30 days after registering their businesses with the SAT (which is the Mexican IRS).

The free zone objective is to increase competitiveness with the US, avoid migration and make it more attractive as an investment option.

If you were here back before 2014 you might remember that we already had lower taxes here in the border, but that benefit was removed by president Peña Nieto. At that time VAT in the area was 11%. This means that taxes now will be even lower than at that time.

Several analysts say that Northern Baja will benifit the most  from this new decree, as the biggest percentage of the population in the state lives near the border, and because all its municipalities are considered part of it.

For now, the decree will be valid only for 2019 and 2020. Surely, results will be analyzed after these two years and a decision will be made on whether to extend it or not.

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 Breaking News, Ensenada, Rosarito, San Felipe, Tecate, Tijuana

Watch out for those Santa Ana winds

Health authorities from Baja are recommending staying at home when Santa Ana winds are active. Problems in the respiratory tract, eyes and skin have been reported during the winds, and thus they are recommending staying home with doors and windows closed.

Dr. David Perez, chief of medical services, stated that these winds affect the health because they carry a lot of dirt with them because of the severe dryness. He also recommended to stay away from street food during this condition, as it can get easily contaminated by pathogens in the wind and can induce gastric diseases.

Perez emphasized the importance of drinking enough water and making sure house pets have enough clean water, which should be changed more often to avoid having them drink contaminated liquids.

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 Articles, Baja Norte, Ensenada, Real Estate, Rosarito, San Felipe, Tecate, Tijuana

Mexican Land Trusts, Big IRS implications

I was intrigued by a recent presentation by a Mexican bank on the subject of Fideicomisos (land trusts). By way of a quick primer, ownership of real property in the “restricted zone” (100 km from borders, 50 km from shore) by a foreigner must be done through a Fideicomiso.

As it turns out, Mexican banks have a monopoly on this Fideicomiso business. The bank’s role is to hold the title to property on your behalf. One can direct the disposition of the property; sell, give away, or otherwise encumber the property. ‘Fidos’ are good estate planning vehicles from the Mexican perspective. At death, the property is transferred via the trust, perhaps a more efficient mechanism than Mexican probate.

Some banks appear to be pulling out of the “fido” market. When I asked why, I was told there is increased emphasis on anti-money laundering compliance by bank regulators, which to me means there may be a new spotlight on this market segment.

One of the reasons I attended was to see how much awareness there was on the part of bank officials on the federal income tax aspects of Fidos.  None. Zilge-ola. That means you, the person who may need to enter into a fido to own property, must pay special attention, because the bank won’t tell you.

Here’s the rub. What may work from a Mexican perspective may be sheer disaster from a U.S. tax perspective. Properly structured fidos (meaning they meet IRS requirements) are deemed to be “disregarded entities,” and the IRS will not bother you. When they are not, they become IRS ‘radioactive’. They become reportable foreign trusts. Every time there is an IRS reportable ‘anything’ you have better had done it right from the beginning.

“Good” fidos have only one property in them.  At the presentation it seemed like it was common to add more than one property per fido. Again, ok from the Mexican point of view, but runs afoul of IRS ‘safe harbors’. In fact, bank officials later confirmed they gladly would add properties to an existing fideicomiso, for a fee.

Another trait of “good” fidos:  They do nothing but hold title to property. Be wary of the bank doing other things for the property; managing it, paying taxes or other things. The IRS does not like that.

Food for thought:  New owner, new trust, or just substitute the name? Does one inherit the federal tax troubles of the last fido owner?

Orlando Gotay is a California licensed tax attorney (with a Master of Laws in Taxation) admitted to practice before the IRS, the U.S. Tax Court and other taxing agencies.  His love of things Mexican has led him to devote part of his practice to federal and state tax matters of U.S. expats in Mexico.  He can be reached at tax@orlandogotay.com or Facebook: GotayTaxLawyer.  This is just a most general outline. It is informational only and not meant as legal advice.

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