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Ask a Mexican

How do you celebrate Mother’s Day? 

Día de la Madre is coming up soon, and not many people know where this tradition comes from. The celebration started in 1922. May was picked because it is the month of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. And the 10th because, back in the day, payday was every 10 days. Other sources say the first Mother’s Day happened in Oaxaca in 1913 when the wife of a Methodist deacon found an American magazine where there was an article about Mother’s Day and decided we needed it in Mexico too. Mexico was the first Spanish-speaking country in America to celebrate Mother’s Day with the first monument in Mexico City, built in 1949. Mother’s Day is so important in Mexico that most businesses give mothers the day off, schools make festivals and host breakfasts and gifts are typically given, although nowadays it is frowned upon when household items or appliances are given to moms. 

Luisa Armada, 25, accountant. 

I like to take my mom and grandma for breakfast, somewhere nice with good food, and it’s obviously my treat. Then I take them for a small shopping trip. I get them whatever they need for themselves and we have lunch and chill at my house. I try to make this day super special since they were both single mothers and I think they deserve the entire world. 

Carlos Perez, 63, farmer. 

I take my wife out to dinner a day before or a day after, because the day of, everything is packed. She loves to cook though, so it’s hard for us to ask her to take a break. Last year my kids saved a lot of money and gave her a spa package, but she took so long in going that it expired. This year I don’t think I’ll take her anywhere because of the pandemic, but my kids will probably think of something to do to make her day special.

Josue Gonzales, 29, media manager. 

I love pampering my mom and I don’t wait for Mother’s Day, but I usually plan something different. One year I took her to a spa and dinner, another year we had a picnic at her favorite beach, and this year I’m taking her on a flash vacation to see her girlfriends who live away. 

Josefina Chavez, 45, receptionist. 

My kids always make me breakfast in bed and we just hang out, they deep clean the house one day before so I don’t have to do anything, and my girls give me massages, facials and do my nails. I miss it when they were little. They would make a small dance or performance and it was really fun. 

Daniela Hernandez, 21, student. 

This year we are getting my grandma, aunts and mom all together at the ranch and all my cousins and I are having a big lunch and a performance. The pandemic has been hard for them since they couldn’t see much of each other, but most of them are vaccinated. The men in our family will take care of the food and we will do decorations. Each family has a big present for each of their moms. 

Cristina Villa, 43, hairstylist. 

I am a mom now, and I invite my mother to my house where my kids celebrate us. They usually make breakfast and we do some sort of activity. My mother really enjoys taking out picture albums and telling stories, she loves braiding the girl’s hair and we all have a good time. My kids have now made a rule that we can’t get appliances for Mother’s Day, so they give us chocolate, wine, self-care stuff and clothes.

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Solar power park coming soon. Our state government announced this week that a new solar power park will begin construction in the “Laguna Salada” area of Mexicali as soon as the elections pass in June.

The federal government has already given the go ahead and issued all necessary permits for the park, which will allow Baja California to be energy independent from the interconnected California grid.

The investment will be made by a private company called Next Energy, which will then sell all the energy produced to our state at a lower price than the one being paid to the CFE, this will allow the state to save over 3 million USD per year in energy costs.

Low turnout for COVID-19 vaccine. The state health office announced that there has been a lower-than-expected turnout for the vaccination of the 50-59 years old group. In Ensenada, it was announced that only 8,500 persons came for the vaccine on the first day with even lower turnouts for the remaining days.

A total of 250,000 persons have been vaccinated in the state of Baja California, 6.57% of the state’s inhabitants that has a current population of 3.8 million.

Baja Governor in Top 3. According to the 14th ranking of Mexican governors by the Campaign & Elections magazine, Jaime Bonilla, governor of Baja California, was ranked in the third place of the most approved governors in Mexico, with a 67% approval rate.

The first place went to Mauricio Vila Dosal, governor of Yucatan with a whopping 71.9% approval rate, followed by Queretaro’s governor Francisco Dominguez with 68.5%.

Bonilla was the highest ranked governor coming from the Morena party as the first two came from the PAN party.

U.S. – Mexico Trade Breaks Record. The combined import-export figure of commerce between the U.S. and Mexico reached a staggering $56.9 billion in the month of March this year, a figure never seen before for one month. It represents a 17 percent increase over February this year and 13 percent over March of 2020. Thus, Mexico ended as the biggest commercial partner of the U.S. this quarter, above Canada, Japan, Germany, and China.

Baja Recovering Fast! According to the Statistics and Geography Institute of Mexico, Baja California won the second place of national growth with a 3.7% increase in economic activity compared to the same October-December quarter of 2019.

This data puts Baja as one of the fastest States in the country to recover from the pandemic hit, as most states in the country are showing no increase in economic activity or even a decrease.

It was also noted that Baja California was able to get 3.3 billion USD of private investment during 2020, signaling a sustainable economic growth for our state.

The Wish to Move to Mexico is Growing. As reported by the online magazine Expats in Mexico, the interest to move to Mexico is growing among Canadian citizens. The magazine conducted a survey and found that 54 percent of the respondents said they were highly likely to move to Mexico, up 5 percent over their 2019 survey. Unfortunately, we did not make the favorites places list which, they stated, are Puerto Vallarta, Lake Chapala, Los Cabos and Merida and Playa del Carmen in the southern Quintana Roo state.

Major Cruise Development Planned for Ensenada. Mexico’s ITM Group and Carnival Corporation are teaming up to develop La Española Village, a cruise ship terminal that would feature Mexican gastronomy with casual and fine-dining food and beverage outlets, wine tasting, music, and other live entertainment. And an expansive adventure park tentatively dubbed The Isle at Ensenada would be packed with activities for children and adults such as a river ride, hot springs, bubble rapids, pools, tequila and chocolate experiences and the replica of a historic exploration ship.

The 25 million USD project is expected to begin construction in October of this year with completion targeted for the summer of 2023. ,

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Table dance converts to a restaurant overnight. After a decision from the local city council in Ensenada to refuse to allow table dances to reopen yet, the popular table dance “Hot Fox” switched all its outdoor signs to “restaurant bar”, in a clear effort to bypass the council decision and open its doors.

Representatives from the Ensenada government stated that “Hot Fox” is not yet capable of operating under the “restaurant bar” category since it’s not as easy as changing the signs to be allowed to open as a “restaurant bar”. In order to be classified as such the business needs to have special permits and prove they actually have a kitchen and offer prepared foods to their patrons.

Tijuana Mayor Announces Leave of Absence. Arturo Gonzalez, mayor of Tijuana, surprisingly announced that he had submitted a leave of absence effective next Wednesday because he is interested in participating in the internal process of choosing a state coordinator for the Morena party.

He emphatically denied that he was leaving his post because of the many allegations by Governor Bonilla criticizing his work in the city.

He stated that the governor has repeatedly tried to discredit him and uses illegal tactics to diminish his odds of winning the governor’s seat in the coming election.

Both the Governor and Tijuana Mayor come from the Morena party, but they have not been able to get along since May.

Big Investment From Sempra Energy. Most of Baja’s construction and engineering sectors have expressed their excitement over a $2.3 billion dollar investment that Sempra Energy is planning for the expansion of its current operations in Baja.

It is estimated that at least 30% of this investment will be spent hiring local companies, providing a much-needed source of revenue to businesses that suffered greatly from the pandemic.

The new facility will process natural gas brought from the US, mostly Texas, to liquify it and export it to the Asian markets.

The investment will be made over a 4-year period, with an estimated $50 million being spent every month. For comparison, that is approximately the same amount as the total annual budget for the city of Ensenda.

Ensenada Starts Issuing Ecologic Fines. A total of 17 fines have been issued by the recently-created Ecological Police, mostly for pouring sewage illegally, excessively loud music, abuse or neglect of pets, vandalizing cars in the street among others. Oswaldo Portillo, head of the Ecologic Police, stated that the fines were issued in just a 6-day period.

Violators have 5 days to appear before the judge to appeal their case or pay their fine, which can be up to $140, depending on the case.

Reports to the Ecological Police can be made directly to the 911 phone number, where operators will then pass on the report to the police.

San Pedro Martir Sierra National Park Reopens. Starting this past October 8th visitors are again allowed in the San Pedro Martir National Park, along with the usual precautions.

Mario Escobedo Carignan, head of the state economy and tourism office, said that the park will be open every day from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and those visitors wishing to stay overnight must make advance  reservations by phone at (646) 172-3000 ext. 3229.

Don’t forget that face mask! In order to register your vehicle, you will have to apply at the receptionist there, and they won’t allow anyone into the park who isn’t wearing a mask.

U.S. / Mexico Border Not Opening This Month. After several social media news sites announced that the border was finally opening for non-essential travelers after 7 months of being closed, authorities from the Customs and Border Protection office have stated that the information is false and they do not have a date to reopen the border yet.

On September 30, chancellor Marcelo Ebrard stated that the US had agreed to open the border only when the border states were declared to be in the green, regarding the COVID-19 crisis.

Couple arrested in Frank Aguilar’s disappearance. State police apprehended Fanny “N” and Santos “N” regarding the 7-week old disappearance of Los Angeles fireman Frank Aguilar.

They were stopped on the road to Rosarito and in a preliminary inspection they were found to have in their possession Frank’s Bank cards. When asked about it they denied even knowing Frank.

Authorities have already stated that Frank met with Fanny at a house in Mision del Mar, where Santos and she had planned to kidnap him.

The suspects have refused to give any statements to authorities, and they are being charged with “forced disappearance” until Frank is found.

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Baja prepares for Influenza. Even though COVID-19 cases have been consistently decreasing lately in our State, the regular flu season is about to begin, threatening the public with a health challenge of its own. Alonso Rico, head of the State Health Office, already announced they have been preparing for it with a fivefold strategy, which consists of vaccinating all members of the “at risk” population for this year’s influenza strain; making sure the hospital infrastructure is functioning properly: ending the exchange agreement between hospitals that allows people to go only to the facility they are affiliated to; ensuring the availability of a  consistent supply of medicines; and lastly, providing the presence of qualified medical personnel for December.

Government cracks down on fake documents. Our state government stated that it has found a great number of fake drivers licenses, mostly Type C, which are the ones needed by drivers of vehicles used for public transportation.

Officials said they are being sold in the “5 y 10” area in Tijuana, for around $2,000 pesos. This is more than what it would cost to get the real thing; however, a requisite to get this kind of drivers license is to have no criminal records, and most of the people that buy the fake ones have them. Add “Possession of a fake government ID” to that record!

Governor and Tijuana mayor clash again, this time over the closure by the state government of a storage facility where the local DIF kept the food packages that are distributed in the poorest areas of town.

The State Government closed down the facility because they said “expired candy” was found there.

Consequently, the city of Tijuana announced that about 3,500 citizens that receive a food package every week will not be able to get them.

Magdalena Bautista, head of DIF Tijuana, stated that the act was retaliation for the bad relationship that the Tijuana Mayor and Governor have had in the past.

Ensenada mayor passes the hat in Cali. In a three-day tour of the counties of Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego, Armando Ayala was able to get donations with a value of more than $2 million USD.

Among the things that he was able to get for Ensenada were two 2002 Kenworth trucks for use by the city garbage collection service, three Vactor trucks for the city water company, a fully equipped ambulance and two 32-passenger buses.

During the tour he also officialized Ensenada’s intentions of sistering the cities of Pico Rivera and San Diego.

Police Chief in hot water. Adrian Ortiz, head of the police department in Ensenada, landed himself in hot water after he jokingly stated that “after taking the weapons away from police personnel, crime rates lowered.”

Several police officers protested outside of the public security building expressing their outrage over Ortiz’s comments.

They are demanding a public apology from him, because they claim that the already beaten-down image of the police force was even more damaged and now it’s from the police chief himself.

For his part, Ortiz said it was all a misunderstanding and that he never meant the statement that way.

Baja’s COVID risk color improves to orange.  The “stoplight” that measures our risk factor was changed from red to orange this week, this means that now businesses will be able to have a 50% occupancy instead of the usual 30%, with the exception of supermarkets which are now allowed to have a 75% occupancy with the usual precautions. Kids are now allowed into businnesses also with the usual precautions.

Bars and event venues will continue to be closed.

Governor Bonilla stated that the federal government is strongly pushing towards changing the “stoplight” to green so the economic reactivation starts sooner.

Alonso Perez Rico, head of the state health office, reminded the popullation to use their masks at all times in public places, a noticeable decrease in the use of it has been seen.

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Tijuana-Tecate Passenger Train Announced. Mario Escobedo, head of the state economy and tourism office, said that the Tijuana-Tecate passenger train is already in the works with an initial investment of $136 million USD for a 17-mile section.

He stated that the train would be a secure, sustainable option to connect with Tijuana and Tecate, with seven stations and two terminals. A minimum of 30,000 passengers are expected to use the train every day.

This project should not be confused with the existing tourism train that goes from Tijuana to Tecate (pictured above).

Initially, the project considered a route to Ensenada. And although the plan hasn’t been cancelled, Escobedo stated that “it’s not a priority right now”, mainly because the current state government administration will only last two years and will not be able to finish a project of such magnitude.

Ensenada Mayor Under Hot Water. Armando Ayala Robles, mayor of Ensenada, found himself in hot water this past week after local councilwoman Brenda Valenzuela protested about how he has been stamping his name in cement while still fresh in several public works.

Valenzuela stated that article 134 of the Mexican constitution clearly states that a person in public office cannot publicize himself in the public works they perform. “It’s also a very bad parody of the Walk of Fame in Hollywood”, said Valenzuela.

Baja Launches Tourism Campaign. In order to reactivate the local economy, which is being severely affected by COVID-19, the state of Baja California launched a promotional campaign named “Disfruta Baja California & Drive South” to attract tourists from California and Arizona.

“We are preparing for, when the time comes, promoting our state’s natural, cultural and gastronomic richness, in order to attract tourists that can drive over here and increase traffic to the most important tourist sites in Baja”, said Mario Escobedo, head of Economy and Tourism for the State.

The main objective of the campaign is to support the tourism sector in its reactivation, as well as to make people want to rediscover Baja or visit it for the first time.

Abandoned Ship To Be Unloaded Soon. The “Triumph” cargo ship, which has been abandoned since 2017 in the coasts of Ensenada due to a lengthy legal battle in England, is being finally unloaded soon, the Mexican Navy announced.

The Triumph has been reported to contain 47,000 tons of bauxita, a rock that is processed to obtain aluminum, and about 270 tons of high sulfur fuel. The ship has been all over local news lately as it was discovered that it has been slowly sinking due to the lack of maintenance.

It has been reported by local environmentalist groups that if the ship would completely sink, and the cargo and fuel would spill, a dangerous ecological disaster would ensue in the Ensenada bay.

Independence Celebrations Will be Online. The different independence celebrations in the cities of Baja California will be performed without public attendance, but will be available for viewing live online on social media.

Every year on September 15th, independence is celebrated with the traditional “grito” or shout, where mayors, governors and the president of Mexico go out to their balconies of their city hall and shout “Viva Mexico!” in front of a huge public audience that goes on to enjoy several cultural shows and dine on  traditional Mexican food.

On September 16th, a civilian and military parade goes through the most important streets of our cities, but this year it will be severely limited due to the pandemic, so authorities are encouraging people to watch it online instead.

Mexican Army Seizes Drug Load Valued at $16 million USD. Soldiers from the Mexican Army seized a massive load of  various drugs in the La Rumorosa area in Tecate.

The illicit drugs were found in an uninhabited area about 6 miles south from the town of La Rumorosa.

The army reported that 1 ton of crystal meth was found, along with 6 kilos of powdered fentanyl and 5,000 pills of that same drug. About 5.3 kilos of heroin and 4 gallons of marihuana (THC) oil were also found.

The army stated that the bust would considerably affect the financial structure of local crime organizations since the total street value of the drugs was about $16 million USD.

The drugs were found abandoned on a dirt road when the military was doing a surveillance drive through the area. No arrests were made in connection with the drugs.

No in-person classes for Baja. Governor Jaime Bonilla stated this week that students will continue with virtual classes at least for the remainder of the current school cycle, which continues until July 2021.

He said that public schools will use this time to maintain and improve school facilities.

Baja California has 639,452 students registered for virtual classes, from K to 12.

Labor Day increases hotel occupancy. There was a slight increase in occupancy in the Labor Day weekend of 11%, much less than the normal increase during that weekend, but a much needed increase for our area.

About 194,000 tourists visited our state, and brought just about $40 million USD to local businesses.

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Local University Gets Paid. After numerous problems with the last State Government, the UABC autonomous state university system is finally receiving the 81 million USD that was pledged to it by the federation but was held up by the state in the past administration.

Governor Bonilla announced that he not only would he pay up the money but that he would offer space in the government center in Zona Rio to create a new campus.

Coronavirus Update. Oscar Perez Rico, head of the state health office, stated that Baja California is already “flattening the curve” of new coronavirus cases, as it has consistently had fewer infection cases in the last week.

Although the state, as a whole, has seen a decrease in cases, the city of Ensenada has been increasing the number of infections. In response to this, Perez Rico called upon the people of Ensenada to respect social distancing and to try to stay home as much as possible.

“We want to be one of the first states to get to the new normality, and our focus is not only to have a green light to restart everything, but to reactivate our economy in an orderly manner. If we start reopening prematurely we will only cause economic and health problems in the long run”, said Perez Rico.

Musicians get some relief. Baja’s State Government announced that about 400 musicians from Mexicali have received alimentary support from the State, as they are one of the many professions that hasn’t been able to do almost anything to support their families.

Jesus Alejandro Ruiz Uribe, delegate for the State Government, announced that they will continue to support up to 6,000 musicians, waiters and taxi drivers at this stage.

“Musicians give us joy and they cheer up the population; we shouldn’t leave them alone in these tough times,” said Ruiz Uribe.

Ex-Mayor charged for embezzlement. Gilberto Hirata Chico, former mayor of Ensenada, and a very controversial one, has been charged along with his treasurer Samuel Aguilar Jaime for allegedly misappropriating federal funds amounting to $165,000 USD.

This is the first time a Mayor of Ensenada has been officially charged for crimes committed during his tenure.

This is the first allegation of a couple that were made that was accepted to be tried in court.

Justice is coming slowly to citizens of Ensenada in this case, as the first accusation was presented in May of 2017, and although it has already been accepted into court it has yet to be tried.

La Mision museum catches fire. A classroom in La Mision’s elementary school that was being used as a local museum, caught fire last week and was reduced to ashes.

The community museum was founded in 1938 by the then president Lazaro Cardenas.

“Unfortunately, it looks like we lost all of that heritage that encourages and fosters future generations to recognize their ancestry, culture and effort from this town”, said Isidro Escobar, a resident of La Mision.

Arturo Rivera, local representative for the INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History), stated that residents have already displayed an avid interest in rebuilding the museum.

Baja 1000 confirmed. Ensenada Mayor and Score International authorities signed an agreement to celebrate the Baja 1000 Off- Road race from November 17th to the 22nd, beginning and ending in the city of Ensenada under strict sanitary protocols.

Although the Baja 500 is moving to San Felipe this year, local business groups and authorities worked to make sure that the Baja 1000 stays in the city.

Score announced that the race this year will not be having meet and greet events, press conferences, opening ceremonies, and that the mechanical revisions won’t be open to the public.

State Congress wants to reduce local wine taxes. A new proposal has been submitted to state congress that would allow local wines to pay only half of the IEPS taxes which today amounts to 26.5% of the sales price.

Congress also wants to keep the remaining half of the tax, to be used specifically to support the wine industry in different projects, instead of having to send it to the federation.

This would make local wines more competitive, as one of the main concerns of local producers is that their prices are not competitive compared to other foreign wines because of this tax.

Playas Toll Booth Free for Residents. Although the complete removal of the toll booth was not achieved, the state government along with a local residents group were able to negotiate free transit with electronic cards for residents of Playas de Tijuana.

A total of 18 neighborhoods, where 10,000 families live, will be benefited with these actions as they won’t have to pay any more to exit or enter their homes.

The fight for the removal of the Playas toll booth has been ongoing for decades by residents, and was one of the commitments of governor Bonilla’s campaign.

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Same-sex marriages not approved in Baja. The reform that would have allowed same-sex couples to be legally married did not get enough votes to be approved by the State Congress.

The controversial reform would have needed at least 17 votes in order to be passed but it only received 15 supporters. There were 3 votes against it and 7 abstentions.

Several groups of people from both sides protested outside of city halls all over Baja to get exposure for their cause.

Two of the absentee voters, Claudia Agaton and David Ruvalcaba, were heavily criticized as opportunists and traitors because they had been supporters on social media against homophobia.

 

Rosarito desalt plant project canceled. The newly created “State Water Commission of Baja California” announced that it had decided to cancel the huge desalt project that was being built in Rosarito because it was too expensive for the State and they wouldn’t be able to bear the monthly cost of almost 8.5 million dollars.

The project was being built by a group of companies that had a contract with the state government to sell most of the water to them, with the remainder going to the Otay Water District. The State government is trying to get out of the contract on the basis that there was a breach of contract when the construction didn’t advance as planned.

“For starters, the project was just too big, it’s like buying a bus to take your kids to school, it’s a massive solution”, said Salomon Faz from the State Government.

The government is already in talks with the company to reach a mutual agreement, while it also looks for another place to build a new desalt plant with a smaller capacity.

Faz stated that even with the cancellation of this huge project, Baja had its water supply assured for the time being.

 

Ensenada police protest. The union for city police officers said that their members were going to be working under protest because their most basic needs hadn’t been met.

They are asking for wages that have not been paid and the lack of monetary support from the force when they have to be relocated to another district.

In order to avoid affecting the population directly, they decided to protest by not writing any traffic tickets, which they are hoping only lasts a few days or until their demands are met.

 

No wine parties this year! Provino, the association that unites most of the winemakers of the Guadalupe Valley, has released a statement saying that because of COVID-19, they won’t be able to hold any wine parties this year.

The wine parties would be celebrating their 30th anniversary this edition.

Santiago Cosio Pando, head of PROVINO, stated that these activities generated over $37 million USD last year alone, that will be lost this year to the Coronavirus.

 

Controversy over Playas toll booth stirs fight. Just one day after Governor Bonilla successfully “took over” the Playas de Tijuana toll booth while stating that it was going to be free for everyone passing through it, federal forces from the National Guard took them back from State Authorities and said they were not closing the toll booth.

Governor Bonilla said that the toll booths were put in place originally to pay for the development of the scenic road, but that by now the road should have been paid for by 4 or 5 times its value.

 

Baja 500 finally canceled. After going back and forth between the city and SCORE International, the city has finally put its foot down and decided to cancel the event completely.

SCORE had already announced that the Baja 500 race was being moved to August but got reprimanded by the city because they said they had not authorized that.

The plan was to have a no-spectators race in August, but the city government was afraid of fans and visitors’ agglomerations which could spark a sudden rise in COVID-19 cases.

This, along with the cancellation of the wine parties, will be a hard blow for the local tourist industry which were looking forward to these events in order to keep their businesses afloat during this tough pandemic.

 

Baja popped up in the Trump-AMLO meeting. According to the multinational company Sempra Energy, their $2 billion USD investment planned to expand operations on the “Energia Costa Azul” project was one of the main topics discussed by the two presidents.

The investment will be applied in a project to store, transport, liquify and distribute natural gas that would come from the USA and would be exported to several countries via Ensenada.

The complete project is expected to generate about 30,000 jobs, and bring much needed prosperity to both sides of the border.

 

Baja Congresswoman under fire. Montserrat Caballero, State Congresswoman from the Morena party, has been under heavy criticism this last week when she was caught drinking a can of Tecate Light beer while on a virtual congress session.

 

Rosarito closes beaches on weekends, again. Just a couple of days after the city had decided to reopen beaches for sports activities every day from 6:00 am to 10:00 am, city officials decided to completely close access to the beach on weekends.

The decision came after several beaches got packed with families that were clearly not there to participate in any sporting events.

The city said that they didn’t have enough personnel to monitor the beaches constantly while open, so they decided to close them on the weekends.

They are still open for sports activities, Monday to Friday, from 6 am to 10 am.

 

Sharp Healthcare offers FREE webinar. Dr. Andres Smith, global patient services medical Director at Sharp Chula Vista and President of Cruz Roja Tijuana, is offering a free online one-hour webinar this coming Wednesday, July 29 starting at 10:00 am.

Dr. Smith will discuss COVID-19 updates for the U.S. and Mexico, including current border status, what to do if exposed or have a positive COVID-19 result, and what to expect when seeking medical care.

For information or to register for the webinar contact Minerva Santos at (858)-499-4962 or email her at Minerva.santos@sharp.com

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State Employees “Seize” Kiko Vega’s House. About 250 state workers gathered in front of Baja’s former governor Kiko Vega and symbolically seized his residence.

The angry mob displayed gigantic signs that said: “seized, because of his debt to the state hospital system, pensions, medicine and even toilet paper”.

The unhappy protestors first marched to the offices of the state prosecutor, where they filed a lawsuit against him for the misuse of about $46 million USD that belonged to the state workers union.

“There are over 5,000 retirees who haven’t received their pensions,” said Jose Luis Parra, spokesman for the protestors.

Meanwhile, in social media, news of the ex-governors arrest in Mexico City’s airport as he supposedly tried to board a plane to Spain with over $2 million USD in cash, quickly went viral, but turned out to be a complete fabrication.

San Quintin Could Become Its Own Municipality. Baja California’s State Governor, Jaime Bonilla, asserted that as early as January, San Quintin could become independent from Ensenada. Bonilla said that this process had already been advanced and that previous work regarding this subject is just being resumed by his administration. Furthermore, he emphasized the full support from the state congress, and that Rep. Miriam Cano Núñez is working on the commission to attend to this matter, confirming that soon San Quintin will be determining its own destiny.

Also, during his visit to the southern area of Ensenada for the presentation of the concert “Baja California, Tierra que Sueña,” the song of the same name was performed, having been composed by Enrique González Medina especially for the occasion, the governor mentioned that the construction of the desalination plant that has been held up for some time now will be reviewed and continued in San Quintin. He said that water is not only important for agricultural productivity, but also for urban social development.

Foreigners In Baja react to the LeBaron family attacks. Many American citizens reacted to the LeBarón family massacre during interviews with Telemundo 20 about the violence in Mexico and whether or not this makes them want to return to their native countries from Mexico.

“It’s heartbreaking to see how people can hurt a 5-year-old boy,” said Ramón Salcedo of Indiana, who has lived in Tijuana for 3 three years.

Others said, “This level of violence is something that anyone can experience, regardless of their nationality; Mexicans, Americans, Hondurans, Haitians. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a safe environment. ”

However, despite the video where a car can be seen on fire, those interviewed say they do not want to return to North America. They recognize that violence is part of the sacrifice of living in Tijuana or elsewhere in Mexico.

Ensenada and Rosarito count up the damages done by recent fires. More than 21,000 acres were burned by the wildfires in various places around the Ensenada and Playas de Rosarito municipalities, affecting mostly bushland and scrubland zones.

According to the civil protection office, the southern part of Rosarito was the most heavily affected, primarily in Santa Anita, Alisitos, El Morro, Villas San Pedro and La Mision, where one person died, and livestock were lost due to the fires driven by strong Santa Ana winds.

Other affected areas in Rosarito were Morelos neighborhood, Lomas Altas I and II, El Aguajito, Huahuatay, and Constitución. The fires left a total of 41 burned houses in southern Rosarito and another 15 in the city. Meanwhile in Ensenada, a total of 53 houses were consumed by fire and unfortunately, two people died.

Uber Eats Delivers Goods. A group of voluntary Uber Eats drivers from Tijuana came to Rosarito to deliver much-needed goods to those affected by the recent fires.

At the same time these guys were helping out those in need, Uber drivers were being harassed by local authorities because they say, Uber is not allowed in Rosarito. One of these drivers was fined by no less than 6 police officers while his car was towed away.

Backup Arrives. 200 elements from the National Guard arrived last week to the Tijuana airport in order to help with intelligence and investigation matters in Baja.

Violence in Baja has been on the rise and this military presence represents an extra effort by the Federal government to achieve containment of the situation.

“They aren’t coming here to be on the streets, they are coming to do intelligence work, to help integrate cases correctly and stop violence in the state,” said Ruiz Hernandez, lead prosecutor for Baja California.

50 of those national guard elements are working exclusively on firearms traffic, independently of the agreements between Mexico and the US regarding this matter.

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Que Pasa In Baja?

Did school start yet? Last week was supposed to be the start of the new year, but that wasn’t the case for more than 700,000 students from Kindergarten to high school that were left without classes since teachers from public schools are still on strike. Although the government has been paying most of the teachers that have a permanent position, they have been falling short on payments to retired and interim teachers.

The strike started while students were on their summer break, and it still hasn’t been resolved. The teachers union says the total amount owed to them totals $5.5 million USD.

Governor Kiko Vega said previously that the state government didn’t have any more money for them at that time since the federal government hadn’t fulfilled their promise to send the usual funds to our state. Federal authorities have vowed to send the money ASAP so students can resume classes starting in September.

Another excuse to drink! Like we needed more here in Baja. Recently, the state tourism office and Grupo Modelo (makers of Corona Beer here in Mexico), announced the “Beer Route” project. It consists of a website and an app for your phone that will enable you to see a map with the location of most of the craft beer breweries here in Baja.

A couple of years ago, the same office launched the “Ruta del Vino” project, which is basically the same but for wine, and it worked great for them. Now that craft beer is so popular here, they have decided to expand the idea for beer.

The app will launch at the end of September and will be available in both Spanish and English languages.

Possible new free zone. Since the lower taxes for the border have worked out, bringing an increased economic activity, Ruben Roa, incoming head of the economy office for our state, has stated that there is a plan to create a free trade zone with the US and Baja, where most merchandisers would not have to pay any import fees.

He already stated that Ensenada would be included if they go forward with this idea, although for other border states it would only cover about 20 miles from the border.

Ensenada will offer free WiFi for tourists and just about anyone else who is in the area. It is a new plan that the hotel association in Ensenada, along with the economic development council, have launched. The projects will offer free wireless internet in tourist areas of Ensenada, and although the project will be financed by the economic council, its maintenance will be self-sustainable with the sale of an ad space that will appear upon connecting to the network.

On its first stage, the areas covered will be from the start of Costero Boulevard (entrance to the city), to the Riviera Cultural Center and First Street from Ruiz to Castillo.

Bonilla vows to have the best police force in Mexico. Our incoming governor, Jaime Bonilla, has stated that Baja California will have the best police force in all of Mexico and that the head of it will be someone very well trained and without any ties to organized crimes.

“Our state will be a reference point for other states and for our president Lopez Obrador; my administration will be the first one elected during his governance, and for that reason he has stated that he is fully committed to Baja California. I won’t let you down,”  said Bonilla during a press conference. ,

One of his first strategies will be to correctly assign the police elements to each city: Tijuana needs about 800 more, Ensenada about 200 and Mexicali just 25. Meanwhile, Tecate has 40 more police officers than it should have and Rosarito is already at the recommended number. The number of officers needed per city is based on a norm established by the United Nations.

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Que Pasa In Baja?

New cultural Plaza in Ensenada. Grupo Pando, the parent company of Santo Tomas winery, just got the approval from the city to close Miramar street to vehicular access, between 6th and 7th streets, in order to develop a plaza that will house an open-air forum, areas for art exhibits, gardens, and seating spaces.

The city agreed to let them use the street because the city lacks cultural spaces and also lacks money to develop them. This fixes both problems, since the city is not paying anything to establish this new plaza.

Grupo Pando already owns the lots and buildings on both sides of the street, and they were just waiting for approval from the city to use the street, as well as to develop the uninterrupted 27,000 sq/ft space.

Toll booths back to normal. You may think it is bad news that you have to pay the toll to use the scenic road again, but it’s actually excellent news. About two weeks ago, the federal police finally decided it was time to put their feet down and stop the illegal “toma casetas” (the people that were taking over the toll booths), and bring the law back into our state.

It was about time: We were hearing a lot of comments from tourists that were actually afraid of what was going on in the toll booths. We heard comments along the lines of “it looks like there is no law here,” or “people just don’t respect the police, they are 10 feet from them and they won’t do anything.”

Most locals were not unhappy with the situation, as they were saving money when using the road, but in the long run, it was affecting every one of us who lives here.

Jaime Bonilla, governor-elect, has already stated that he won’t allow for this kind of unlawful acts, and that our state will not be held hostage by groups that have ulterior motives.

It wasn’t me. That’s what our current governor is saying regarding the current financial situation that the state is in. Governor Kiko Vega recently stated that the federation owes our state about $500 million USD; this is money that used to come in from the federal government every month, but hasn’t been received here for the last 6 months.

The lack of funds has caused the state to get behind on payments for education, which amounts to 57% of the total budget for our state. Teachers are already on strike waiting for their payments.

State finances are managed differently in Mexico, as most of the revenue from taxes goes directly to the federal government and then the federation sends back what they see fit. This system has caused a lot of problems, since it undermines the autonomy of the state, especially when the government of a state is from a different party as the one from the federal government.

Cruises on the rise. And that’s not only for Baja, but country-wide there has been an increase of cruise visits in all of Mexico’s ports. An estimated 8 million people are expected to visit this country through a cruise ship, and while the Mexican Caribbean has seen an 8 percent increase, it has been our Pacific that has had the most significant rise in cruise visits with a whopping 15%.

Arturo Musi, president of the Mexican association of businesses, focused on cruise ship tourism (yes, that is a real thing), said that the Pacific will be able to receive the scheduled cruises until 2020. However, he also said that investments in infrastructure will be needed in order to catch up with the demand for 2021.

Cruise ship passengers leave about 50 million dollars every year in our country, from goods or services that they buy while they visit our country. It may not seem like much, but considering that all cruises include food and beverages, and that not even half of the passengers get off the ship, it’s not really that bad.

Ensenada gets blacklisted. The center for the study of public finances, based in the federal congress, issued a report that qualified a total of 655 municipalities in the country based on their debt and payment capacity. Of those, 64 were blacklisted as having high deficits and a low payment capacity compared to their debt. Ensenada headed the list, meaning it’s the municipality from the list that is in the worst shape financially.

Of course, there are worst municipalities in Mexico, but a lot were not even analyzed because the researchers couldn’t even gather data on those places.

Baja still popular for tourism. Our state head of tourism, Oscar Escobedo, has stated that last year we received 27 million tourists, and that Baja has been one of the states that has seen the most growth in the tourism sector, thanks to a policy of “selling experiences” and not places.

He said that the new trend is not to promote visits for a specific place, but promoting how being in that place would make you feel or what you can do while there; this has brought great results for Baja.

The tourism growth has been seen in the hotel industry as well, as there have been 38 new hotels developed in Baja during the last 6 years.

The Cross Border Express bridge has also boosted arrivals in the Tijuana airport, going from 3.9 million entries per year before the CBX to over 8 million after it.

Another crucial area that keeps growing is medical tourism, which, Escobedo stated, is generating over $500 million USD annually.

And not only in tourism. The state office for economic development stated recently that our state was first in economic growth in the last quarter from the states in the northern border, and the third place in all of Mexico.

Baja’s growth in the last quarter was 2.1% and the national average was just 0.2%, so we were significantly higher than other states. We have been steadily growing for 36 of the last 37 quarters, with an average growth of 3.7% annually. That’s not bad at
all!

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