Blackouts depress holiday tourist numbers; Cuenca receives record overseas remittances; Thugs meet the neighbors; Decibel meters monitor city noise

Domingo, 13/10/2024

Hola, Todos –

Titular –

Feriado, apagones y grandes pérdidas en el área turística (Holiday, power outages and heavy losses in the tourist area) – The power outages impeded the flow of resources hoped for during the 3-day holiday. The expected flow of tourists to the main beaches of the country didn’t materialize. The other factor damping tourism was safety. The hotel sector in Quito used to have occupancy rates of 62%, but that fell to 40%. In Guayaquil, there would normally be occupancies from 62-70% but this holiday had only 30%. There were night time programs scheduled in the main cities, but with scant attendance. Even though there were concerts, there wasn’t power in all the areas.

Blackout hours will be maintained this week as the Mazar reservoir drops to record low levels. (El Mercurio)

De El Mercurio del viernes, 11/10 (1 article):
Multarán el exceso de ruido (Fines for excessive noise) – On el jueves, the Concejo Cantonal started its 2nd and final debate on a noise ordinance which includes fines. It will apply to activities that make noise including car exhausts and vehicles using loudspeakers for advertising. Inadequate use of alarms would be fined 50% of the Renumeración Básica Unificada (RBU <is that a new name for the SBU?>) or $232.50. Poor usage of loudspeakers or amplifying equipment in or outside of commercial locations, activities or construction projects or for advertising will be fined $465.00. Non-compliance with hours established in the ordinance for the use of loudspeakers in casa comunales (community centers) and churches will also be fined $465.00. The gas truck music will be replaced with an app. The ordinance will regulate the hours in which fireworks can be used. When an activity exceeds the allowed decibels by 0.1 to 4.99 decibels, a national ambiental regulation calls for a fine of $232.50.

Nueve puntos de monitoreo (Nine monitoring points) – On average, the maximum permitted decibel level in the city is 55, but for a large part of the day it exceeds 75 which is considered very high. The monitoring stations are on strategic points along Doce de Abril, Primero de Mayo, De Las Américas, Don Bosco, Los Andes y Remigio Crespo. They are also in the Industrial Park, in the zone with the “Mujeres de Piedra” redondel (av. González Suárez y PanaNorte), and at the U del Azuay.

Actualidad –

De El Mercurio del sábado, 12/10 (1 article):
Opciones innovadoras que atraen a golosos del dulce (Innovative options that appeal to those with a sweet tooth) – <This article is for those of you who can be distracted from life’s difficulties – like power outages – with a good dessert.> “Dulcet” on Bolívar between Juan Montalvo y Estévez de Toral has been open for 4 years. Owner Gabriela Jara was in the first graduating class from the Instituto San Isidro. One of her recipes is lemon and cranberries which uses lemon peel, cream and cranberry sauce.

On the corner of Mariscal Sucre y Juan Montalvo is the family business “Pastelería del Río” which makes cakes with handmade jams and personalized designs in fondant. Marcia Morocho and her 2 children have been in dessert-making for 18 years. The “Gaby Lazo Atelier de Postres” is in the Casa del Parque which has a French influence, but reinvented with a combination of flavors. Gaby started in gastronomy by following the example of her mother. She offers desserts with 5 to 7 textures with a recent apple tart that includes walnuts, dulce de leche mousse, apple compote and more.

Cuenca –

Remesas: cifra récord en Cuenca (Remittances: record figure in Cuenca) – In the first 6 months of the year, Cuenca received $413.1 million in remittances, mainly from the U.S., and Azuay received $549.2 million. In past years, remittances to Cuenca have increased from $472 million in 2018 to $918.4 million in 2023. Nationally, Ecuador received $3.005 billion in the first half of 2024. In the same period, The Inversión Extranjera Directa (IED) did not exceeded $120 million which demonstrates the importance of remittances over other areas in Ecuador’s economy. <Not counting one-time investments, if the purported 10,000 gringos in Cuenca had an average annual income of $25,000 from outside of Ecuador and spent all of their earnings here, that would be a contribution of $125-$250 million in 6 months. Not shabby, but not close to what overseas Cuencanans are sending home. But then how many more overseas Cuencanos are there?>

Marcelo Vásquez, an economist and financial analyst, explained that the amount of remittances exceeds the amount of taxes collected by the SRI in the whole province. SRI collected $389.8 million in taxes in Azuay in the first 8 months of 2024, and the province collected $1,507.7 million in remittances in the first 6 months of 2024. <I think the numbers aren’t the same because the sources for the information are different.>

Juan Pablo Miranda, an economist and investment advisor, said that on average, in Azuay, 4% of remittances went to buying property, 2% to education, 8% to savings, and 6% to businesses. 50% went to basic household expenses of health, food, housing, utilities, transport, clothing and medicines. 13% went for luxuries and 17% for investments. The remittances are an imporant part of the economy and are part of why Cuenca has the highest basic basket of goods in the country.

Incentivos para quienes aporten con electricidad (Incentives for those contributing electricity) – The Empresa Electrica Regional Centro Sur (EERCS) called those who are interested in generating electricity to get qualified for the Grupos Electrógenos Emergencia (GEE – Emergency Power Generators). These groups would be used when there is a deficit of electrical power or during blackouts. The EERCS is starting a registry and qualifying these private generators to establish how much energy can be produced each month. The energy producing individuals or businesses will receive incentives through compensation on their electric bills. It’s expected most of the generators will run on gas or diesel. <But if you want, you could hook up the system to your treadmill and see how much power you could add. And for you car owners, check out something that popped up on my computer: CarGenerator.>

Sucesos –

Queman motocicleta de sospechosos de robo en Tarqui (Motorcycle of suspected robbery suspects burned in Tarqui) – Neighbors chased 2 people who threatened a homeowner with a gun and armas blancas (bladed weapons – knives) and entered their home. The owners alerted their neighbors and activated security devices. The antisociales (antisocials – your word for the day) fled on a motorcycle, the neighbors united and followed the moto to a site in Santa Rosa where it was abandoned and burned. Another neighbor called 911 which responded with the Grupo de Operaciones Motorizadas (GOM) from the Cuenca-Sur district. The Guardia Ciudadana de Cuenca (GCC) also responded. The police response was the only thing that saved the suspects from “frontier” justice. The Policía Nacional said that they are conducting permanent operations on the Panamericana Sur to prevent the commission of illegal acts in that zone. <Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be aimed at speeders and reckless drivers, but Ecuador doesn’t seem to do speedtraps.>

Nacional –

Nuevos horarios de cortes con más horas (New cut-off times with more hours) – The empresas eléctricas (electric companies) in the country are programming new hours and in some cases, the energy cuts will be up to 12 hours starting Monday (lunes). In the government procurement portal, the Ministerio de Emergía y Minas and the Corporación Eléctrica del Ecuador (Celec) started new processes to incorporate 160 megawatts of thermal energy. The new thermal plant will be on the vía Durán-Boliche in Guayas and will run on HF04 fuel. The energy produced will go through the Durán Substation. Another process will be to rent an additional 40 megawatts for the Machala II plant. There will be two 20 megawatt units that can function on diesel or natural gas.

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne