Posts:
By Sylvan Hardy Almost every expat arriving in Ecuador has heard the pitch: You can hire a maid, gardener, or cook in Ecuador for a fraction of what you would pay in North America or Europe. This is true, although the cost has gone up in recent years. What you don’t...
Hungry? - (De El Mercurio del domingo, 25/1) Auge gastronómico en Cuenca (Cuenca's culinary boom) - Cuenca shines as an attractive culinary destination thanks to the opening of new spaces and a wide variety of businesses with surprising flavors. Labati is an artesanal...
It rarely looks dramatic. There is no farewell message. No public explanation. No final gathering. One day, someone simply stops showing up. They are still in Cuenca. You may see them at the market, on a side street, or passing through a familiar neighborhood. But...
A criminal court judge issued an arrest warrant Friday for Cuenca Mayor Cristian Zamora for failure to appear at a hearing. Zamora claimed he was delayed by a scheduling conflict and that when he later attempted to connect to the court via Zoon his internet connection...
Bored? - (De El Mercurio del jueves, 22/1) Cultural agenda for el sábado, 24/1 - 13:00 - Performing arts functions - Pasaje Pedro Toulop. 15:30 - Cultural activation with live performing arts and choir performances - Pedestrian street next to the Cristo Salvado...
By Garry Vatcher Ecuador is known for its natural beauty, friendly people, and relatively affordable cost of living. But for many expats, one topic remains confusing—and sometimes anxiety-producing: taxes. Some people assume “foreigners don’t pay taxes.” Others think...
Bored? - (De El Mercurio del lunes, 19/1) El amarillo vuelve al bosque de Zapotillo (Yellow returns to the Zapotillo forest) - The flowering of the guayacanes between Mangahurco, Cazaderos and Bolaspambe in the Zapotillo canton in Loja Province reactivated commerce,...
A doctor at Cuenca’s Vicente Corral Moscoso Hospital has filed a complaint against the Health Ministry due to the lack of medicines, equipment and access to medical specialists. He claims conditions at southern Ecuador's largest public hospital “put at risk the care...
Curious -? (De El Mercurio del jueves, 15/1/2026) Un cubano deportado de EE.UU. a Ecuador (A Cuban deported from the US to Ecuador) - A federal immigration judge in New York granted a request by the Dept of Homeland Security on el 13/1 to deport Alex Ramírez González,...
One of the things Cuenca does especially well is variety. Cafés here are not interchangeable. Each one attracts a slightly different mix of people, activities, and expectations, often without anyone saying a word. Knowing which café fits your rhythm makes all the...
Cuenca has received another “best in class” distinction, being named the "Best City in South America" by the World Travel Index. The city’s new number one ranking follows earlier designations as the safest city in Latin America and best for quality of life by the...
Bored? - (De El Mercurio del miércoles, 14/1) Florecimiento de guayacanes (Flowering of guayacan trees) - The City of Zapotillo announced that the flowering of the guayacanes will start el 17/1 thanks to the recent rains <no hour given, you'll just have to drive...
According to two university studies, foreign tourists visiting Cuenca are younger and more European than they were ten years ago. One of the studies found that newer expats also reflect the demographic trend. By far the biggest change in the city's tourism market,...
Where are you from? I’m never quite sure how to answer this question. In my experience, North Americans tend to move around more than others, but rarely is anyone asking for my life’s story when they ask where I’m from. Do I respond with where I was born, where I grew...
Cuenca’s four rivers are running full again, thanks to four days of rain. According to ETAPA meteorologist Rigoberto Guerrero, the city has officially received 38 millimeters (1.5 inches) of rain since Thursday and more is on the way. “If the prediction is correct, I...
By Alia Chughtai After the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by the United States on January 3, nearby countries that host large Venezuelan communities, including Colombia and Peru, have warned of a potential new influx of refugees if the country is...
Hungry? - (De El Mercurio del domingo, 11/1) El sabor venezolano en Cuenca (The taste of Venezuela in Cuenca) - Some immigrants shared their stories full of sacrifice and resilience and maintaining the essence of their land with each culinary creation. Yasenia...
After you start noticing the different tables in Cuenca, something else becomes harder to ignore. It is not just that people gather at different cafés or at different hours. It is that those tables often reflect very different assumptions about risk, visibility, and...
By Calvin Trillin "But haven't you been there before?" That's what people tended to say when they heard that I was about to spend a week or so in Cuenca. "Funny, I never get that sort of response with Paris," I would reply. If I mentioned that I was about to spend a...
By Larry Scherwitz, PhD Those of us who live in Cuenca know how fortunate we are to have physicians who truly listen—doctors who take time, think carefully, and treat us as whole human beings. One of those doctors is Dr. Pablo Parra. For more than 35 years, Dr. Parra...
