Cuenca tire factory cuts production; Residents asked to help reduce flooding; High court considers cases against Noboa; Guayacan trees are in bloom
Jueves, 9/1/2025
Hola, Todos –
Actividades –
Sinfónica en Pumapungo (Symphony at Pumapungo) – The Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuenca will start its 2025 season with the “Adagios Famosos” concert conducted by Augusto Carrión Rodas el viernes, 10/1 a las 20:00 in the Teatro Pumapungo. The 2nd concert of the season will be el 17/1 a las 20:00, also in the Teatro Pumapumgo with “Música de Películas,” (Music from movies) with guest conductor Luis Torres Gómez, soloist Carolina Galarza, and the Youth Chorus of the Conservatorio “José María Rodríguez.”
The once-a-year blooming of the guayacan trees has started in Zapotillo, Loja Provinces. The blooms last for only 5 to 8 days, depending on weather
Feria de la Construcción (Construction Fair) – The Cámara de la Construcción de Cuenca will hold the 23d Feria de la Construcción, Vivienda y Decoración el 15/1 in the Rooftop Mueblería Vera Vázquez. The fair gathers professionals in the sector, businesses, providers, and citizens interested in the latest trends in products and solutions for building, decorating and interior design. <Is your house getting a little worn out, boring, out of date? This is your event.>
De El Mercurio del miércoles, 8/1 (1 article):
Dragón Ball Sinfónico llega al Teatro Sucre (Symphonic Dragon Ball comes to the Teatro Sucre) – The ‘Dragón Ball Sinfónico’ concert will be at the Teatro Sucre on el 10/1 a las 20:00. The concert will interpret the compositions most iconic of Dragon Ball, taking concertgoers to the most exciting moments of this series emblematic of popular culture. <Talk about out of touch – I’ve never heard about it.> Tickets are avvailable on Meet2go.co with ticket prices at $15, $25, & $35.
Titular –
Estragos en zonas inundables (Damage in flood-prone areas) – Lenín Álvarez, a technician with ETAPA explained that the city is going through a season of moderate and intense rains after a 160-day drought. Now, because of the continuous rain, the soil is saturated, so all of the recent rain is going directly into the rivers provoking the overflow of rivers and gullies. The afternoon of el 7/1, rain caused the Machángara to rise and the flow to exceed 10 cubic meters/second in the afternoon to 100 cm/s that night. There was flooding in Ochoa León and along the av. De Los Migrantes. He said the forecast is rain all through enero. He also said that human actions had consequences when people altered or filled gullies which impeded or blocked the flow of water, causing overflows. There are gullies that don’t usually have water, but are natural outflows during intense rains. Sometimes people fill these in thinking they have no use with terrible consequences.
Froilán Salinas,Zone 6 coordinator for Risk Management, said that this week the Chiquintad, Hermano Miguel, San Sebastián, and Ricaurte parishes were affected by the intense rain. Cuenca also has areas susceptible to flooding such as Marianza, Av. De Los Migrantes, the vía Cuenca-Azoguez especially in the Mall del Río zone, and the Santa María del Vergel area. Yesterday afternoon. there were landslides and flooding of homes in the Punta Corral zone. ETAPA recommends that citizens clean catch basins and don’t throw trash in the streets as a ways of preventing flooding. Relief agencies have called for people to stay away from riverbanks.
Cuenca –
De El Mercurio del miércoles, 8/1 (2 articles):
Cuenca es un destino turístico en tendencia (Cuenca is a trending tourist destination) – Mateo Estrella, ministro de Turismo was interviewed when he attended the launching of the documentary series ‘Cuenca, destino gastronómico’ which seeks to highlight the culinary richness of the city and its potential to become a reference for culinary tourism both nationally and internationally. The 24-chapter documentary, produced by Eduardo Montaleza, reflects how the city enriches the tourism sector and boosts agriculture and agro-ecology. The broadcasting will start el 19/1 on digital platforms and the red carpet screening will be los 29 & 30/1 a las 20:00 the Teatro Sucre. In the first phase, there will be 6 episodes with stories of chefs, markets and local producers. <Something for all you foodies to put on your lists. Maybe there will be English subtitles since the series wants to highlight Cuenca in an international market.>
‘Llantera’ reduce horario de trababo de siete a cinco días (‘Tire company’ reduces working hours from seven to five days ) – Continental Tire Andina, the largest manufacturer of tires in Ecuador, announced that it will reduce its working hours in the Cuenca plant. Starting this month, the factory which was working 7 days a week, will reduce its hours to 5 days a week. The decision was made as a response to external factors including a fall in demand for tires in 2024. Continental tire has been in Ecuador over 70 years and the Cuenca plant produces tires for the Continental, General Tire and Barum brands. It sells in Ecuador and exports to Colombia, Perú, Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile, the US, Canada and Mexico. <A little bit of trivia to bore you with.>
Actualidad –
ETAPA plantea cerrar el Cajas en los feriados (ETAPA plans to close the Cajas on holidays) – Hundreds of tourists visit the Parque Nacional Cajas every holiday, with 135,000 in 2024 according to ETAPA data. Because of the large numbers of visitors, ETAPA will make a request to the Municipio de Cuenca to close the park before or after holidays. According to Verónica Polo, the proposal is to permit circulation of vehicles on the vía Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme while keeping the entrances to Llaviauco, Toreadora, and Tres Cruces shut. The idea of shutting the park, either before or after holidays, is to give the park a respite and to give nature a time to recover its normal processes.
De El Mercurio del miércoles, 8/1 (1 article):
Inicia florecimiento de los guayacanes (Guayacan trees start blooming) – The once-a-year blooming of the guayacan trees has started in Zapotillo, Loja. The main sites to see these trees are in Bolaspamba and Mangahurco where the blooms started on el 5/1, and in Cazaderos where they started ayer. The flowers will last from 5-8 days depending on the weather. If you want to see them, go to Loja and then take the vía Loja-Celica-Pindal-Paletillas, and from there you can go to Bolaspamba, Mangahurco, and Cazaderos. <Which I’m told are another 4 hours from Loja.>
Nacional –
Hoy comienza la campaña electoral de Daniel Noboa (Daniel Noboa’s electoral campaign begins today) – From 17:00 today (jueves) to las 16:59 on el domingo, 12/1, Daniel Noboa will leave the presidency and assume his role as a candidate for re-election. He will be in Santa Elena jueves, Gauayaquil el viernes, Manabí el sábado, y in El Oro el domingo. For today at 15:00, there will be a caravan through the streets of Santa Elena <isn’t he jumping the gun by 2 hours if his licencia or leave doesn’t start until 17:00?> and there will be a concert at 18:00. During this leave, the Presidency will be in the hands of Cynthia Gellibert, Secretary of Administración Pública and vice president in charge. <The elected Vice-President, Verónica Abad, is vice-president in Turkey.> <What’s next, he will take unpaid leave in blocks of hours and minutes so he can attend campaign events? And what if his supporters hold a parade with signs and speeches and stuff while he’s at his desk in the Carondelet. That’s not a presidential campaign?>
Caso de vicepresident, en manos de CC (Vicepresident’s case, in the hands of the CC) – The Constitutional Court announced that it is analyzing the demands presented against Executive Decrees 494 and 500 in which President Noboa named Cynthia Gellibert as vice-president and then commissioned her as President. Case 1-25-IN was drawn by lot and its admissibility must be resolved by the corresponding court of the admissibility chamber, after the presentation of the respective report by the substantive judge Karla Andrede Quevedo. The court reminded the country that it could only process cases presented before the court and not initiate cases on its own. The court is also analyzing the complaint against Noboa for his alleged non-compliance with Article 93 of the Codigo de Democracia.
This article establishes the obligation of officeholders opting for immediate re-election to the same office to take an unpaid leave of absence from the start of the election campaign. <Remember that in Ecuador campaign periods have a definite starting and ending date. The new campaign cycle doesn’t start the minute the office holder gets elected and plants their butt in that official chair.>
And that’s all for today so hasta ? –
Jeanne
