Kite festivals mark end of school vacation; Fuel prices head higher; Tram hours remain extended; New sewage plant will be first of its kind in Ecuador
Alistan tres festivales de cometas – As a goodbye to school vacation, Cuenca will hold 3 kite festivals on the last Sundays of August. The EBS Gestores Culturales organization will hold the first event, “Tiempo de Cometas Verano
2025″ in the Parque El ParaÃso on Sunday the 17th, starting at 12:00 with contests, artistic presentations and an exhibit of creative kites. <Like a Jaws shark swooping down to scare innocent bystanders?> The 2nd festival will be on the 24th in the Ecoparque de El Valle in the Cochpamba secor starting at 9:00. The Parish Junta is organizing the 20th edition of their Festival de Cometas with cultural events, contests, and surprises for the whole family. <Like a tube shaped Jaws kite swooping down and engulfing your 7 year old kid.> Also on Sunday the 24th, the Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito JardÃn Azuayo will have its “Festival de la Cometa Cuenca 2025” in the Parque de la Luz starting at 10:00. The activities will include a gastronomic fair, magic show, puppets, face painting, live music, and more attractions for pekes (pequeños – kids) and grandes <who are looking for a couple of hours of a 2nd childhood.>
The hours of tranvia service will remain extended as the city negotiates a new fare with bus owners. (El Mercurio)
Mañana se presenta libro “Las Aventuras de Rosita” – <This is for those of you with kids – or those of us learning Spanish who need simple fiction to read.> Written by Cuencano actor and writer Paúl Valdivieso, the book will launch el sábado, 16/8 a las 15:00 in the LibriMundi Bookstore at the Mall del RÃo. The book is narrated by Rosita Tocineta, a rescued piglet and her friends on the farm. <I think her last name will tell you what she’s been rescued from — or from what she has been rescued for you grammar police.> The book will be available starting tomorrow at bookstores all over the country for $12.00.
Aerocombustible sin subsidio – Pres. Noboa’s Decreto Ejectivo 83 issued on el 11/7 will start a new method of calculating fuel prices, and it includes the price of aviation gas and Extra and EcopaÃs gasolines. The calculation will be based on the real cost of importing fuel and a minimum profit of 10.78% for the importers. The decree eliminates the articles that permitted fuel subsidies for airports administered by the Dirección General de Aviación Civil (DGAC) or cities <such as Cuenca> which were delegated to administer their airports by the DGAC. Aviation specialists warned that this will affect ticket prices since fuel is one of the airlines’ biggest costs. Other fuel prices changed on el 12/8 with extra and EcopaÃs gasoline going from $2.63 to $2.75; Super increasing from $3.48 to $3.57; but diesel remaining unchanged at $1.79. <Remember when regular gas cost $1.48 (I think) for years and years.>
Hasta las 23:00 se amplÃa servicio comercial: TranvÃa – The tranvÃa will keep operating until 23:00 as a temporary measure to help riders affected by the suspension of city bus service at night. The hours were extended on el 6/8 with the first train starting at 5:50 and running at 10 minute intervals on the route from Control Sur to near the Parque Industrial. <Is there any other route?> During weekends there will be 15 minutes between trains. These hours are subject to change and the number of tram cars can be increased depending on passenger demand. The new hours of service will remain while the City and Cámara de Transporte de Cuenca are in conflict about raising bus fares. <Who wants to start the pool on how many years that conflict is going to last?>
Guangarcucho: contrato listo para firma – The contract for a new $65 million sewage treatment plant between ETAPA EP and Hidalgo e Hidalgo is planned to be signed el 20/8. When the contract is signed, a project that has been lagging behind for 5 years will get going again. The new plant will complement the existing one in Ucubama. The new plant will process all of the waste water which is considered a milestone since it’s the only project in Ecuador that can do that. The new activated sludge plant is more compact and will be a closed system, and applies a circular economy in its infrastructure. First it treats wastewater and then it treats the sludge that rises. The sludge is analyzed to see if it can be used for another process. <Like dried, bagged, and sold to you to fertilize your garden? Enjoy that tomato you just picked.> Lastly, the gas generated during the biodigestion will be used to generate electricity.
