New bus fare subsidy begins February 1; Warning for altered taxi meters; There’s one pet for every two Cuenca residents; Half of marriages end in divorce

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 down and take your chances that you’re not too early or too late>. This event will happen in Mangahurco, Bolaspamba and Cazaderos until el 22/1.

(De El Mercurio del martes, 13/1) Abiertas las inscripciones para desfile de Carnaval (Registration is open for Carnival parade) – The Amistad Club and the Unión de Periodistas del Azuay announced that the traditional “Carnaval de los 4 Ríos de Cuenca” parade will be this coming 14/2. The parade is traditionally in the morning with the route along calle Simón Bolívar. Organizations, public and private institutions, and interested citizens including neighborhoods or communities, and families or groups of friends can register until el jueves, 12/2. <In other words, anyone or groups of anyones with the energy to mount a parade contingent.>

City transit authority EMOV is warning that some taxi meters are being altered and says there are “workshops” that adjust meters to record higher fares. (El Mercurio)

The parade is the prelude to Carnaval which will be from el domingo, 15/2 to el martes, 17/2. Registrations will be received online at https://forms.gle/cSVDCPbxkwBYfw4R6 with a form you need to fill out giving basic information such as the title or theme of the proposal, name of your organization, number of participants, name of the main representative. The organizers said that there will be more details about the event in the coming days, especially about the parade route and complementary activities.

Hungry? – <You’ll have to be happy with your usual eating places since there’s nothing new in the paper.>

Curious? –
(De El Mercurio del martes, 13/1) ETAPA EP pronostica que lluvias continuarán (ETAPA EP forecasts that rains will continue) – ETAPA forecasted that at least from el 12 to el 18/1, there will be rain, especially during the afternoons and nights. The probability of 70% means that it’s practically certain the rains will continue. This is good for the Río Paute which feeds the Mazar power plant where the water level in the reservoir has decreased due to lack of rain. Since el pasado domingo, the 4 rivers in Cuenca have shown improvement in flows with more than 30 millimeters of rain. The flow-increases have been mainly in the Tomebamba and Yanuncay Rivers due to intense rains between Marianza and Lake Toreadora in the Cajas National Park. Rigoberto Guerrero, an ETAPA technician, called for the citizenry to use water carefully, not only when it doesn’t rain, but as a permanent responsibility.

(De El Mercurio del martes, 13/1) Ecuador tuvo un divorcio por cada dos matrimonios (Ecuador had one divorce for every two marriages) – From enero to diciembre, 2025, the Registro Civil celebrated 50,556 marriages while registering 23,440 divorces in the country. The number of 2025 marriages exceeded those in 2024 when 48,907 were celebrated. From last year’s data, there were 334 same sex marriages. <Is the divorce rate the same for same sex couples?> The provinces with the most marriages were Guayas with 10,898, Pichincha with 10,592, and Manabí with 4,273. Those with the most divorces were Pichincha with 5,849, Guayas with 4,359, and Azuay with 2,139. <I wonder how long the average marriage lasts?>

(De El Mercurio del martes, 13/1) 7 meses de ‘Kimsa‘ (7 months of ‘Kimsa‘) – ‘Kimsa,’ the condor chick who was born on el 11/6/2025 in the Bioparque Amaru is now 7 months old. She is part of an ex situ applied science and conservation program and under permanent veterinary monitoring. Currently she eats 700 grams of red meat per day, supplemented with calcium carbonate. <Do condors eat bones as well as meat in the wild?>

(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 14/1) Pagarán el subsidio desde el 1 de febrero (Subsidy will be paid starting February 1) – As of 1/2/2026, the city will start paying the bus fare subsidy which has increased to 10 cents. There is a condition that the transportistas need to submit a notarized letter of commitment to make improvements to service. The letter will incorporate the qualifying title of each bus as a mechanism to guarantee compliance. The improvements include increasing routes and frequencies, annual training for drivers, interoperability between buses and the Tranvía with only 1 card, and real time control for complying with stops. Also the Movilízate app needs to be updated with new routes, routes need to be identified with colors, QR codes need to be implemented at all stops, and there needs to be a regulation to “separar” (fire?) drivers with repeat offenses.

Also being considered are panic buttons and 2 additional security cameras on each bus, and a pilot plan on 50 buses to prevent gender violence. There will also be sanctions with a fine for the first non-compliance, an increased fine for the 2nd, and withdrawal of the operating permit for the 3d offense. <So now there will be consequences for those drivers who make jackrabbit starts, sudden stops, and throw their passengers to the floor.> The increase in the subsidies, 10 cents for the full fare and 5 cents for the half fares, will cost the city $8.9 million annually.

(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 14/1) Por cada dos habitantes hay una mascota (For every two inhabitants there is one pet) – In the canton of Cuenca, there are 274,757 pets which is about half of the human population of 596,101. The statistics are from the population and housing census conducted in 2022. Of those pets, 114,410 are in the urban area and 160,347 are distributed in the 21 rural parishes. 195,905 are dogs and 78,852 are cats. Carlos Orellana, director of the Comisión de Gestión Ambiental said that there is growing concern about the overpopulation of pets due to health risks that are generated.

From 2022, the City has strengthened a permanent sterilization campaign to slow the uncontrolled growth of the animal population with 20,000 animals sterilized in the last 4 years. <For those of you who think the city doesn’t do enough to control the pet population, how about volunteering with an animal welfare group like ARCA that organizes sterilization clinics?> The city is also promoting reforms to the 2016 animal control ordinance with the goal of making sterilizing pets mandatory.

Orellana said that it would be practically impossible to count street dogs. The high number of pets highlights their growing role in families. Carmita Ávila of Rescate Animal, said that the interest in animal wellbeing has boosted the development of a pet industry. Cuenca has boarding facilities, day care centers, and more than 200 veterinary clinics. She pointed out that there are still owners who don’t give their animals adequate care, and considers it necessary for authorities to strengthen sanctions and controls. Dennis Rodas, veterinarian at D´pelos Medic Clinica Veterinaría said that pet overpopulation is a serious health problem. In particular, street dogs and cats in rural zones affect endemic species which are essential for the balance of ecosystems.

(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 14/1) Tasa de Basura (Garbage Fees) – Starting this month, ETAPA EP will start collecting garbage fees with the water bill. However, this only applies to the 40% of residents who were part of the property registry in Centrosur. For those customers who won’t get a garbage bill with their water bill, payments can be made on the EMAC website or at physical locations set up to receive payments.

(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 14/1) Alertan que hay talleres que “alteran taxímetros” (Warning that there are workshops that “tamper with taximeters.”) – Riders are complaining about alleged alterations to taxi meters and questioning the effectiveness of control of taxi service in Cuenca. Although the union maintains that there are processes for technical inspection and approval, official data and testimony gathered during the investigation show meter failures and the possible operation of informal workshops that manipulate the meters. Some of the most common complaints from riders are drivers not using the meters, meters that can’t be seen, inappropriate routes <Before meters there was gringo pricing. Now there is gringo routing – like going from the Mall del Río to El Centro via the Industrial Park.>, charges that don’t correspond to the meter reading, agreed rates without a meter outside the city center, and refusal to take passengers to certain locations.

Alfredo Escobar <Any relation to Pablo?>, manager of the Unión de Taxistas del Azuay, recognized that there are complaints about the charge for services and that irregularities committed by a few drivers harms those who follow the rules. He pointed out that the union has equipment to make inspections conforming to guidelines from authorities. <So what did those inspections find?> Escobar said complaints should be presented formally and that the union has the AzuTaxi app which allows the rider to identify the driver, vehicle, license plate and data about the trip. This information serves to support cases against irregularities. Also there are indications that some people operate at the margin of the law with informal workshops where it is presumed that they alter the programming of the meters. <Sounds like the reporter is very conscious of not accusing anybody of anything that could land him in a defamation lawsuit.>

The calibration of the meter is based on a code called “pulses” which convert to travelled distance. If this value is modified, the meter will register an altered calculation for the cost. A driver explained that the size of the wheel and tires can also influence the meter. A smaller tire will turn more often and could indicate a longer distance travelled than a standard wheel and tire. <So before you get in the taxi, check the wheels and tires to make sure they don’t look like they were taken off a lawnmower.> 3,612 taxis operate in Cuenca, and although there are authorized entities for calibration, riders think these entities are both judge and jury given that they install, calibrate, repair and change meters.

In 2025, EMOV EP data showed there were 32 sanctions related to taxi meter use. 22 were for drivers who did not use the meter during the trip, and 10 were for disconnected printers. EMOV also conducted 70 control operations which resulted in 32 additional citations for irregularities tie Revisión Técnica Vehicular (RTV). The sanctions in the Penal Code are a fine of 15% of the basic salary and loss of 4 or 5 points off the driver’s license when the meter is not used, altered, or placed where it is not visible.
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Information in this column, including dates, times and locations, is courtesy of the El Mercurio newspaper. Comments between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), are the personal opinions of the author and not part of the news translation.