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Interested in checking out two of Ecuador’s most popular areas for foreign investors and expatriates -- the south coast and the Andean colonial city of Cuenca? TransAndean Trading Company and Ecuador Properties have announced dates for their October real estate...
Cuenca, Quito and Guayaquil and the Ecuadorian Ministry of Tourism are teaming up to develop a five-year tourism marketing plan. The goal, according to the ministry, is to achieve annual tourism growth of 16% by 2014. Growth in the past five years has averaged 10%,...
Cuenca’s Public Works Department is launching an all-out assault on the city’s historic cobblestone streets. “For too long, we have resorted to patch-work fixes and these simply do hold up,” says Bolivar Alban, new public works director....
Cuenca’s new Director of Cultural Affairs, Diego Carrasco, believes improved planning of department projects will result in better service to the public. Carrasco, a professor at the University of Azuay, has served director of culture for Azuay Province and as...
Responding to a growing number of complaints, Cuenca Mayor Paul Granda has announced a series of meetings with managers and vendors at the sprawling west-side El Arenal market. In recent months, shoppers and vendors at the market --commonly known as Fiera Libre-- say...
Many gas stations in Portoviejo and Manta are limiting customers to a $5 purchase due to gasoline shortages. According to distributors, the problem is the result of technical problems at the Esmeraldas oil refinery and smuggling at the Colombian and Peruvian borders....
Airlines flying Ecuador’s national routes have announced plans to purchase new aircraft. The purchases are partly the result of a presidential order, issued in April, that airlines improve service and safety. According to the government, passenger air miles have...
Reporting on his visit to Cuenca last year, Times of London travel writer Joshua Wellesey remarked, “I think I can safely claim that this charming little city has more culture per square inch than any place in the Western Hemisphere.” One of...
President Rafael Correa starts a second term on Monday promising "21st century socialism" for Ecuador, but his clashes with investors may jeopardize trade and deter financing he needs to reverse an oil output slump. He also faces a drop in popular support,...
Despite a looming budget crisis, officials of Cuenca’s new government say they will not postpone their efforts to reduce traffic in the city’s historic district. Improving traffic conditions and making the district more pedestrian friendly were...
New Cuenca mayor Paul Granda participated in the traditional shamanic cleansing ceremony Friday in Pumapungo, the site considered sacred for thousands of years but such cultures as the Canar and Inca. Pumapungo, behind the Banco Central on the eastern fringe of...
President Rafael Correa will be in Cuenca today for the swearing-in ceremony of new Cuenca mayor Paul Granda and other elected officials. The ceremony begins at 11 in San Blas Park with the traditional shamanic cleansing and blessing followed by the unveiling of a...
The day before Paul Granda assumes duties as Cuenca’s new mayor, his war of words over the city’s financial condition continues to rage with outgoing mayor Marcelo Cabrera. The point of contention is the size of the city debt and whether accounts...
Police at Calderon Park have begun issuing tickets to pedestrians violating Ecuador’s new traffic laws. The first citations for those not using marked crosswalks were handed out on Monday at the intersection of Calles Cordero and Bolivar. The first day of...
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is predicting that the eastern Pacific will experience an El Niño in late 2009 and early 2010, with Ecuador and Peru bearing the brunt of the weather. El Niños are triggered by a rise in...
Fifty-four hikers from 15 countries set out on the annual Ruta Inka expedition July 3 in Pasto, Colombia, with plans to arrive in Ingapirca, Ecuador’s largest Incan ruin, 45 miles north of Cuenca, August 12. The annual trek highlights restoration and historical...
The men and women listened to the pitch intently. Ecuadorean immigrants, each had made sacrifices to make the journey north, to live the American dream. Only now, there was a new call - the Ecuadorean dream? "Welcome home," said Pablo Calle, an Ecuadorean...
As sister cities, Cuenca and Tempe, Arizona, may seem like an odd couple but organizers of the new alliance say that it is a great deal for both communities. According to Richard Boroto, Cuenca representative in organizing the new partnership, Tempe is an excellent...
The Azuay Provincial Court has ordered turnstiles on city buses to be removed by end of October. The July 10 ruling cannot be appealed. Installed in most buses when the new charge card and exact change procedures went into affect in January, the turnstiles have been...
If you shop at Cuenca’s Ninth of October market, you’ll find getting into and out of the area a little easier these days. On Thursday, police began clearing the streets and sidewalk near the market of unlicensed street vendors who, according to...
