The Easter holiday is the most popular week of the year for family vacations in Mexico.

The busiest week of the year in Puerto Penasco is Semana Santa, or Holy Week, which runs from Palm Sunday through to Easter Sunday.

As with Thanksgiving in the United States, Easter is when Mexicans travel to be with their families, and it’s also the most popular time of year for family excursions. School is out for two weeks and workers book time off and flock to Mexico’s beaches, with Rocky Point being a very popular destination.

If you plan to be here during Easter, expect the tourist areas to be very busy and hectic. If you like crowds, music, and a party atmosphere, by all means, come on down and have fun. But if you don’t it is not a good time to visit. And, if you’re looking to rent a condo during Easter, odds are that you won’t find one. The town sells out 100% every year during Semana Santa. Calle 13, many areas of Sandy Beach, and the Malecon will be teeming with people.

Usually a first wave of holiday makers making their way out of major cities comes on the weekend ahead of Easter week, with a second wave leaving on Good Friday.

The Easter holiday also has several effects on economic activity. Now, as in the weeks preceding the year-end holidays, costs of hotel and condo prices tend to rise with the added demand. These prices usually come down again after the holidays, but of course by then most people have already traveled and vacationed at the higher prices. People with school-age children or who work in formal employment often have limited flexibility to choose to go on vacation off-season, but those who are retired or have flexible work styles can save money — and the travel crush — by avoiding the resorts at this time of year. If you do decide to visit during the holiday, allow yourself plenty of time and patience.

Spring Break 2022 exceeded expectations with an influx or over 135,000 tourists arriving during the period, and generating more than 160 million pesos in economic revenue for the businesses and the city. Mayor Jorge Pivac reported that there were no fatal accidents this year – very good news as many years see quad, Razor, or traffic accidents which cause death or serious injury.

Noting the clear indication that the city’s tourism has rebounded nicely following the covid slowdown, the mayor remarked that Rocky Point is, and will continue to be, a favorite place for thousands of tourists to vacation every weekend, enjoying everything that this city offers, including many choices for lodging in condos, or hotels, the natural beauty of the beaches and desert, and the services and security that the city offers for both residents and visitors.

Mayor Pivac remarked that he was very satisfied by the large influx of visitors and the positive economic impact during spring break, as well as the fatality free period, thanks to the efforts of the local, state, and federal government resources as well as the private groups who participated in the events and activities.

The Mayor also explained that Puerto Peñasco is ready to receive the many thousands of visitors expected for the Easter season, as well as the busy Summer tourist season, which should be boosted even more through the introduction of flights to Rocky Point from Tijuana starting on April 29^th.

“We are fortunate to add this air connectivity, opening a new emerging tourist destination, and we will continue to be classified as the best tourist destination in Sonora and northwestern Mexico. The purpose of all of us is to attract more visitors, generate more economic income, get back to the three million annual visitors which was the norm prior to Covid-19”, commented Jorge Pivac.

This spring break vacationers came mostly from Arizona, but many also came from California, New Mexico, and Colorado. Our little Oceanside city continues to attract admirers from locations farther and farther away.

The Puerto Peñasco Convention and Visitors Bureau confirmed this information based on occupancy statistics reported by hotels, condominium developments, rental houses and RV Parks.

The Mayor added that even though Puerto Peñasco remains at a green epidemiological traffic light - with a low rate of contagion - basic health and hygiene measures must be still be continued in order to avoid contagion of covid 19.

Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers are proud to announce their signature Circus Mexicus Weekend is around the corner June 9-12, 2022 and tickets are on sale now!

Joining RCPM will be American Aquarium’s BJ Barham, along with legendary Texas guitarist Jesse Dayton along with his band and rising stars The Black Moods.

Rounding out the weekend will be performances from Jamie Lin Wilson, Ryan Culwell, Jim Dalton, Stephen Ashbrook, Ghetto Cowgirl, Jacob Stelley, Slade Coulter, Jordan Nix, Ryan Parker, The Summer, Mr. Mirianga, The Irie, Agua de Coco, The Cole Trains and many more.

Circus Mexicus will spread throughout the town of Puerto Penasco, Sonora for four days playing unique venues from Al Capone’s, La Arena, Moo, Chango’s, JJ’s Cantina, Xochitl’s, Banditos and the Cancion Tequila Main Stage.

A limited number of 4 DAY VIP tickets are on sale now as well as discounted Advance Purchase 4 DAY GA and discounted Advance Purchase Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday tickets which include day and night shows.

For more information or to grab tickets now, visit www.circusmexicus.net.

The Mayor of Puerto Peñasco, Jorge Iván Pivac Carrillo, held an important working meeting last month with the Governor of the State of Sonora, Dr. Alfonso Durazo Montaño, where, in addition to strengthening ties Rocky Point at the state level, additional items were discussed, from the topics of public safety, support and funding for tourism promotion, rehabilitation of the highways coming into town, as well as other important issues.

In the meeting, Mayor Jorge Pivac also had the opportunity to promote additional important topics as well as obtaining support for adding state elements to the public security forces in order to even further reinforce security and surveillance during the upcoming Semana Santa holiday, where many thousands of visitors are expected to flock to the beaches and tourist areas of our town

In this fruitful meeting, the mayor also requested the Governor’s support and assistance in regards to several pending Federal issues and requests that are currently pending or in the planning stages. He also thanked the Governor the attention and support that he has provided in supporting Rocky Point tourism and working with the local government on projects increasing the development of Puerto Peñasco.

At the end of the meeting, they both reaffirmed their commitment to work together in a coordinated and cooperative manner to continuously improve the well-being of the families of Puerto Peñasco.

During his last year in office, Arisona Governor Doug Ducey is trying to create a legacy of water security in drought-stricken Arizona, and his most ambitious effort in that quest could end up being in Mexico.

In his last state of the state speech in January, he proposed an investment of $1.16 billion over the next three years to make the state “more resilient to drought, secure a sustainable water future, and allow for continued growth.” The goal, he said, is to “secure Arizona’s water future for the next 100 years.”

The governor’s office shared a plan with lawmakers late last month to create a new statewide water authority tasked with boosting water supplies by developing and supporting innovative water augmentation efforts.

Among the potential projects that the agency could develop are desalination plants in Mexico, which would create fresh water by removing salt from seawater. Arizona and other Lower Basin states would take some of Mexico’s shares of Colorado River water in exchange for the water they financed desalinating south of the border, according to Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke. “We’re trying to stay ahead of the curve and make sure that we have resilient water supplies, for the growing economy, for the people, for the environment and for the lifestyle that Arizona people are used to seeing,” said Butschatske.

Last week, for the first time since it was filled 50 years ago, the water level in Lake Powell, the second-largest reservoir in the country, dropped so low that it threatens the ability of Glen Canyon Dam to generate electricity for some 6 million customers that depend on it. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced on Wednesday that the reservoir in the Upper Colorado River Basin had fallen below the 3,525-foot target elevation that provides a 35-foot buffer before declining water levels reach the minimum required to spin the dam’s turbines. The water level is expected to recover by May, but its supply of water will remain perilously diminished. And Lake Powell is not the only critical, southwestern reservoir running low.

In August, the Bureau of Reclamation declared a water shortage for the first time in Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the country, which is formed by the Hoover Dam in the Lower Colorado River Basin. Colorado River water, originating from the snowpack of the southern Rocky Mountains, flows 1,450 miles southwest to Mexico and the Gulf of California. It travels through seven states and two nations, providing water to more than 40 million people and about 5 million acres of farmland.

But thinner snowpacks, declining precipitation and increasing temperatures from climate change have led to a prolonged drought in the West that has lasted more than two decades, posing a risk for water security throughout the Southwest.

“This year the Colorado River Basin has experienced extremely variable conditions with a record high snowpack one month, followed by weeks without snow,” said Reclamation Acting Commissioner David Palumbo in the announcement. “This variable hydrology and a warmer, drier West have drastically impacted our operations and we are faced with the urgent need to manage in the moment.

The river’s flow has declined at least 20 percent since 2000 and is expected to decline more than 9 percent for every degree Celsius of warming, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The drying coincides with a rapid increase in population in the region, especially in Arizona, which was third in population growth and migration gains from 2020 to 2021, only following Texas and Florida.

The most ambitious proposal to slake the region’s growing thirst as its most critical reservoirs decline is to build two desalination plants in Puerto Penasco, a Mexican city more than 60 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Seawater would be pumped from the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez, between the peninsula of Baja California and the Mexican mainland to the plants in the state of Sonora.

After its salt is removed, the water would be delivered to the Morelos Dam in the U.S.-Mexico border, where Colorado River water is distributed south of the border. With the freshwater satisfying U.S. commitments from the Colorado River to Mexico, more of the river’s flow could be held back for use in Arizona.

Some experts say that the high cost of desalination, the amount of energy it requires and the difficulty of disposing of brine, a salt-concentrated byproduct of seawater desalination, can be cause for concern. And the projects will only make up for a fraction of the Southwest’s water shortfall.

According to a 2020 binational study involving Lower Colorado River Basin states and Mexico, the plants would produce upwards of 200,000 acre-feet of desalinated water each year for a price of about $2,000 per acre-foot, making up for less than a fifth of the water deficit the Lower Basin states and Mexico are expected to see by 2030.

The capital to establish the plants would cost more than $3 billion, the study reported, and annual operating costs could range from more than $70 million to as high as $119 million. “In almost all cases, desalination would be the most expensive way to produce water, and the reason it would be the most expensive way to produce water is because it requires a lot of energy,” Treavor Boyer, an associate professor of environmental engineering at Arizona State University who researches water sustainability.

The process of desalination leaves behind concentrated waste in brine that is many times saltier than seawater. Properly disposing of it often requires dispersing it gradually, farther out to sea than where the water to desalinate is being pulled, a process that was recommended by the binational study.

Mexico’s National Commission of Water and Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources proposed that any concentrated salinity discharge into the waters of Mexico not exceed the ambient salinity concentration by more than 15 percent at a distance of 328 feet from the discharge point.

“You usually can’t just sort of put it right back in the immediate vicinity of where you would through the seawater because that salinity would be much higher than what the aquatic plants and animals are used to and it would be very detrimental to them,” said Boyer.

The primary technology the study recommended for desalination was reverse osmosis, which, according to Boyer, leaves some salt in the water, requiring less energy than if the plants were producing potable water. The details of how the plants would be powered and how the brine would be managed remain to be determined with Mexico, Butchatske said.

A Drought-Proof Supply

Despite the cost and potential for environmental harm, water policy experts are not opposed to the idea, although they are watching energy and waste issues. Many note the importance of diversifying state water sources. There is only so much water to distribute to the booming population, and every method of increasing the supply has environmental downsides, they point out.

“It’s a more drought-proof water source than some others, and so we think it has a place in our overall picture of the water supply along with others that are less expensive,” said Sharon Megdal, director of the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center.

While not opposed to the idea, some say that groundwater regulation needs to be prioritized more than desalination. “While it’s great that they are interested in investing lots of dollars, we think that it needs to be paired with the right policy,” said Haley Paul, Policy Director for Audubon Southwest.

She is among the water policy experts and lawmakers who are pushing for groundwater regulation in the state. Arizona, the only state in the Colorado River Basin that does not regulate all of its groundwater, has no limitations on how much water can be pumped from aquifers in rural parts of the state, leading to overdrafts that are drastically driving water levels down.

From 1957 until now, Arizona’s water use has declined slightly, Buschatzke said, “even though our population has gone up almost seven times and our economic output has gone up about 20 times.”

For those who visit Rocky Point with their furry family members, there is a new option in town which will allow you to give your pets a day (or more) at the salon while you go out shopping, or dining, or fishing, or any of the other plethora of activities while you’re in Rocky Point.

The Pets Salon and Hotel officially opened its doors on March 13^th and they are already seeing that the business fits a niche in town which had not been filled. The salon is full-service and has a custom recreational area along with comfortable accommodations for those animals staying for longer periods.

Marcela Bravo came up with the idea and jumped into the venture along with her father, Arturo Bravo and her boyfriend, Rene Acosta, along with their full team of pet lovers, Diego Reyes, Milagros Aguirre, Evelyn Solís, Itzel Esparza, and Alejandra Cota. The group spoke in length about the multiple services and comfortable facility provided by the new business.

In addition to describing the origin of the idea and the facility, they went into detail about the many professional services that they will provide for your four legged loved ones. Beyond services usually expected in such a facility, they also offer thins such as thier pet potty service, pets court, pet taxi, as well as the sale of pets clothing, collars and accessories, ID tags, and the list goes on.

The visiting hours are from Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Telephone: 638 383 6806

Congratulations on a novel new business and much success to Marcela and her team.

A Oaxacan wonder, Mexican Tlayudas are a delicious response to Pizza! Crunchy, soft, meaty and jam-packed with flavour.

One of the country's hot-spots for food lovers, Oaxaca, has a vast array of delicious and unique dishes to sample. Street food is in abundance. The Tlayuda, a thin, crisp corn tortilla topped with all manner of Mexican flavors is a taste to behold.

Tlayuda - Mexico's response to pizza.

To the western tongue, tlayuda is closest to being pronounced 'cla-you-da'. The premise of Tlayuda is to offer a crisp corn tortilla, topped with whatever you like! Much like a tostada, but uniquely Oaxacan. This Tlayuda recipe follows a traditional recipe and features:

A base of the famous Oaxacan refried black beans

A few slices of carne asada

A generous handful of freshness in the form of lettuce, cabbage, radish, cilantro and tomato.

A scattering of the much loved Oaxacan cheese (a bit similar to mozzarella)

A final spritz of lime to liven up the whole affair.

It's a taste and texture sensation, a wonderful crunch of tortilla and vegetables with the smooth beans and spiced meat. Who needs pizza!? So let's get started. Making Tlayudas is not difficult - it's more of an arrangement of food, but there's some prep work to be done! And it starts by marinating the beef.

Step 1: Marinating

I use a thin flank steak - Mexican's love their meat butchered into thin slices, so that they cook quickly on the parilla/grill. You can, of course, cook your favourite cut of steak and just slice it later, but flank or flat iron is a great option. The best flavour comes from a long marination (24 hours) but 4 hours will do if you're in a hurry. The flavours of cumin, orange juice (traditional for tenderising meat), cilantro and a host of other ingredients bring this meat out of marination kicking and screaming with personality.

Step 2: Making the refried beans

Refried beans are a delicious essential to the Tlayuda. I use canned beans (frijole negro) for convenience, but you can use dried and cook them if you like. The beans are flavoured with a couple of interesting ingredients. Arból chillies, are a common Mexican chilli, a fairly fiery dried variety that will add depth and a light spice to the beans (depending on how many you add, obviously). The second are the dried avocado leaves, They bring a unique aniseed flavour. Hunting down avocado leaves may be an ingredient too far for some, but the good news is there's a substitute! Replace with 1-2 dried bay leaves and a teaspoon of aniseed or fennel. These are toasted in a dry pan to bring out the flavour before being blended into the beans.

The beans are now fried for 20-30 minutes with onion. This frying ensures most of the moisture evaporates and the texture rich and thick. The flavour is also intensified, leaving us with a flavourful bean paste that packs a punch.

The beans, when cooled thicken even further and become a thick, spreadable paste. Incidentally, at this stage - these Oaxacan refried beans are amazing simply served alongside some corn tortilla chips. A wonderful alternative to Guacamole and salsa let me tell you! In fact, let me tell you again... These refried beans with some corn tortilla chips are sublime.

Step 3: Cooking the steak

Now that the meat has been marinating for a while, it's time to grill until charred on either side. I must say, and I don't want to receive a single hate email, Mexican's overcook their meat! There, I said it... but you know what? I'm not mad - the thin steaks crispen at the edges which makes for another textural sensation, so how could I be mad!? You can cook your steak however you like, and just slice into thin slices ready to arrange on top of the Tlayuda.

Step 4: Arranging the tlayuda

Now all that's left is to arrange the ingredients on the crisp, baked tortilla. Start with the beans as a base and then freestyle however you like!

So, what more can I say? These Tlayudas are a simple, flexible and super authentic Oaxacan treat. Feel free to change up the ingredients you pop on top, In Oaxaca, one evening we ate a grasshopper Tlayuda, which was absolutely life-changing! Another night, we ate an artisanal corn version, so there's a world of toppings waiting for you to experiment with. For now, hopefully, you enjoy this Carne Asada & Refried Bean Tlayuda.

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

40 minutes

Marinating

1 day

Total Time

2 hours 10 minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients:

▢1.5 lb flank steak

▢¼ cup olive oil

▢½ cup fresh orange juice

▢3 garlic cloves (minced)

▢2 tsp cumin powder

▢½ cup cilantro (chopped)

▢1 tbsp hot sauce

▢salt & pepper

▢3 arból chillies

▢3 dried avocado leaves (sub: 2 dried bay leaves + 1 tsp anisee or fennel seeds)

▢¼ cup olive oil

▢¼ onion (chopped)

▢4 cilantro stems (finely chopped)

▢½ tsp salt

▢8 corn tortilla (7" size)

▢1 iceberg lettuce (shredded)

▢1 cup white cabbage (shredded)

▢1 bunch radishes (cut into julienne)

▢1 cup cherry tomatoes (cut in half)

▢1 cup Oaxacan cheese (chopped)(or firm mozzarella)

▢2 limes (cut into wedges for garnish)

Instructions:

Put the beef (whole) into a zip-lock bag. Combine all the marinade ingredients and pour into the bag. Seal the bag then agitate coat all the meat. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, 24 hours is best.

Drain the beans, and retain 1 cup of the liquid (if you need to top up the liquid with water, that’s OK).

In a dry frying pan, toast the avocado leaves and arból chillies for a minute to release the aroma.

Tip the beans, avocado leaves, arból and cooking liquid into a blender and blend to a smooth paste.

Heat a large pan with the oil over a moderate heat and gently fry the onion and cilantro stems for 1-2 minutes until soft. Add the bean paste and the salt and stir well. Cook over a medium/low heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring regularly to avoid sticking. The beans should be thick! Check for seasoning and then leave to cool.

Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC

Place 2 tortillas on a baking sheet (without overlapping). Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes until crisp. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and then leave to cool. You can do this in advance and leave, covered in a cool place - they'll stay crisp.

Using a BBQ grill or a hot griddle pan, cook the steak for 2 minutes each side (or more depending how thick your steaks are). Cook until you have some good char on the outside.

Let the steak rest for 1-2 minutes, then thinly slice.

Using a spoon or spatula, smooth over a few spoonfuls of refried beans onto each tortilla.

Scatter over some lettuce, cabbage and radish and then a few slices of steak. Finish with some Oaxacan cheese.

When serving, offer a wedge of lime to squeeze over and if you're feeling generous, a little Mexican sour cream!

This recipe states a serving for 8 people..You may want one or two tlayudas per serving, so you do the math! You'll get 8 servings, you decide if you eat 1 or all 8!

Try using large 7" corn tortillas, but you can use any size - just follow the same premise of decorating and eat them until you run out of toppings!

If you’re in Mexico for the long-haul, you might choose to take your residency status to the next level: becoming a Naturalized Mexican citizen

While many foreign residents arrive in Mexico for a time and return to their home countries within a few years, a significant number of people do stay in Mexico long-term —perhaps for work or lifestyle reasons— but more usually when their partners and families have settled here, or when they retire.

If you’re in Mexico for the long-haul, at some stage you might choose to take your residency status to the next level: naturalization. Naturalization is the process by which you apply for and, if successful, subsequently acquire Mexican citizenship.

Applications are currently open in Mexico City only. You do not have to live in Mexico City to apply, but you do have to travel there for the application if don’t live there. Additional states will begin process applications later this year.

Mexican naturalization offers several benefits to foreigners. Among them (in no particular order of importance):

You can cast a vote in Mexican elections;

You can change address or jobs without having to inform the National Institute of Immigration (INM) of your moves;

You can avoid having to visit Immigration kiosks at airports when you leave to check-out, and wait less time in immigration lines at airports on your return;

You avoid having to pay to change your immigration status and/or renew your visa each year to extend you stay in Mexico; and

You can own property situated near coasts and land borders in your own name without the need to operate a bank trust (fideicomiso) — which can save you thousands of dollars in fees over the years — although some people choose to operate a trust for estate planning purposes.

There are a few matters you should be aware of regarding becoming a Naturalized Mexican.

Following your naturalization, while you are in Mexico, you are not allowed to seek consular protection by virtue of your ‘other’ nationality; so if you become caught up in any problems with the authorities you cannot rely upon your home country’s Consulate to support you.

Depending on your country of citizenship, you might have to surrender your home country’s passport – and citizenship – when you acquire your Mexican nationality. (This is rare: most countries allow their citizens to hold dual or multiple nationalities.)

Once you become a Naturalized Mexican Citizen, you need to remain resident in Mexico to keep it. See the blue information box below for more details about this.

You should also check with a financial adviser about the implications that your naturalization may have on your personal and business tax affairs.

The procedures that lead to Mexican naturalization demand a number of requirements for qualification. These depend upon an assortment of factors such as:

Your links to Mexico,

Your current immigration status, and

How long you have been physically resident here.

Once you file the application, the procedures take about a year to complete, and may take longer in some cases. Toward the end of the process, you will be asked to sit an exam, unless you are exempt.

Part of the application process requires applicants to pass a history and culture exam, and a Spanish language aptitude test.

In years past, the history exam consisted of studying 100 “multiple choice” type questions, answering 5 and getting at least 3 correct. However, since January 2018 the exam process has been revised to test your knowledge of Mexican culture and history, and a reading comprehension exam has been introduced to test your Spanish language.

Some people are exempt from the history and culture exam, but all applicants must demonstrate a working knowledge of Spanish, tested via an exam.

The following are exempt from the history and culture exam:

Minors (under 18 years of age)

People over 60 years old

Refugees and humanitarian cases under the auspices of COMAR

At the completion of the journey that leads to your Mexican naturalization, you will get a handshake from an official at the SRE (Mexico’s equivalent of the US State Department), and a Naturalization Certificate.

With this certificate in hand, you may apply for your Mexican passport and, just as importantly, your IFE card (known colloquially as simply, el IFE) – that is technically a voter registration document, but also serves a de facto National ID Card in Mexico. The card incorporates features such as scanned fingerprints, holograms and other security devices. It’s the size of a driving license and is thus readily portable.

If you become a Naturalized Mexican citizen (i.e. a foreign national who applies for and gets granted Mexican citizenship) and you subsequently reside outside of Mexico for 5 or more consecutive years, you legally lose your Mexican citizenship.

We are not sure how this is tracked and enforced, but this restriction is explicitly documented in the legislation which governs ‘Naturalization’ of foreigners as Mexican Citizens. (Article 37, Part B, Section 2.)

Natural Mexican citizens (Mexicans by birth) never lose their nationality, regardless of how long they might live outside of Mexico.