Peak inflows near 119 cubic meters per second offer temporary relief for Ecuador’s most critical hydroelectric reservoir. In the industrial parks and living rooms of Cuenca, eyes are fixed on a single number: 2,153. That is the maximum elevation (in meters above sea level) of the Mazar reservoir. It is the magic number that guarantees […]

Residents protest rising crime as armed robberies target foreign homeowners and expose a fragile police presence. Vilcabamba, the fabled “Valley of Longevity,” has long sold a promise to the world: eternal spring, health, and peace. For decades, this promise attracted a unique demographic of international retirees, wellness seekers, and tourists, transforming the sleepy agricultural parish […]

A heritage home’s sudden fall exposes the fragile balance between history, safety, and neglect in Ecuador’s highlands. The morning of Saturday, January 24, 2026, began like any other in the Andean canton of Cotacachi. The air was crisp, the streets around the central market were beginning to hum with the quiet commerce of the weekend, […]

Tourism rebounds as beach crowds return under the watchful presence of armed patrols. Salinas is a city living two realities in January 2026. Walk along the Malecón of San Lorenzo and you see the version that fills postcards and Instagram feeds: families clustered under umbrellas, vendors slicing coconuts, the smell of ceviche drifting through the […]

After months transforming public spaces, the XVII Bienal closes following record attendance and international recognition. For the past few months, the streets of Cuenca have been a gallery. The XVII Bienal de Cuenca, titled “The Game” (“El Juego”), has turned colonial plazas, museums, and heritage homes into spaces of interrogation, play, and critique. Now, as […]