Lake Chapala is at 49% capacity

Lake Chapala is at 49% capacity. Their main problem is evaporation due to high temperatures, says CONAGUA (National Water Commission-SMN).

Huge hotel planned for Ajijic and Lake Chapala

Radisson Blu Hotel Announced at Mexico's Lake Chapala

Mexican real estate and investment firm Sun-Star Group, led by real estate developer Omar O’Rourke Martinez and his partner Thomas Wahl, a seasoned hotel executive, have executed an agreement with Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, for the development and operation of a Radisson Blu Hotel at Lake Chapala, with an option for additional territories.

Lake Chapala is a popular destination located within 50 kilometers of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city, and located within 25 minutes of Guadalajara’s international airport as well as El Salto, an important industrial corridor and home to the Mexican and Latin American headquarters for many multi-national corporations.

Radisson Blu is an upscale international chain of full service hotels and resorts brand with stunning design and truly innovative service features. These flagship hotels are found in prime locations around the globe, with more than 395 properties now open or in development in more than 110 countries.

Radisson Blu Hotel Announced at Mexico's Lake Chapala

First Coffee Fiesta in Cuzalapa 2016

Primer festival del café Cuzalapa 2016

Color de la Tierra. Cuzalapa.

By: Rafael Luna  

14 / Jan / 2016 Cuautitlan, Jalisco. (LF) The  20 and 21 February is when Cuzalapa indigenous community in the municipality of Cuautitlan, will have it's First Coffee Festival. Coordinator, Zuleima Hernández Rodríguez said the main objective is to show the work of the organization "Color de la Tierra", comprised of mainly indigenous women since 2001 when it was organized to process and market the coffee. This association is directly involved in supporting and planning the event.

He added that at the regional level is still much unknown potential of the collective and its products, which are purchased mainly by foreigners, while the local population seems to be little interested in buying them, which is why it is intended to disseminate it to increase its marketing.

Hernández Rodríguez said they are only missing some details but said that the program is expected to be cultural with Nahuatl activities. There will be guided tours by the coffee zones and other areas where hiking is interesting.

Also included in the First Coffee Festival in Cuzalapa, an exhibition sale of gastronomic and craft products made by the same organization sustainably exploiting natural resources. Added to this will be the participation of local merchants selling products typical of the area.

Lectures and demonstrations of coffee processing in its various derivatives will also be provided, as well as an artistic event with local talents among other activities that will be announced shortly with the publication of the official program.

Currently the organization " The Color of the Earth"  not only produces coffee, among its products are raw from Manantlán, derived from corn, cactus, the scores of Mojote food,  Chaya and different fruits is, besides clothes to wear among other products.

This organization keeps the purpose for which it emerged that is to address the socio-economic crisis and improve environmental situations, working in the preservation of biodiversity.

Check out the new things on the Chapala Malecon

Lake Chapala is the largest of ‪lakes and one of the favorite places for the people of Jalisco. Come and meet the new facilities in the boardwalk of ‪Chapala and pass the weekend in the company of family.

Restoration of pre-Hispanic archaeological sites decreased 66%

Ixtépete

In Jalisco, only three archaeological sites are open to the public: Ixtépete, Guachimontones and El Grillo

I Un1ón Andrés Zúñiga    01/01/2016 

The authorities of the Government of Jalisco have restored only three archaeological sites during the first nine months of 2015,  announced of the Ministry of Culture.

This figure represents only a third of the sites restored in each of the previous five years when  the authorities repaired nine archaeological sites.

Archaeological  centers that were repaired this year are located in the municipalities of Teuchitlá, Jalostotitlán and Etzatlán.

From 2010 to 2014 archaeological sites in Ahualulco Market, El Arenal, Etzatlán, Jalostotiltán, Puerto Vallarta received Teuchitlán budget to be rebuilt.

In Jalisco only three archaeological sites are open to the public, one of them is the Ixtépete located in Zapopan and another Guachimontones which is in the municipality of Teuchitlán.

The third is the archaeological site El Grillo located in Tabachines Fractionation in Zapopan, but this can only be visited with permission of the National Institute of Anthropology and History ( INAH ).

Free trips to the Costalegre to promote tourism

22 / Dec / 2015 Costalegre, Jalisco. (LF)  The Tourism Ministry will implement the program Free Tours, an initiative that seeks to bring the tourist destinations outside the metropolitan area of Guadalajara Jalisco who wish to know the state. Therefore, from this Friday until December 29, 14 routes to 10 different destinations in the State will be made. Among the destinations is the Costalegre.

The Ministry of Tourism regarded as tourist destinations, areas  Costalegre , Ciudad Guzman, Talpa de Allende, among other things. In addition, it is anticipated that this program an economic impact in the places visited is generated and thus to support the tourism service providers and community visited.

SECTURJAL REALIZA RECORRIDOS GRATUITOS A LA COSTALEGRE PARA FOMENTAR EL TURISMO

Guadalajara now has an Ice Rink

First Zapopan , after Tlaquepaque and now the turn of Guadalajara , as the municipality has just opened an ice rink for the enjoyment of Guadalajara.

As part of the activities of the Christmas Festival , the mayor of Guadalajara, Ramiro Hernández García, he was in charge of opening the ice rink located in Liberation Square.

Access to the track will have no cost and is open to the public for 45 days on a schedule from 08:30 to 20:30. With the support of instructors, children, youth and adults can skate in periods of no more than 30 minutes.

The track has 600 pairs of skates and is estimated to be used by more than 250 thousand people.

Guadalajara también patina sobre hielo

Feria Maestros del Arte this weekend

14th Annual
Feria Maestros del Arte

November 13-15, 2015
10 am to 5 pm

LOCATION:
Club de Yates de Chapala 
(Chapala Yacht Club)
Paseo Ramón Corona
Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico

This weekend

Website with all the info

34 municipalities of Jalisco in "extraordinary emergency"

02 / November / 2015 (LF) The Interior Ministry said 34 municipalities of Jalisco in "extraordinary emergency", 10 in Colima and twelve in Nayarit, municipalities that were affected by Hurricane Patricia, 23 and 24 October.

The Interior Ministry declared an emergency for Autlan, Ayutla, Cihuatlan, Cuautla, Cuautitlán de García Barragán, lemon, Ejutla, Cranbrook, Juchitlán, La Huerta, San Gabriel, Tenamaxtlán, Toliman, Tomatlan, Tonaya, Tuxcacuesco, Union of Tula, Zapotitlán Vadillo and 16 more municipalities in Jalisco. In Colima emergency it was declared in 10 municipalities and in Nayarit, is emergency in 12 municipalities.

With this declaration, the affected municipalities will receive resources from the Fund for Emergency Response and that immediate help to meet the nutritional needs, shelter and health of the affected population.

Letrafria article about areas effected by Hurricane Patricia  - Spanish

Nice aerial views around Ajijic

Promotional video produced ​​by "Crearte Media" about Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico, located in the Lake Chapala area.

Vídeo turístico realizado por la empresa Crearte Media sobre Ajijic, Jalisco, México, ubicado en la Ribera de Chapala. 

Ajijic Globo Regatta 2015

A very cool yearly event

One of Three videos

Turn your sound down because the crowd roar is loud

Authorities Seize Jalisco Beach Hotel

The Attorney General's Office (PGR) said one hotel in the town of  La Cruz de Loreto , municipality of Tomatlan, Jalisco is listed in the Treasury of the United States as one of the companies the criminal organization  Los Cuinis uses to launder money and have their meetings.

The Hotelito is identified as a boutique hotel located in Tomatlan, Jalisco which is marketed to wealthy tourists seeking seclusion in a pristine environment. It also uses the front of being a turtle sanctuary which it may be. 

EN TOMATLÁN, PGR ASEGURÓ EL “HOTELITO DESCONOCIDO”

Los Cuinis: The Wealthiest Narcos You Never Heard Of

MEXICO CITY – A hotel in Jalisco, a state in western Mexico, used to launder money and as a meeting place for drug traffickers has been seized, the Attorney General’s Office said.

The Hotelito Desconocido was being used as a business enterprise to move funds through the financial system, the AG’s office said.

The hotel is in La Cruz de Loreto, a town outside the city of Tomatlan.

Hotelito Desconocido offered temporary housing, food and other services.


The property was seized in response to a request from the Finance and Public Credit Secretariat, and as part of an intelligence-sharing operation with the United States, the AG’s office said.

Authorities Seize Hotel in Mexican Money Laundering Case

Rapid Transit tunnel machine arrives Puerto de Manzanillo

The most important part of the tunneling machine for the train tunnel Línea 3 del Tren Ligero in Guadalajara finally arrive from Spain. The tunnel is for underground rapid transit in the center of the city.

The machine will be 120 meters long and the size of the cutting head more than 11 meters across; the weight of the equipment is just over one thousand five hundred tons. The TBM is a German technology associated with Spanish, "which has a lot of experience in building systems of its kind in Europe and part of Asia," said González Ortiz.

Guadalajara Mariachi Festival and Charrería

The XXII Annual Festival

August 28th until the 6th of September

The website has schedules of activities, parade route and time and the dates for the Charro in the Lienzo Charro "Nito Aceves" located in the municipality of Tlajomulco de Zuniga

Guadalajara Mariachi Festival and Charrería Website

Illegal logging in Nevado cloud forest

19/06/2015

Cloud forest illegally logged in Nevado de Colima. Some endangered species such as Abies and Mexican Colimensis Tilia.  Profepa has the information but has not acted.

The Nevado de Colima is again subjected to pressure from illegal logging. The national park, has been invaded by machinery and personnel toppling trees colimensis Abies (fir a kind of unique in the world), Mexican Tilia and other endangered species, apparently without authorization from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat).

A group of environmentalists from Ciudad Guzman noted that the "stumps" (the trunk is left standing after the cut) no mark that denotes a legal authorization; It was learned that the land in question belongs to smallholder Alejandro del Toro, who would not even be informed of the use.

The complaint was already lodged with the delegation of Semarnat, which in turn gave evidence to the delegation of the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa), which pledged to carry out an operation inspection and closure, which has not been executed.

"We expect the batteries to become the Profepa, is here a time bomb, forest providers are out of control [...] if you do not act soon, by July, they will have destroyed much of the cloud forest.

Cloud forest illegally logged in Nevado de Colima

New highway Guadalajara-Vallarta is 40% complete

Travel between Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta in two hours, may soon be a reality with the new highway 40% finished.  Note that Puerto Vallarta is the only beach resort of the country that is not arriving or departing at through a highway as it does in Los Cabos, Mazatlan, Manzanillo, Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, Acapulco, Huatulco, Cancun, among others.

The new highway connecting Puerto Vallarta to Guadalajara, bypass to ensure travel time at just two and a half hours, is 40% complete, the delegate in Jalisco Secretariat of Communications and Transportation, Bernardo Gutierrez Navarro said in Puerto Vallarta.

Bernardo Gutierrez Navarro noted that this year 2015 could a first stretch of this highway be used. "There is a possibility that the usable stretch this year may be the stretch of Jala junction with Compostela to again connect with the old road, the 200". He added that everything will depend on the rainy season to allow the works, which will now focus mainly on the junctions in both the new highway, as in the "old", ie, the current in the Compostela. 

New highway Guadalajara-Vallarta is 40% complete

IN 2016 HIGHWAY WILL BE READY BETWEEN COMPOSTELA AND LAS VARAS

Union de Tula is 194 years old

UNION DE TULA, JALISCO. 28 MAY 2015.- In Union of Tula continue the festivities commemorating its foundation as a people through various celebrations ranging from rodeos, cultural exhibits and food fairs, and this day the most symbolic because today is when you turn 194 years.

The director of the Casa de la Cultura, Maria Cristina Ruiz Santana, explained that these parties, made in coordination with the Department of Culture and the city, consists of several areas in which they emphasize the receptions, which are organized every day of the festivities for the residents of each colony according to the schedule. In this case, as the day of the foundation, the organization hosting is provided by City of Union of Tula.

"The first is the part of the reception where the welcome is who go for what would be the bullfight and that's as a tribute to the people at that time, in 1821 it was founded, were given to receive as Welcome to the village, and then from there a cultural festival at night is organized.

Union de Tula is considered the first town founded in the independent Mexico. It was given the name Union in commemoration of one of the three guarantees of the Plan of Iguala, and Tula by the initials of the surnames of its founders: Topete, Villasenor, Lazcano and Arriola. Since 1825 it belonged to the canton of Autlan 6th until September 21, 1832 was when Union de Tula is recorded as municipality.

La Ruta del Peregrino

La Ruta del Peregrino is a path with more than 200 years of tradition. The most popular route from Ameca, although there are many paths to Talpa. The Sierra Madre Occidental mountains are crossed and ends in the town of Talpa de Allende, specifically in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary. The route length is 117 kilometers and is traversed by about 3 million people per year in March and particularly in Holy Week.

In April 2008, the governor of Jalisco, Emilio González Márquez, announced an investment of 90 million pesos to improve the infrastructure of the route. The announcement was met with rejection by a large segment of the population that believes that the investment was an attack against the secular state. Among the works with funds from the treasury of Jalisco are basic services, lodging, observatories and shrines. The buildings were designed by an international team of architects who collaborated with the office of Dellekamp Architects.

Ameca more or less elected itself as the starting point of the peregrinación (procession) because that route has many improvements, services and the architectural attractions. Actually people come from all directions including Michoacan, Colima, Mexico City, Nayarit and Guadalajara. Autlan even posted notices that the dirt road to Talpa is in good condition for those making the pilgrimage. 

Sign in Ameca

Atenguillo is on the route

Walking in the country to avoid highway 70

Burras are walking canes

Road from Autlan

Normally for bikes and ATV's

Ruta del Peregrino

Granizo o Hail en Jalisco

Extra cold with rain and thunder in most of Jalisco

Tapalpa had hail

Hail in Jalisco and Colima

This march 10th were registered in many places in the states of Jalisco and Colima. The picture of our hail in Talalpa is by the intersection at  Ferreria de Tula.

It is recommended that all motorists use extreme caution in the mountain zones.

Melaque/San Patricio planta de aguas negras no sirve

Well it used to work and the guys that ran it were real proud of it. I went out there in 2007 and they gave me a tour. I hear it only operated for 3 years and I can only assume the Cihuatlan administration changed and decided to not fund the upkeep. Could have been a few of the machines broke and expensive to fix but the pump that pumps black water out there is still working full time. Problem is you combine that mess with the high water table issue and you have some real health concerns for anyone living in the area. This water mixed with an abundance of surface ground water mostly heads for Laguna de Tules but it's probably in well water and it crosses the main road into Pinal Villa in 3 places.

2007 waste treatment plant

2015 waste treatment plant

It smells really bad

The State requires any town over 2500 pop to treat waste water but the date to comply was in 2010 and they want a plant like that in the fotos but it's expensive to build and maintain. El Grullo decided to go with an artificial lagoon which is much cheaper and very little upkeep. Some group here is trying to get a tour and technical explanation of how it works in El Grullo. Something has to be done