Articles

Ecuador's controversial mining reform bill just cleared committee with 8 votes and heads to the National Assembly floor this week. Meanwhile, Cuenca's Cabildo por el Agua is mobilizing at Parque Calderón to demand lawmakers kill the bill. The stakes? Cuenca's water supply.

Mayor Zamora signed a deal to acquire 105 hectares of critical watershed land bordering Cajas National Park. The $180,000 price tag? Funded entirely by ticket sales from the Carnaval Nicky Jam concert. Sometimes the math really does work out.

The Policía Nacional has established a fixed security operation in Sayausí, the western Cuenca parish that serves as the gateway to Cajas National Park. It comes after the municipality donated over $500,000 to bolster police resources in the area.

Cuencanos consume about 200 liters of water per person per day — nearly twice what the WHO says you need. At $0.60 per thousand liters, there's no financial incentive to cut back. But the city's rivers aren't infinite.

Cuenca's Terminal Terrestre processed over 58,000 departures and 36,500 arrivals during the four-day Carnival weekend. The numbers tell the story of a city that empties out — and fills back up — in dramatic fashion.

Cuenca's real estate market is defying Ecuador's broader economic headwinds. Property values are up 8-12% annually, rents are surging in expat-popular neighborhoods, and the investor visa threshold just went up. Here's a practical breakdown of what's happening and how to navigate it.

After the devastating rolling blackouts of 2024, every expat in Ecuador has the same question: will it happen again? New plants are online, Turkish floating generators are humming, and the rain is helping — but one massive vulnerability remains. Here's the full picture.

Cuenca's 2026 rainy season is anything but ordinary. After years of drought, the skies have opened up with a vengeance — flooding streets, dusting the Cajas with snow, and refilling the reservoirs that kept the lights off in 2024. Here's what expats need to know to stay safe and dry.

What started as a festive Carnival Saturday turned dangerous fast. Intense afternoon rains on February 14 and 15 flooded at least 15 neighborhoods, damaged homes in Barabón Chico, and sent emergency crews scrambling across western Cuenca. Meanwhile, in Cajas National Park, lightning struck four hikers on Cerro San Luis.