Articles

The Museo Municipal de la Paja Toquilla and Ricaurte's Casa Amiga are running four rounds of free toquilla straw weaving classes through June. Basic and advanced levels, afternoon and Saturday morning slots, spots are limited. Here's the schedule and the email to grab a seat.

A health insurance certificate from your Ecuadorian insurer is no longer sufficient for the residency visa categories that require insurance — immigration now wants the policy registered in a central government database, and the registration takes roughly a month. Not every category is affected (the professional visa, for example, doesn't require health insurance at all). Here's what's happening and what to do if you're in the middle of an affected application.

The Bienal Internacional de Artesanía Contemporánea (ARDIS 2026) wrapped April 13 at the Jardines del CIDAP. The top honor — the Medalla CIDAP — went to the Amazonian collective Ömere for a chambira fiber work called "Terekenkare. La voz interior." Cuenca's own Tomás Carpio made the honor mentions.

Both of Cuenca's big April holiday windows — Easter and Founding Week — came in under hotel projections. Easter hit 60% occupancy against a 70% target; Founding Week landed at 40% against an expected 50%. Industry voices are blaming thin programming, violence, and the state of the roads in.

The Universidad de Cuenca's agronomy program marked 47 years this week. It started in 1979 with just 39 students and has quietly become one of the Austro region's most important agricultural-knowledge institutions. Rector Rodrigo Mendieta was at the commemoration.

Azuay's provincial government says its "Pisos Dignos" program has replaced dirt floors with concrete ones in 215 rural homes in just over a year. Prefect Juan Cristóbal Lloret is targeting 200 more in 2026, working with Habitat for Humanity and World Vision Ecuador.

Cuenca's plan to relocate the city's zona de tolerancia out of Barrio Cayambe — a move written into the city's PDOT — has stalled because no one has delivered the required technical consultancy. Councilor Jenny Bermeo says not even the academy has wanted to take part.

Boris Ochoa was elected the new president of the Cámara de Transporte de Cuenca on April 11, replacing Diego Idrovo. His first-100-days focus: internal reorganization and modernizing the payment consoles on Cuenca's 475-bus fleet.

Lady Ximena Uzhca Zambrano of the San Andrés de Taday parish was crowned Azogueñita 2026 on Saturday, April 11 at the Coliseo Tipo Mil in Azogues, during festivities marking the canton's 201 years of cantonization. Worth a day trip this week.