Articles

The Mercado 12 de Abril just got a nice upgrade. A new public space called Plaza Viva opened on March 20 with urban furniture, green areas, children's play equipment, murals, and free health screenings. If you haven't been to this market yet, now's a great time to check it out.

Heavy rains slammed the Cuenca-Machala highway at km 58, triggering landslides that blocked the road for three consecutive days by March 13. Canada issued a travel advisory, coastal seafood and produce deliveries to Cuenca markets were disrupted, and rainy season is far from over.

If you drive the Cuenca-Azogues autopista at night, heads up: it's closed between 11PM and 4AM for 30 consecutive nights starting March 10. Workers are placing beams for the Monay interchange overpass, and the project is now 25% complete with the first elevated section expected by September.

If your water's been cutting out lately, you're not imagining things. A broken main at Remigio Crespo and Calle Latinoamérica on March 21 left 18 sectors without service, and that came just days after another outage linked to hospital construction in Baños. Here's what happened and how to prepare.

The Pawkar Raymi — the Andean Festival of Flowering that marks the indigenous new year — was celebrated across Cuenca on March 20-21. Ceremonies at the Plazoleta de El Vado, Parque Ecológico de Ictocruz, and the Botanical Garden honored the spring equinox with fire rituals, offerings, and music.

Three people have been killed across multiple attacks in Cuenca in early March, including a shooting at a funeral in Las Orquídeas and gunfire in Las Peñas. Police say the killings are linked to competition over drug sales corners — a pattern that's relatively new for this city.

Cuenca's bus system ($0.30) and the tranvía ($0.35) have operated on separate payment systems since the tram launched. That's finally changing — a unified fare card is expected by July 2026 after negotiations with the bus union concluded. Here's what we know.

President Noboa visited Cuenca on March 18-19 and brought some real deliverables: a $21 million highway contract for the Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme road, a new affordable housing project in Mayancela, and the reactivation of a stalled $4.7M initiative that's been dormant since 2011.

Ecuador declared a 60-day national state of emergency on March 12 after devastating floods and landslides hit 190 cantons across the country. Over 200,000 people have been affected, and Cuenca is dealing with significant cleanup. Here's what you need to know and how to stay safe.