Articles

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.

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.

Residents of Los Olivos and San Lucas in the San José de Balzay sector say they've been promised pavement on the same ~3 km road for about ten years. The most recent promise from the Prefectura del Azuay pointed to May-June. Families are still breathing dust.

If you've walked past Cuenca's Chola Cuencana monument, you've already seen Virgilio Quinde Tacuri's work. A new retrospective of the sculptor's career, 'Un Siglo de Arte y Pasión,' is open at the Salón del Pueblo in El Centro through April 30. Free entry.

Students from Instituto Sudamericano turned the murals at Casa de las Palomas into an interactive AR experience. Free, in El Centro, and today — Friday April 10 — is the final day. Closes at 9 PM.

Ecuador's weather service is calling Friday's UV radiation in Azuay 'extremely high' — the top category on the scale. INAMHI specifically flags 10 AM to 3 PM as peak exposure. Here's what that actually means at 2,550 meters.