Articles

The environmental license was revoked in October. The Energy Minister and Cuenca's mayor traded public insults. 100,000 people marched. But the mining concession itself? Still active. Here's where the fight stands now.

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.

If Cuenca felt unusually packed this weekend, you weren't imagining it. Hotels hit 90% occupancy, 1.3 million Ecuadorians hit the road, and the government estimates the four-day feriado will generate up to $100 million in tourism spending. Here's what the Carnival boom actually looked like.

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.

Remember when we told you they were going to try? They did it. On Valentine's Day, 30 chefs prepared 1,723 kilograms of mote pata at Plaza San Francisco, earning Cuenca an official Guinness World Record and feeding 9,500 people for free.

From Cuenca's first full wastewater treatment plant to potable water expansion in Santa Ana, ETAPA's 2026 plan includes 200 contracts worth $58.4 million. Here's what's actually in the pipeline and why it matters for the city's future.

A proposed emergency economic law would force municipalities to spend 70% of their budgets on infrastructure, slashing funding for social services. Azuay's prefecture is among those pushing back hard.

ETAPA just graduated 350 community forest brigaders trained to defend the páramos and watersheds that supply every drop of Cuenca's tap water. After last year's fires scorched thousands of hectares, this volunteer army could be the difference between clean water and crisis.