The Guadalajara Reporter
Guadalajara's Largest English Newspaper
The Ajijic Regata de Globos has become a hugely popular happening on Lakeside’s Patriotic Month calendar, second only to the Cry of Independence (Grito) celebrations that draw huge crowds to government headquarters in each community. Yet, the circumstances surrounding this year’s balloon festival have sparked concerns about lax attention to safety precautions.
Bandits armed with an explosive device blew open the ATM module at the Ajijic branch of Banco Multiva, stealing the entire cash contents of one automatic teller and leaving a second unit intact but severely damaged. The adjacent bank office building at the corner of Calle Javier Mina and the highway was not affected by the blast.
The crime occurred at around 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, September 3. Neighbors of the bank and residents as far away as the Ajijic cemetery heard the loud explosion, noting that it sounded like a supercharged cohete (skyrocket).
Shortly after daybreak, one passerby photographed the scene, even before local police and other authorities arrived to cordon off the area and begin their investigations. A Mexican Army unit was also dispatched to guard the site. Shattered glass from the front of the ATM and broken parts of the interior equipment littered the lateral road.
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Ajijic native Iván Romero Garnica left home just five days after the birth of his son to join a Mexican mission to help combat wildfires ravaging the Canadian province of British Columbia.
Lakeside residents will have multiple opportunities to join in the lively festivities commemorating Mexico’s independence over the coming week.
The action begins in Ajijic on Saturday, September 12, with the annual Regata del Globos, a hot-air balloon spectacle where friendly rivalry between flight teams centers as much on crafting techniques as on technical abilities to achieve altitude and distance with their handmade tissue-paper vessels fashioned in myriad sizes and shapes.
The Chapala government is weighing the possibility of merging the Tourism and Education departments following the recent departure of tourism director José Antonio Aguilera Cuevas. Education director Norma Angélica Ruiz Martínez has been assigned to assume his duties along with her own since August 11.
Community leaders in San Antonio Tlayacapan have developed a new concept to revive and promote the town’s artistic, artisanal and culinary talents through a monthly marketplace set up around the central plaza.
The ongoing installation of underground cabling in central Ajijic is advancing this week along the block of Calle Colón between Constitución-Ocampo and Parroquia-Hidalgo to the north.