Cruise bonanza
More than half a million passengers arrived on 174 international cruises to dock in Puerto Vallarta in 2023, an increase of 18.6 percent compared with the previous 12 months, according to the Jalisco Tourism Department (Secturjal).
The figure represents nine percent of the total number of visitors the port resort welcomed last year, the agency says. Data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) indicates that the average spend of a cruise line passenger in Puerto Vallarta was US$80.64.
Women outnumber men
Women aged over 30 in Jalisco outnumber men by a significant margin, especially among the older population. Regarding people between 30 and 59 years of age, there are 93 men for every 100 women, and for adults aged 60 and over, the balance is even wider: 86 men for every 100 women, according to data from the Instituto de Información Estadística y Geográfica del Estado. As of January 1, Jalisco’s population stood at 8,778.827 (50.7 percent female). The closest U.S. states in terms of population are Virginia (8,715,698) and New Jersey (9,290,841). The Greater Toronto Area population in 2023 is estimated at seven million.
After-hours trash collection
Guadalajara city hall has initiated a night-time garbage collection and sweeping program in the Centro Historico. Four collection routes are planned, encompassing an area between Calle Independencia and the Paseo Alcalde. Around ten tons of garbage is expected to be accumulated in each shift. At the same time as the collections, a team of ten “sweepers” will concentrate on clearing litter from the four main plazas in the city center, and the Alcalde, Morelos and Pedro Moreno pedestrian walkways. The new night shifts will start at 10 p.m. and run through 3 a.m. Francisco Ramírez Salcido, the interim mayor of Guadalajara, said this new strategy could be a solution to the collection problems that have plagued the municipality of late, adding the program might be expanded if it proves to be a success. He said the new system will allow Tapatios “to wake up to the (clean) city that we all deserve.”