General News

When it comes to attracting tourism, the state of Jalisco, and indeed all of Mexico, has a perception problem.

Energy reforms signed into law

Mexican President Enrique Pena signed far-reaching energy reforms into law at a ceremony held at the National Palace on Friday, December 20.  The new laws allow private companies to explore and drill for Mexico’s oil, ending state-owned oil monopoly Pemex’s 75-year grip on the sector.

Gates buys Nayarit hotel

Mutli-millionaire Bill Gates’ private investment company, Cascade, has purchased the Four Seasons Resort in Punta Mita, Nayarit for 200 million dollars, according to public documents. The high-end resort hotel was built in 1990 and is a popular holiday destination for U.S. celebrities.

Man killed with rosary beads

Forensic scientists believe an unidentified man found dead on a sidewalk in Guadalajara’s Colonia San Jacinto just before the holidays was strangled to death with rosary beads.  Investigators came to their decision after examining the marks on the neck of the deceased and nylon thread found on his shirt.

Octogenarian rescued from Colima Nevado

Jalisco Civil Protection personnel rescued an 80-year-old Swiss man after he became lost on the Nevado de Colima last week.  He was treated for hyperthermia and dehydration and airlifted to a hospital in Guadalajara.  Due to mild temperatures, only a few snowfalls have been reported this winter at the 4,260-meter Nevado de Colima, an extinct volcano on the border of Jalisco and Colima.

Internet on Aeromexico flights

Aeromexico will offer Internet service on at least 75 of its airplanes as of the second half of 2014.The company’s director general, Andrés Conesa, said he was proud to be the first Latin American carrier to provide this service.

Jalisco has not opened the door to same-sex marriage even though two women became the first gay couple to wed in the state last month, the director of Guadalajara’s Civil Registry said this week.

Even though under state law same-sex marriage is illegal in Jalisco, a lesbian couple tied the knot last Saturday at a Guadalajara registry office.

As of January 1, same-sex couples in Jalisco may enter into civil unions – contracts that enhance their inheritance rights and eligibility for social security benefits.

Many eyes will be focused on a registry office in Guadalajara on Saturday as two women try to become the first same-sex couple to marry in the state of Jalisco.

As you hang up your spanking new 2014 calendar and begin inking in birthdays and other special occasions to be remembered, you may also want to make note of the Mexican civic holidays, traditional festivities and special events that will come up over the next 12 months.

Kidnappings have tripled in Jalisco in the past four years, according to the Fiscalía General (State Attorney General’s Office).