The mood went from edgy to cautious optimism to jump-up-and-down jubilation as members of the Ajijic chapter of Democrats Abroad and others congregated for an election night vigil at Club Exotica on November 6.

An international tribunal is set to review the construction of a controversial dam in northern Jalisco next week, in the first of many hearings to take place in Mexico over the next three years.

Guadalajara’s craft beer industry is booming, with new microbreweries cropping up all the time. Among those to catch the Reporter’s eye during the International Beer Festival in October was the boldly named Cerveza Uno, a one-man operation run by Luis Enrique Lepe Tinoco.

The image of a young blonde girl begging on the streets of Guadalajara caused an online uproar last week, raising the often overlooked issue of racism in contemporary Mexican society.

Lake Chapala area residents will note not a pause, but rather an intense burst of activity as Mexico’s idiosyncratic commemorations of All Saints and All Souls rolls around at the end of next week.

Downtown Guadalajara, San Juan de Dios and Central Zapopan are “current or potential hotspots” for inter-gang violence, but the metropolitan area will remain in “relative calm” due to its low strategic value, according to a detailed report on the various drug gangs that operate at different levels in and around the city.