Another edition of ¨Smoke Free Sundays¨ comes back this 2019 for six Sundays in Paseo Colon, San Jose. This is an activity promoted by the San Jose Municipality and the Ministry of Health that began back in 2011 with the objective of motivating families to visit the capital city without having to worry about cars and the contamination caused by them while also promoting a healthy "smoke free" ...

Domestic Airline Nature Air is working on reentering the domestic flights market in Costa Rica only one year after the tragic plane accident where 10 American tourist and a Costa Rican pilot and copilot died. Finally, the resolution $27 million dollars of the Airline’s insurance came through, “This resolution will eliminate another important obstacle in our process of refinancing to fly again”...

The Minister of Tourism, María Amalia Revelo and the president of airline company Iberia, Luis Gallego, signed a promotion agreement for Costa Rica in Europe. The announcement was made during the 2019 International Tourism Fair (Fitur). Revelo stated that this agreement will tighten the friendship of Costa Rican tourism with one of the most strategic allies in Spain. “The signing of this agree...

Yesterday after the Government of Costa Rica presented a bill to the Legislative Assembly to legalize Uber and similar platforms allowing them to coexist with regular cab services, Uber analyzed the proposal and stated its position in this regard. According to Uber ¨the vision of the government is far from being a proposal that promotes innovation, competition and development of technology¨ ...

Earlier Wednesday, January 23, 2019, President Donald Trump, recognized the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, as the Interim President of Venezuela and affirmed he will be using the weight of the United States economic and diplomatic power ¨to press for the restoration of Venezuelan democracy¨. ¨Today, I am officially recognizing the President of the Venezuelan Nationa...

Tuesday January 22nd The Costa Rican Government presented a law project to Congress that would legalize Uber and similar platforms allowing them to coexist with regular cab services. According to the Minister of Public Works and Transportation, Rodolfo Méndez Mata, Costa Rica must accept the reality of the new technologies and economic models that are already regulated in other parts of the wor...

The Minister of Tourism, Maria Amalia Revelo, took part of the XXII Ibero-American Conference of Tourism Ministers and Businesses (CIMET), an event held in the run-up to the official program of activities of Fitur 2019 in Madrid, Spain. Participants from Latin America, Spain and Portugal shared their advances and innovations in the tourism industry. They also discussed new trends in a highly conn...

Photo: Archive-Tomas King The Kölbi National Surf Tournament kicks off this January 26 and 27 at Dominical Beach with the Envision Festival Surf Cup Dominical 2019. Once again, the best surfers in Costa Rica will gather to surf one of the biggest waves in the country. Renown surfers such as Noe Mar McGonagle, and Tomas King, as well as Jair Pérez and Gilbert Brown are some of the figures th...

The work of the Drug Control Police (PCD) of the Ministry of Public Security, allowed the seizure of 975 kilograms of marijuana, five cars, cash and the arrest of 12 people. The events took place on the early hours of Sunday, when an anonymous tip on the confidential line 1176, alerted over the transportation of drugs. Public Police Force stopped a truck with two people and a car, also with ...

The Costa Rican Government confirmed that the fiscal deficit for 2018 closed at 6% of the GNP, a reduction of 1.2% of the expected 7.2% of the GNP. “The results are the product of the unprecedented decisions of expense containment, the actions against fiscal evasion and efficiency promoted by this Administration as well as the approval of the Law for the Strengthening of Public Finances”, state...

With an investment of $1.5 million USD, McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in the center of Limón, motivated by the opening of the Moín Container Terminal, and the new opportunities in business that this represents for the province. The opening of the restaurant generated 50 new jobs, it has a total area of 425 square meters (4,575 square ft.) plus the parking area, having a capacity for 15...

Sunday, January 20, 2019 at 1:26 a.m. the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano in Guanacaste, registered another important eruption; the height reached by the column of gas is unknown due to the visibility conditions in this area at the time. The most intense phase of the eruption lasted approximately 5 minutes, according to the seismic registries. Neighbors located to the north of the Volcano confirm...

Nine out of ten people in the world breath air with contamination levels that are higher than those recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), being aware of this problem is what inspired a Costa Rican company to create “Essential Air”, cans of 100% rainforest air from Costa Rica. "WHO estimates that around 7 million people die every year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air...

Costa Rica will host the Pan-American Marine Energy Conference (PAMEC-2020), January 26 through January 29, 2020, an event where experts will be able to present and discuss results of the most diverse investigations on energy of waves, swells, currents, thermal gradients and wind. Investigators, researches and businessmen of the sector of non-conventional areas, consultants and other members of...

Fans of country music in Costa Rica have a date on February 1 and 2 at Perlas Bar, Potrero Beach in Guanacaste where the Country Fest will take place with the presence of several national and international artists, including Gold Record Artist and American Idol Finalist Josh Gracin. Karla Crawford, Blue Canyon Boys, Will Matthews & Los Vaqueros, and newly added Keith Burns & Will Dakota are ju...

The Congresswoman from the Liberación Nacional Party, Silvia Hernández, the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), organized the forum “From Lagging to Regional Leadership: Costa Rica’s Concessions Program”. The event was held the morning of this Friday, January 18, to analyze the country’s challenges and opportunities to improve through inn...

Photo: Archive Poás, Turrialba, and the Rincón de la Vieja volcanoes in Alajuela, Cartago and Guanacaste respectively, continue this 2019 with important activity and constant eruptions. On January 17, 2019, the Rincón de la Vieja presented a moderate phreatic eruption (or perhaps a phreatomagmatic eruption, this is still being determined by the laboratory) at 1:30 a.m. and in the main crater w...

Costa Rican Allan Cruz will be part of the MLS after signing with the F.C. Cincinnati. The 23-year-old midfielder travelled this week to the United States to sign his agreement with this soccer club. Cruz, who played in Costa Rica with Heredia and with the national soccer team will join also Costa Rican Kendall Waston who signed with Cincinnati back in December. According to preliminary info...

The Costa Rica National Meteorological Institute (IMN) warned of strong winds that will be present throughout the weekend and that could reach 120 /km/h (74.6 mph) on Monday, January 21. “The meteorological station in La Cruz, Guanacaste registers wind gusts of as much as 102 km/h (63.4 mph). According to the model of the European Center, next Monday, the gusts could be higher than 120 km/h in ...

According to the eleventh edition of The Economist´s Democracy Index, Costa Rica is one of the world´s full democracies. ¨The EIU Democracy Index provides a snapshot of the state of world democracy for 165 independent states and two territories. The Democracy Index is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation;...

Civil Aviation in Costa Rica invested almost $5.7 million USD in the intervention of the Drake airport in Osa, Puntarenas, the updates were inaugurated by President Carlos Alvarado Wednesday January 17th. Tourism is the main economic activity in Drake, a region known for its lush raw nature. The project consisted of construction of a new 250 square meter terminal (2798.62 ft.), a platform to pa...

The Minister of Public Security, Michael Soto, expressed his disapproval of the voting that took place on Monday evening in the Security and Drug Trafficking Commission of the Legislative Assembly regarding changes to the Firearms and Explosives Law. “With the motions approved, we cannot continue with the reduction in homicides”, stated Soto. The Minister assured that the objective is not to ri...

An article published recently by the New York Times titled ¨23,000 Nicaraguans Have Fled to Costa Rica. 50 Fugitives Are Hiding Here¨  caused Costa Rican authorities to investigate whether there is indeed a safe house in the country where Nicaraguans might be hiding. According to the article some 50 fugitives live in a modest three-bedroom ranch home in the Costa Rican countryside. The crisi...

Southern Explorations, specializing in crafting custom small-group trips and itineraries to Latin America, has freshly completed an in-depth scouting mission of Costa Rica's most under-explored regions with the goal of crafting new custom trips and itineraries to the country. "Most tourism activities have only scratched the surface of what's actually out there in Costa Rica," explains Justin L...

The Center for the Investigation of Sea Science and Limnology (Cimar) informed that they have received reports on the presence of Portuguese man o' war (Physalia physalis) in beaches of the Costa Rican Caribbean. This animal is a marine hydrozoan, similar to a jellyfish, but it is Not a jellyfish, its long tentacles deliver a painful sting. Contact with them should be avoided, if seen floa...

The Criminal Court of the Second Judiciary Circuit of San Jose, gave six months of preventive imprisonment to five of the suspects of the kidnapping of William Sean Creighton, known as “Tony” from 5Dimes sportsbook. The five people that will remain in custody are the grandmother of the main suspect of last name Aguirre Leal, the uncle of the main suspect of last names Vega Aguirre and three oth...

The local government of the county of Talamanca in the Costa Rican Caribbean has officially banned the use of plastic straws in all its districts and communities. Through a press release given by Yorleni Obando, from the Municipality of Talamanca, they certify that this region will be free of plastic straws in order to protect nature and wildlife, this will apply in the tourist areas of Cahuita...

Costa Rica will have the 7th edition of the Beer Indie Fest on January 19 and 20 at the Pedregal Events Center in San Antonio de Belén, Heredia. This is an event organized by the Association of Craft Brewers of Costa Rica (ACACR) with the objective of showing and sharing the variety of independent beers that are currently being produced in the country. In the event visitors will be able ...

In total, twelve people have been arrested as suspects of taking part in the kidnapping of William Sean Creighton, businessman and owner of 5Dimes Sportsbook, 9 of them in Costa Rica and the others 3 in Zaragoza, Spain, all of them of Costa Rican nationality. Walter Espinoza, director of the Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ), provided in a statement all the details related to this case, and ...

The Turrialba Volcano now has seven shelters meant to offer protection to authorized personnel, park rangers, scientists and maintenance workers, that are distributed along the road that leads to the crater. The shelters were designed and built by the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE). Visitation to the Turrialba National Park is limited for the public; tourists are not allowed in a ra...

Costa Rica has been showcasing the most outstanding aspects of its ample and diverse tourism offerings at the five-day Vakantierbus international trade fair. Highlights include sun, beaches, adventure, a closeness with nature, “Wellness Pura Vida” lifestyle offerings and meeting tourism. Vakantierbus is one of the largest trade fairs in the European country, which is itself one of the continent’s ...

(photo: archive) Official Statement by Walter Espinoza, director of Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ) in Costa Rica regarding the arrests that took place this Friday in relation to the kidnapping of American-Costa Rican citizen William Sean Creighton, known in the sportsbook industry as 5Dimes Tony: ¨The District Attorney´s office carried out 10 searches today in relation to a kidnapping th...

The Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ) carried out several searches in the early morning Friday, January 11, in Costa Rica and also in Spain with the assistance of the local authorities in that country. All searches were in relation to the kidnapping of William Sean Creighton (known as Tony), owner of 5Dimes sportsbook in Costa Rica who went missing on September 24, 2018. In total in Costa Ri...

The police work carried out during 2018 and all the actions geared towards firearm control, allowed 2018 to be the year in which more illegal weapons were seized in the past eight years. In total, officers of Public Police Force seized 2318 weapons, which represents 13% more than the number for 2017. Out of the total number seized, 450 were the result of the more than 60 mega-operations that we...

The Minister of Environment, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, appeared in front to the Environmental Commission of the Legislative Assembly today, to respond several questions regarding the damage caused by illegal mining in the area and the economic losses that the extraction of gold represents for the country. In the past, Rodríguez had mentioned that gold panners could have taken as much as $1.5 mi...

Costa Rican goalie Keylor Navas was awarded the best Ibero-American Athlete trophy during the gala of the National Sports Awards. This prestigious award was handed to Keylor by the leader of the European country King Felipe of Spain. This is the second time Navas receives this recognition. Keylor Navas signed as goal keeper of Real Madrid in 2014 and recently signed for another season with t...

Geothermal Project Las Pailas II is currently in an intense testing phase to be included into the National Electric System (SEN) and generate sustainable electricity before the conclusion of the first semester of 2019, by the end of November 2018 its construction advance was of over 93%. ¨This final lap has the objective of putting to work the equipment and the systems of the geothermal field, ...

The Costa Rican Judiciry Investigative Police (OIJ) have raised the alert for international arrest of the woman nicknamed “la Reina del Sur” (Queen of the South), Cristel Gómez Espinoza, the last person related to the criminal organization related to Irving Alejandro Guido Toruño, “El Gringo” . The director of OIJ, Walter Espinoza, confirmed the information, and explained that that 23 year-old ...

As The Costa Rica Star reported some time ago, Costa Rican Hanna is scheduled to defend her WBA World Female Super Welterweight Title (154 lbs.) on January 26th, but now, the site will be in Nicaragua, and not Costa Rica like it had been informed last year. Gabriels’ opponent will be Sarah Dwyer, a former MMA fighter, native of Australia who holds a record of 3 wins, 4, losses and 2 draws and i...

Photo Credit: Reiner Montero A light aircraft crashed and burned this Tuesday in the area of Pococí, Limón. The initial information released by authorities explain that the airplane had landed at a private airport in Lomas de Sierpe where it stayed for about 20 minutes and then took off again, it was precisely during the take off that the plane plunged into a banana field and immediately exp...