Costa Rica became the first non-European country to adhere to the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs, also known as Santiago de Compostela Treaty. This is the first international treaty against this type of crime and represents a big step towards battling trafficking of human organs in the world. The treaty’s objective is the prevention and penalization of traff...

The 2018 wildfires season has been the worse in Costa Rica in the past three years. According to the National System of Areas of Conservation (SINAC) a total of 47 wildfires have been recorded from January 1st through April 17 while in this same lapse in 2017 there were 33 forest fires, 36 in 2016 and in 2015 a total of 34. As it is common 67% of these fires affected areas in the North Pacif...

Costa Rica is already positioned as one of the preferred choices for North Americans as a medical and dental tourism destination , it is known that the treatments most commonly sought in the country are esthetic procedures; however, an alliance between the San Rafael Arcangel Hospital in Liberia, Guanacaste and Centro de Radioterapia Siglo XXI, hope to position the country on the map as a medical ...

Its April 20 or “weed day” as many call it and the consumers of marijuana in Costa Rica celebrate this day by smoking of course. The theories on how 4/20 became a code for pot smoking are many and no one can say for sure which one is the true story, but the fact is that April 20 has become internationally known as weed day, events are held in many countries to advocate for the legalization of c...

President Luis Guillermo Solis declared “El Camino de Costa Rica” (The trail of Costa Rica), a trail that will allow hikers to traverse the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast, a project of public interest. Through an Executive Decree published earlier this year, the President highlighted the importance of supporting this initiative, which promotes a unique outdoor experience that w...

The Directorate General of Immigration in Costa Rica was supposed to start charging foreigners today, April 20, a $100.00 fine per month of irregular (illegal) permanence in the country, however, the immigration authority announced that they will not apply the fine for another 12 months. “The Directorate General of Immigration, through Executive Decree 41033-MGP, delays for 12 months the appl...

The Costa Rican Youth Ballet (Ballet Juvenil Costarricense -BJC) announced the creation of the first Professional Classic Ballet Company in Costa Rica. With 24 years of experience, the BJC is creating the National Ballet of Costa Rica with the purpose of giving Costa Rica its first formal classic ballet company, “we want to give the country an artistic and cultural gift for the enjoyment of ...

The construction of a hotel in the area of San Juanillo in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste came to halt by order of the district attorney office after the discovery of an archaeological site. National daily La Nacion informed of the situation today after receiving confirmation of the situation by Myrna Rojas, chief of the Anthropology and History Department of the National Museum. Apparently during ...

If the Law to Strengthen the Public Finances is approved by the Legislative Assembly, vacationing in Costa Rica will be even more expensive then it currently is. This bill proposes the taxing of tourism services with a Value Added Tax of 4% at the beginning, 8% by the third year and finally reaching 13% by the fourth year; this would affect activities such as white-water rafting, boat rides, zi...

Pink pigs that appeared in different areas of San Jose, created expectation among fans during the weekend, and the concert has not officially been confirmed, Roger Waters will be offering a concert in Costa Rica November 24 at the National Stadium. The former bass player, singer and songwriter of the band Pink Floyd, confirmed the news through social media. The production company Move Concerts ...

Three irresponsible people once again disregarded the warning signs this time at the Turrialba Volcano National Park and accessed the area closed to the crater putting their lives at risk. Apparently the three men broke one of the access gates with their car and entered the park illegally, however, authorities only realized what had happened after the damage was done and the men had left the ar...

United Airlines opened a sales office in Costa Rica, more specifically in the Momentum Pinares complex in Pinares, Curridabat, San Jose. “This new sales office is just another of our efforts to offer our clients the best attention and experience when flying with United”, commented Carlos Granados, General Sales Manager for United Airlines in Costa Rica. With over 25 years operating in Costa...

Costa Rica has still a long road ahead when it comes to recycling practices, and a new digital platform hopes to help change this reality by offering “virtual money” that can be exchanged for discounts on products, services and experiences The way it works is simple, every time a user recycles they receive “virtual money” or credits, as they accumulate these credits they can opt for discounts...

The U.S. Embassy signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Public Education (MEP), committing to work together for four more years in order to strengthen the teaching of English language in public schools in Costa Rica. The memorandum of understanding includes support for English language development for students, professors and MEP staff with English specialists; development of...

Just one month ago Volaris Airlines inaugurated its route Costa Rica to Los Angeles, California; and today, April 18 it began operating the new San Jose, Costa Rica to New York, NY, USA route via El Salvador. This new route has a two-day frequency, Tuesdays and Fridays from San Jose and Wednesdays and Saturdays from New York. The flight makes a stop in El Salvador. Back in September 2018...

This Tuesday the Costa Rica Judo Federation held the press conference to offer details on the Pan-American Judo Championship that kicks off this Thursday at 9 a.m. and will continue through Sunday, April 22 at Pedregal in San Antonio de Belen, Heredia. “We are very happy, this is one of the four most important events in the continent and organizing it in Costa Rica is a huge pride”, commented D...

Colombian airline Avianca announced the opening of a new route to Munich, Germany starting in November, the flight will be available through the Juan Santamaria International Airport in Costa Rica. The airline will fly to Munich-Franz Josef Strauss International Airport five times a week, starting November 16. “Germany will become the third European country that the company flies to, the oth...

Amazon announced today through a press release that now purchases made by Costa Ricans through their online platform will be delivered directly to Costa Rica from the United States this includes electronics, books, clothes, shoes and toys, among others. The International Shopping experience has been enabled for Costa Rica within the Amazon Shopping application and It allows for purchasers to al...

Some years ago the police in Costa Rica had caught a pigeon that had attempted to smuggle drugs into prison, the famous bird was nick named the “narco-pigeon”, yesterday, penitentiary police caught a cat who was carrying a cell phone for “delivery” to an inmate. The feline had a bag tied around his neck in which he carried the mobile phone, charger and hands-free device. According to the off...

In the last ten years the number of people infected with HIV in Costa Rica has raised a 68%, back in 2002 health centers would diagnose less than one new case per day, while by 2016 this number went to one new patient every 12 hours. Almost 80% of the new patients diagnosed are homosexual men. According to Costa Rican Health Authorities, between 2002 and 2016 there were a total of 9,197 diag...

In the four months from December through March a total of 1,526 archaeological pieces have been returned to the National Museum voluntarily by citizens. 54 people established communication with the National Museum to return objects that they had in their possession and coordinate their return to the Museum. This historical number of returns is due to the recent actions by the Costa Rican aut...

A total of 51 teams of 30 different countries are taking part of the Offshore World Championship sport fishing tournament that began this April 15 and will carry on through April 20 at Marina Pez Vela, Quepos. Among the participating countries are USA, Australia, Angola, Mexico, Fiji, Brazil, Bermuda, South Africa, New Zealand, Panama, Spain, Croatia, Canada, Trinidad & Tobago and Costa Ric...

A new tide gauge or mareograph was installed in Isla del Coco, Costa Rica with the purpose of alerting park rangers, researches, volunteers and tourists about changes in sea level and the formation of tsunamis. “If we have information on how big is the tsunami on its arrival to the Island, then we can estimate how big it will be in Central and South America”, explained Silvia Chacon, oceanogr...

A giant inflatable pink pig surprised people in San Jose, as it appeared above the National Stadium in Costa Rica on Sunday evening. The balloon stayed up for a couple of hours and apparently it is a marketing strategy to generate expectation for a show that will be soon coming to Costa Rica and most likely will take place at the National Stadium. Also, reports from flyers with pink pigs an...

Video by: Cusuko Fotografia The magnificence of the Turrialba Volcano in Costa Rica, one of the current active volcanoes in the country and the second highest sitting at 3,340 meters above sea level (10,958 ft.), is showcased in this video created by Costa Rican Iván Salazar Cruz from Cusuko Fotografia and featured in the Spanish version of National Geographic Magazine. The majority of the i...

Santa Teresa Beach received hundreds of competitors and a big crowd that gathered to witness the Condominio Arenas Cup competition, part of the Kolbi National Circuit. The result was certainly unexpected; Tomas King took the win in the male open category going against experienced Anthony Filingim and Noe Mar McGonagle. King got a score of 18.66 (9.83 + 8.83). King proved his talent and quali...

The Directorate General of Immigration in Costa Rica made the announcement over a month ago, tourists, foreigners who live in Costa Rica but are not legal residents and those who have temporary residence or special category but whose DIMEX (Migratory Identification Document for Foreigners) is expired will be fined $100 per month of irregular (illegal) permanence in the country. This coming Frid...

The Jade Museum’s exhibit El Esplendor de los Castillos Medievales Catalanes” (The Splendor of the Catalan Medieval Castles) will be enriched with a special presentation on Friday, April 20 starting at 5 p.m. and through 9 p.m. In this activity visitors will have the opportunity to live a true Medieval experience with the recreation of a market of the era, decoration, recreation of jobs and cha...

The Costa Rica Foreign Trade Promotion Agency (Procomer) holds first place for fourth consecutive year  in the ranking of trade promotion agencies elaborated by the International Trade Center (ITC) agency of the World Commerce Organization (WCO) and the United Nations (UN). The comparative analysis evaluated 225 technical aspects among 63 trade promotion agencies in the world. Procomer earned a...

If you are a big fan of orchids you can’t miss the National Orchid Expo in its last day this Sunday, April 15. The expo takes place in the underground parking of Paseo Metropoli shopping center in Cartago, where a large variety of national and international orchids will be showcased, close to 3000. 10 orchids association are taking part of this event, where rare flowers can be appreciated an...

Officers of the National Coast Guard Service and the Frontier Police found 35 packets of cocaine hidden in a beach in Golfo Dulce, Osa, Puntarenas. Costa Rican authorities were alerted on Friday night by the Colombian police about a suspicious vessel that had left Colombia and was heading to the coast of Costa Rica. According to the Minister of Security, Gustavo Mata, the Coast Guard Service i...

The government of Costa Rica condemned the US bombing over Syria that took place on Friday evening, as well as the chemical weapons attacks that occurred in the city of Duma on April 7. The actions taken by the United States were justified by President Trump as a response to the toxic attacks that caused the death of many civilians in Syria. President Luis Guillermo Solis and the Ministry of...

Texas Tech University in Costa Rica (TTU-CR) is offering 50 part time jobs for students that need to work in order to pay for their studies. Students will receive a salary of up to $560 a month; the program hopes to offer opportunities to good students in all social-economic levels and in this way recruiting Costa Rican and Central American talent. Attending TTU-CR involves an investment o...

Cézanne-Portraits of a Life is the new documentary film part of the program Exhibition on Screen that will be screened at the Magaly movie theater in Barrio La California, on Tuesday, April 24 and Sunday, April 29. Paul Cézanne was a French artist and post-impressionist painter, Portraits of Life is dedicated to his portrait work, “One can’t appreciate 20th century art without understanding the...

In just the first three months of this 2018, the Costa Rica Investigative Police (OIJ) and the National Museum recovered 266 archaeological pieces. Alejandro Fernandez, investigator of OIJ, stated "These pieces are put on sale by collectors through websites and even through Facebook groups"; Fernandez confirmed that the number of pieces recovered so far is already higher than the total number r...

Incidents are reported frequently of national and foreign tourists that choose to ignore the warning signs at the different national parks in Costa Rica and end up risking their lives and endangering the lives of members of the rescue teams. This time its the Guanacaste Conservation Area (ACG) that urge visitors to respect the rules established in each park, this because on April 10 a visitor ...

President-elect Carlos Alvarado chose the Plaza de la Democracia (Democracy Plaza) in San Jose as the site for the presidential transition act that will take place May 8th. Alvarado made the request directly to the commission in charge of the transition act, which is headed by Marcia Gonzalez president of the Citizens' Action Party and Minister of Foreign Affairs Manuel Gonzalez. "The Plaza de...

In just a few weeks the Costa Rica Classic, stop of the PGA Tour Latin America, will be taking place at Reserva Conchal in Guanacaste. The prestigious golf tournament will take place from May 7 through May 13 and its the sixth event of the 2018 PGA Tour Latin America. "We are very happy to host the PGA Tour in Costa Rica for the second consecutive year", stated Maurizio Musmanni, presidident...

The Contentious Administrative Court acted upon a request presented by Reserva Conchal Beach Resort and has ordered the Municipality of Santa Cruz (Guanacaste) to take immediate measures to close the vehicle access and parking in the Maritime-Land Zone of Conchal Beach. They must transfer the unauthorized commerce ( Beach sellers)to a different location in the area. "It was determined that if this...

The judges of the Costa Rica's Constitutional Chamber (Sala Constitucional or Sala Cuarta) didn't find anything unconstitutional in the project presented to reduce the pensions of the Judiciary Power. The consultation was made by the Legislative Assembly since November 1, 2017, after the project was approved in first debate in congress. Now, with sentence number 2018-5758, the Constitutional Ch...