As of this Thursday, April 5 at 10 p.m. the bridge over the Virilla River in Lindora, Santa Ana will be completely closed in order to install an auxiliary structure that will support the beams of a new frame for the bridge under construction. Transit will be closed from 10 p.m. through 5 a.m. for five nights starting on April 5, confirmed the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT). ...

According to the 2017 Annual Report of the Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ), a total of 4,747 reports of stolen cars were filed last year, for an average of 13 cars a day; this represents a 10% increase from the total of 2016. Thieves prefer the brands Hyundai (492 reports) and Toyota (478), but other brands such as Suzuki,Nissan, Mitsubishi, Honda, Isuzu, Geo and Chevrolet, are also common...

The Juan Santamaria International Airport in Costa Rica was ranked in second place in Central America and the Caribbean according to the World Airport Awards by Skytrax. The Costa Rican airport took second place to the Tocumen Airport in Panama which was recognized as having the best staff; the third place in the region was given by Norman Manley Airport in Kingston, Jamaica and the top five w...

A unified country and a unified government working together towards common goals for the benefit of the country is what Carlos Alvarado preached in the last two months of electoral campaign. One of Costa Rica’s biggest problems throughout the years has been the impossibility of advancing projects through a divided congress, different interests keep bills stuck for even decades and some never ...

A total of 59 people died in different accidents during this Holy Week in Costa Rica. According to the Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ) during the week of March 25 through April 1st, 24 people died in traffic related accidents, 11 people were murdered, 8 lost their lives in water related accidents (among them two sisters 5 and 7 years of age who drowned in a river) and 8 were victims of oth...

Most of the polls conducted prior to the second round elections in Costa Rica, had candidate of the National Restoration Party (PRN) Fabricio Alvarado ahead of the game, however, the reality proved to be very different from what the polls predicted, and Fabricio received only 39.33% of the votes, vs. a 60.66 obtained by his opponent Carlos Alvarado. When the presidential race began in Costa Ri...

Yesterday, April 1st, Costa Rica elected its President for the next four years, the candidate of the Citizens' Action Party (PAC), Carlos Alvarado. With the support of 60.66% of the voters, Carlos Alvarado became the 48th president of Costa Rica. Carlos is a 38 year-old journalist, he was the Labor Minister and one of the counselors for PAC in congress during the 2006-2010 period, he consultant...

Malakai Martinez is one of Costa Rica's young surfing figures and prospects, he demonstrated his skills by finishing in fourth place in the Junior Pro of the World Surf League, which took place in Pipeline, North Shore Oahu, Hawaii. Martinez was the only Hispanic competitor to reach the final after ousting reigning Junior World Champion Finn McGill; Martinez finished fourth among 32 competitors...

The first Central American satellite, developed by Costa Ricans will be launched the afternoon of this Monday, April 2 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA. The rocket Space Falcon 9 and the Dragon spaceship will be in charge of the transportation of the small satellite, which was manufactured with CubeSat technology, and consists on a cube that measures only 10 centimeters (...

Polls leading to the Presidential Elections in Costa Rica never showed Carlos Alvarado, the candidate for Citizens' Action Party ahead; one had Fabricio Alvarado (PRN) up by almost ten points, while another showed a statistical tie. Today, April 1st, Carlos Alvarado was elected President of Costa Rica with 60.66% of the votes, versus 39.34% for Fabricio Alvarado. The last survey by Opol Co...

Costa Rica made its position very clear, Carlos Alvarado from the Citizen’s Action Party (PAC) was elected the President of the country for the 2018-2022 period. The first official cut showed that Carlos Alvarado received a total 60.66% of the votes with an overwhelming support that makes him the 48th President of Costa Rica. Fabricio Alvarado from the National Restauration Party received 39...

The voting centers in Costa Rica closed doors at 6 p.m. sharp. The Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) announced the provisional results of the first cut at 8:05 p.m. After an initial 5992 tables (90.62% of the total) 66.91% of the voters participated to put Citizens’ Action Party's candidate Carlos Alvarado significantly ahead: PAC: 60.66% Total votes: 1,205,864 PRN: 39.33% Total Votes: 782,009 ...

The activity at the Turrialba Volcano in Costa Rica just doesn’t stop, on April 1st, two significant eruptions took place early in the morning and carried on for close to 30 minutes. The biggest eruption was registered at 8:38 a.m. local time and the cameras located near the crater registered a column of ash that reached between 500-700 meters above the active crater. The activity at the volcan...

It is 2 p.m. in Costa Rica and in just 4 hours voting centers will close their doors and Costa Rica will have a new president. Fabricio Alvarado, candidate of the National Restauration Party, feels confident of coming out victorious in this process, he expected to have a million votes guaranteed by noon time, and said he was certain he’d get an overwhelming triumph. “It is important to remember...

The day is finally here, Costa Rica will know this Sunday evening who their president will be for the next four years. Costa Ricans are voting today in a second round of elections, between the two candidates that got the highest number of votes back on February 4. Early (9 a.m.) this Easter Sunday, election centers around the country looked somewhat empty in comparison to February 4; voting ...

Leilani McGonagle made history for Costa Rica again by winning for the first time a WQS 3000 (Women’s Qualifying Series). McGonagle, took the first place of the WQS 3000 in Barbados with guidance from her brother and coach Noe Mar McGonagle. The Costa Rican, a native of Pavones, Golfito, had previously won the WQS 1500 in Chile in 2017; now with this WQS 3000 win, Leilani becomes the first T...

The Handsmaid’s Tale television series based on Margaret Atwood’s influential and acclaimed novel, which explores topics related to the struggle of women to gain independence in a patriarchal and misogynic society, inspires the outfits (crimson robes and white bonnets) a group of women will be wearing this April 1st in the second round presidential elections in Costa Rica when they cast their vote...

The second and final round elections in Costa Rica officially began with the opening of the voting center in Sidney, Australia, where a native from Heredia, Randall Arce was the first Costa Rican to vote abroad in this presidential elections process. The Supreme Electoral Court opened 52 voting centers for citizens who live abroad; in total there are almost 31 thousand Ticos that live in diffe...

Six people have died so far this Holy Week in Costa Rica as a result of water accidents in the different vacation hot spots in the country, five more have been rescued and required medical attention, while the Coast Guard Service has been patrolling the beaches that have prevented many more tragedies. The last reported death was of a North American tourist in the area of Playa Hermosa de Jacó, ...

The United States Department of State through its International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2018 makes a full analysis of Costa Rica’s situation when it comes to drug trafficking and the direct relation with the increase in homicides in the country. “Costa Rica’s strategic location, vast maritime territory, and the small size of its security forces combine to make it an attractive transi...

On March 28 the official arrival (arribada) of Olive Ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) began at the area known as Main Nesting Beach in Playa Ostional, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The National System of Areas of Conservation is taking control and protection actions to avoid the illegal transportation and commerce of sea turtle eggs in these sites. Each olive ridley turtles can lay in a...

The activity started on the night of March 29th with a small eruption that lasted for about 10 minutes, a column of gas and ashes that reached just 200 meters above the active crater, the activity, however continued sporadically throughout March 30th. According to the National Seismology Network another eruption was registered at the Turrialba Volcano in Cartago at around 12:30 p.m. on Friday a...

The first Ironman 70.3 in Costa Rica took place last year with the participation of over 2,000 athletes representing 40 countries; the second edition of this event will take place June 24 again in Carrillo, Guanacaste. The registration for this famous endurance competition, opened up several weeks ago, and the cost of registration goes from $300-$375 depending on which tier the registration fa...

A strange car accident in which a vehicle fell from the fourth floor of a parking lot in Costa del Este, Panama, caused the death of a 19-year old Costa Rican, a 17 year-old Venezuelan girl and her father, a 60-year old man. Apparently the young man, identified as Abel Sandi, was in the car with two friends, of last names Murillo Perrone, and the father of both a man named Eduardo Murillo; one ...

Latin America, duly registered since January this year in the National Registry of Costa Rica. In Costa Rica the use of marijuana or cannabis for medicinal purposes is still not legalized, but a group of 10 friends decided to start paving the way by creating this association, which has the purpose of “studying the varieties of cannabis and their different scientific, cultural and therapeutic ap...

A Dutchman tried to enter Costa Rica through the Juan Santamaria Airport with methamphetamines hidden in the double lining of his suitcase. The 50-year-old man, of last names Caurbocia Peña, who apparently has no criminal record or pending criminal causes, flew in from Zurich, Switzerland and had a ticket to go back to this same destination on April 10. Methamphetamine is a stimulant drug tha...

The company Opol Consultores S.A. was ready to release the results of their last survey prior to the Presidential Elections in Costa Rica that take place this Sunday, April 1st; however, after their team received threats they opted for cancelling the publication of the results. “We regret not being able to conclude our work. The integrity of our collaborators comes first. It is important to sa...

If you are a user of Route 32 (San Jose-Limon) and/or the Florencio del Castillo highway that connects San Jose to Cartago , take into consideration that the Quick Pass devices won’t be working on these toll booths for a period of three months. The Quick Pass is an electronic device that allows drivers to have their toll fees deducted directly from the bank account and to use exclusive lanes fo...

Chamanes y Espiritus: tesoros de Museo del Jade, (“Shamans and Spirits: Treasures of the Jade Museum”), is the exhibit that the Jade Museum of Costa Rica took to the Cataluña Archeological Museum in Barcelona, Spain. As part of an international agreement, the European public will now be able to appreciate this exhibit that brings the public close to religious rituals and spirits that our ances...

Today in the Costa Rican daily La Republica, an article regarding a project to make of Limon, in the Costa Rican Caribbean, a "New Cancun", caught our attention, is this the type of development that the Caribbean province should be aiming for? In the recent years and after many decades of neglect, investors have been turning their eyes towards the Caribbean province, the project of APM terminal...

As it was announced in July 2017, airline Lufthansa will inaugurate this Thursday, March 29, 2018 its non-stop flight between Frankfurt, Germany and San Jose, Costa Rica. Back when the announcement was made, Tamur Goudarzi-Pour, vice-president of Sales for the Americas of Lufthansa had stated: “Beyond tourism, the Lufthansa Group offers a world of travel opportunities for both leisure and bus...

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases entity in charge of creating the Zika vaccine wll be recruiting as of April, 240 Costa Ricans of the metropolitan area and Santa Cruz, Guanacaste that have not been infected by the virus and are willing to try the experimental vaccine in a trial. The Zika virus, transmitted by a mosquito has affected people in over 50 countries, includi...

If you are vacationing in the Central or South Pacific of Costa Rica this Holy Week and you enjoy surfing, head to Dominical on Friday and Saturday to witness the seventh edition of the Dominical Holy Week Classic. The surf event will take place in front of the Costa Rica Surf Camp in Dominical Beach, and will involve five different categories Open Male, Open Female, Junior Male, Local, and Min...

Owen Hanson (Nicknamed O'Dog) seemed to have everything going for him, he was apparently brought up in a good home and eventually came to be part of the USC football team, however, Hanson’s greed apparently took over, and he became the leader of what was defined by the US Department of Justice as “a violent racketeering enterprise”. Back in December 2017, Hanson was sentenced to 255 months in ...

The Costa Rica National Soccer Team, La Sele, fell 1-0 to Tunisia in the friendly match disputed this Tuesday, March 27 at the Allianz Rivera de Nice Stadium. Head coach Oscar Ramirez, tested the waters with a different lineup than the one the had against Scotland, but the experiment didn’t work, far from that it made the national team look uncomfortable and limited. Tunisia displayed speed ...

Many times when we publish articles where Costa Rica is listed as one of the top destinations to retire/live in these articles refer to the country as “affordable”, we get comments from our readers stating their strong disagreement with these affirmations always wondering how much it really cost to live in Costa Rica? Well, the answer is far from simple; there are many things to consider, for i...

Costa Rica took first place this year in the International Living Magazine Annual Global Retirement Index, as the best place for expats to retire and now, based on this same report, editors of International Living have chosen some of the most affordable beach towns to live abroad, among them Tamarindo in Guanacaste. The article describes this popular beach town as follows: “The Pacific-coast...

The FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola first took place in 2006 with the objective of bringing the most iconic trophy in soccer close to millions of fans across the globe. The original trophy, that will be given to the Russia World Cup champion in July 15, 2018, made of solid 18 carat gold and with a weight of 6.14 kilograms tours 51 countries, 91 cities and a total of 152 thousand kilomet...

This is not unusual, every year during  Christmas, New Year week and then Holy Week the number of people that lose their lives increases. Road accidents, water accidents, homicides and domestic aggression are sadly very common this time of the year. The Holy week just began and the authorities already register 5 people dead as a result of car accidents, while two people have died victims of wat...

From January 1st through March 26th Costa Rica registers a total 145 homicides, 6 more than the number registered in the same period in 2017, according to statistics by the Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ). Alvaro Gonzalez, Chief of the Homicides Division from the Judicial Investigative Police, stated during a press conference, that the initial investigations determine that the majority of t...