Domestic airline Nature Air was forced to fire 31 employees yesterday, according to the organization this decision obeyed to the “delay in the restructuring and approval of necessary loans to continue the company’s operation”. Nature Air received authorization from the National Directorate of Civil Aviation to resume their operations the first week of February, lifting a suspension that affect...

The musical Chicago had ten presentations last year at the Melico Salazar Theater in Costa Rica, the turn out was a great success and for this reason, Luciernaga Producciones will bring the famous play to the stage again from April 21 through May 6th in a total of twelve shows. “It is gratifying to know that people got interested last year, but it’s also a shame that so many were unable to get...

At the beginning of this year scientists announced with excitement the reappearance of the Poas Volcano hot water lake, as a result of the rainfall in the area and the closing of the internal ducts of the volcano; however, just a few weeks later and in a matter of 12 days the lake dried out. The volcanologists started noticing the changes in the water level of the lake starting mid-February, an...

The Coca Cola Company officially announced the establishment of one of its largest and most technologically advanced plants in the city of Liberia, Guanacaste. The new plan represents an initial investment of approximately $50 million and will be located across the Daniel Oduber International Airport in the Solarium Free Trade Zone; the plant of 34,000 square meters (365,973 square feet or 8.4 ...

Starting October 28, 2018, the Air France-KLM group will operate one daily flight between Costa Rica and Europe during the European 2018-2019 winter season. This is the third time that Air France is increasing its offerings since November 2, 2016, when it opened the Paris-San José route with 2 flights per week. It initially increased to 3 flights per week for the current 2017-2018 winter season...

The Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) confirmed that the country saw the arrival of an additional 100 cruise ships during the 2016-2017 season in comparison to the 2014-2015 period, an increase which supports a successful strategy that began two years ago aimed to revive this industry in the country. Representatives of ICT are taking part of the Seatrade Cruise Global Fair, the largest cruise ship...

The Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) announced the return of Disney Cruises to Costa Rica after a seven year absence. Representatives of ICT made the announcement during their participation in the Seatrade Cruise Global Fair, the largest cruise ship fair in the world, which was taking place March 6-8 in Fort Lauderdale, United States. According to the information released, the first cruise wi...

The town of Ortega de Balson in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste had to give up a tradition that they’ve had for at least 200 years, “la lagarteada”. La Lagarteada consists on a group of people jumping into a croc infested river capturing a live crocodile, preferably the largest in the area, (which locals refer to as lagarto/alligator), and taking it to the local plaza where the animal is exhibited for a...

Lately controversy has surrounded Costa Rica’s presidential candidate Fabricio Alvarado from the National Restoration Party, the statements made by some of this team members regarding the fact that they prefer not to include or hire LGBTI people as part of their government if he is elected president, and the cancellation of his participation in several debates have been just two of the situations ...

This March 7, 2018 Starbucks Coffee Company opens the doors to its Visitor Center at Hacienda Alsacia, located on the company’s 600-acre (240 hectare) coffee farm on the slopes of the Poas volcano in Costa Rica. Hacienda Alsacia is a working farm that has served as a global research and development facility for Starbucks since 2013. Now open to the public, visitors will have the chance to experien...

The Turrialba Volcano in Cartago, Costa Rica had for the past weeks presented a diminished seismic activity and also a decreased degassification; however, the volcano raised its voice again this March 7th when it entered an strombolian eruption phase (relatively mild blasts). The phase which began at 00:00 hours included the emission of gases, ashes and incandescent fragments of fresh lava whic...

Origins Ecolodge is located in the region of Upala in Alajuela, Costa Rica; it recently invested an approximate US $3 million in a complete renovation and is now offering its clients a unique an luxurious experience that involves not only their space and services but also their gastronomy offer. The hotel is the creation of French investor Thierry Le Goascoz who wanted to create a space inspire...

Costa Rica will launch on April 2 its first satellite to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S.A. This initiative known as Irazu Project (Space Technology for the Monitoring of Climate Change), is the result of the work of the Central American Association of Aeronautics and Space )CAAE for its Spanish acronym) and the Costa Rica Technology Institute (ITCR) with the s...

On March 16 at the Cariari Golf Club the Asociación Pro-Hospital Nacional de Niños – Parque de Diversiones(Association Pro-National Children´s Hospital-Amusement Park) is organizing the XIV Golf Tournament to raise funds to buy medical equipment for the benefit of the patients of the intensive care unit and burned unit of the Hospital. The Association hopes to raise enough money to buy a calori...

Image Credit: Semanario Universidad The second round of the presidential elections in Costa Rica will take place April 1st and with less than a month to go the latest poll has the two candidates going head to head with a very slight advantage for Carlos Alvarado. The survey carried out by the Center for Political Studies and Investigation of the University of Costa Rica (CIEP-UCR) has Carlos...

The Novillo Alegre Steak House in conjunction with Bodegas Norton (winery) invite BBQ lovers to a gastronomy workshop that will take place this coming Saturday, March 10 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Mango Plaza in Alajuela. The cost to attend is of 15 thousand colones (close to $26.50) per person; professionals from EL Novillo Alegre and Bodegas Norton will be sharing their secrets with the partic...

Two-year old Costa Rican former Siamese twins Ezequiel and Samuel Nuñez show mild progress ten days after the complex procedure to separate them that took place at the National Children’s Hospital in Costa Rica. The twins remain in the intensive care unit where they are constantly monitored, delicate but stable, Ezequiel is already breathing on his own without the need of a mechanical respirato...

We have all heard it, diet, an exercise routine and enough sleep will keep you from having to visit the doctor or having a serious health crisis. Exercise helps you keep stress under control, it helps you get in shape and get rid of the extra weight or build that lack of muscular tone that you may have noticed recently. Physical activity is in vogue, this is certainly a good thing, and we shoul...

Students of the United World College (UWC) in Costa Rica will be presenting the rock musical “Rent” at the Eugene O’Neill Theater of the Costa Rican North American Cultural Center. The play will be presented March 21 at 7 p.m. and March 22 at 1 p.m. “Rent” is a rock musical by Jonathan Larson and loosely based on Giacomo Puccini’s La Boheme. It was first seen in a workshop production at the...

The profile of European tourists that visit Costa Rica differs in many ways from that of the North American and Latin American tourist. Even though North America continues to be the biggest market for Costa Rica’s tourism with over 1.3 million visitors between January and November 2017 (according to statistics by the Costa Rica Tourism Board-ICT); the efforts made by ICT to attract more tourist...

American former professional cyclist Lance Armstrong confirmed through his podcast Stages” his participation in the 26th edition of La Ruta de los Conquistadores in Costa Rica which is scheduled to take place in November. La Ruta, is considered the first and original multi-stage Mountain Bike Competition in the World, and one of the hardest athletic events in the planet. Armstrong won the To...

President Trump announced this week the new tariffs on aluminum and steel that will affect countries such as Costa Rica. A couple of weeks back, Commerce Department had released three recommendations relating steel and aluminum imports, yet this suggestions were not taken into consideration by President Trump and he provided his own alternatives. The final decision on the exact percentage that ...

March 3 was proclaimed by the United Nations as UN World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants; in commemoration of this day, Animal Rescue Zooave in Costa Rica, symbolically destroyed 200 animal cages. The activity took place at the Zooave in La Garita, Alajuela, many of the cages were accumulated by the animal rescue center over a certain period ...

According to statistics of the Judicial Investigative Organism, the province of Guanacaste in Costa Rica, went from 6.6 homicides for every 100,000 inhabitants in 2015 to 12.7 in 2017. This province and Alajuela were the two that experienced a highest increase in murders, in the case of Alajuela the rate went from 5.8 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015 to 10.8 in 2017. The majority of the crime...

At times when Costa Rica is in a difficult financial position with a 6.2% fiscal deficit at the end of 2017, Helio Fallas, Treasury Minister, stated that the fact that the headquarters of companies Uber and Airbnb are in other countries has made the exchange of information “difficult” and this has been a factor that hasn’t allowed the Costa Rican government to establish a mechanism to tax these ...

If you truly appreciate art, you can’t miss this new film of the program Exhibition on Screen that will have only two screenings, one on Tuesday, March 6 and the second one on Sunday, March 11. David Hockney at the Royal Academy of Arts: A bigger picture 2012 & 82 portraits and one still-life 2016. "David Hockney is Britain’s most popular artist and arguably equally popular around the globe....

In the presidential elections that took place this past February 4 in Costa Rica, none of the candidates reached the 40% threashold of votes required to win the elections, as a matter of fact it was abstentionism (those who didn’t vote) that reached the highest percentage with 34.34% according to the last information provided by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The number of people who can vote ...

Dermis Hernandez, a 41 year-old Miami police officer was arrested by the FBI back in January 30th for allegedly participating in a Ponzi scheme involving fake investments in properties in Costa Rica. The cop was arrested while trying to flee to Costa Rica at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport. Hernandez , who is married to a Costa Rican national, was charged by complaint with a cons...

The government of Costa Rica and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed a memorandum of understanding to open a Costa Rican Promotion Office in Dubai, the largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The agreement was signed by Majid Safir Al Ghurair chairman of Dubai Chamber and Manuel Gonzalez Sanz, Costa Rica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs during the Global Bu...

“Dracula” will once again delight the audience in six dates at the National Theater in Costa Rica. This play had several presentations during 2017 at the Espressivo Theater, and due to its success it returns this year for all those who didn’t get a chance to see it or want to see it again. Directed by Luis Carlos Vasquez, and showcasing the talent of renowned Costa Rican actress Silvia Balt...

Photo Credit: Javier Mota / Multimedios A 12-year-old student from the Liceo de Costa Rica (Costa Rica High School) was ran over by a track maintenance wagon on February 28 close to the high school in Plaza VIquez, San Jose. Sebastian Diaz had apparently left the school to go have lunch and was scheduled to return to class later that day. The accident occurred close to 11:55 a.m., product of...

The Expomovil 2018, Costa Rica’s main car expo will gather the main car and motorcycle agencies as well as accessory stores and other services in the automotive business. The fair, organized by the Association of Importers of Vehicles and Machinary (AIVEMA) will take place from March 8 through March 18 at the Pedregal Event Center in San Antonio de Belen, Heredia. Agencies will present their...

The vessel of Costa Rican flag and registered as a fishing boat was stopped in waters of the Atlantic Ocean in Costa Rica by Costa Rican authorities with assistance of the United States. Aboard the boat of name ¨Sea Phantom¨ authorities found a total of 1 ton, 228 kilograms and 782 grams of marijuana, in 54 packages which were counted by officials of the Ministry of Public Security, Drug Control...

This past February 7 Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray of the Western District of North Carolina fount two United States citizens who resided in Costa Rica guilty for their roles in a $10 million telemarketing scheme that defrauded primarily elderly victims in the United States from call centers in Cost...

45 deputies voted in favor of lifting the immunity privilege to criminal judge of the Supreme Court Celso Gamboa, investigated for influence peddling; lifting the immunity should allow for Gamboa to face the accusations; however, controversy and doubts raised as the vote in the Legislative Assembly was done publicly even though the regulations of the Assembly establish in article 101 that voting p...

Costa Rican NGO "Nicoya Peninsula Waterkeeper" demands a regulatory plan from the Puntarenas Municipality to ensure a sustainable development of the tourist areas of Santa Teresa, Mal Pais and Hermosa. A new aqueduct will soon be operational in the area of Cobano in Puntarenas, this project was created to solve some of the existing water-shortage problems that affect this region; however, neigh...

The Costa Rican government invests over U.S. $100 million a year in environmental protection according to information provided by Treasury, the Ministry of Environment and Energy and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Cepal) in their study Estimation of Public Expense in Environmental Protection published this March 1st. The amount is equivalent to a 0.19% of the GNP, ...

The Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) has been clear on its interest of promoting Costa Rica as a destination for meetings, conventions and congresses particularly after the inauguration of the National Congress and Convention Center that will be ready by April 5th this year; for ICT the goal is simple, to snatch the leading position in this type of tourism from the current regional leader, Panama. ...

Are you aware of the power of a beautiful smile? Many people overlook this important detail in their appearance, while others refuse to smile to hide misaligned teeth, or stained or damaged pieces. The fact is, that having a beautiful smile can do wonders for your professional and social life, and nowadays dentists have many ways of correcting problems in a simple and fast way with the use of t...

The prestigious international magazine, The European, highlighted CINDE (The Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency) as the best investment promotion agency in Latin America. During a visit to London, England, the Managing Director of CINDE, Jorge Sequeira, participated in an interview with the journalist Julie Macdonald, in which he spoke about the keys to Costa Rica's success in attracting i...