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...

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...

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 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 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

(Photo: Walter Espinoza, Director of OIJ, Illustration Purposes Only) Soccer player Alexander Rodriguez Araya, who used to be part of the Grecia soccer team where he played as goalkeeper up until about four months ago, was detained today along with his brother and other 10 people all linked to a drug trafficking ring that apparently was part of the gang that used to be headed by "El Gringo", cr...

The National System of Areas of Conservation (SINAC) has been working in the past weeks in gathering the funds and organizing the work that could lead to a reopening of the Poas Volcano National Park to the tourists. This park has been closed now for one year since it's eruptive activity began on April 13, 2017; the closure of the park, which was the second most visited in Costa Rica, has resul...

The Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week San Jose has become one of the most expected events not just of the fashion industry but of the entertainment world in Costa Rica and the region, this years edition will take place Wednesday May 2 through Saturday, May 5, at its usual venue, the Real Intercontinental Hotel in Escazu. Earlier this year the organization of the MBFWSJ had announced he participation o...

Sadly, the problem is not new, the area of Crucitas in the North Zone of Costa Rica continues to be exploited by illegal gold miners who have caused incredible environmental damage. The area has suffered environmental damages since 2012 as a result of a failed mining project; back then, the damages were estimated in close to 10 million dollars mainly as a result of logging. The presence of g...

Costa Rica is a small country. However, the number of rules and regulations are certainly overwhelming. There are some legal topics that would not make up an article exclusively but still have a lot of importance. Knowing about their existence can be helpful to Expats residing in the country permanently or temporarily, so here is a mix of legal advice to helping in Costa Rica. Hopefully, it will b...

In Costa Rica the Law to Strengthen the Public Finances will be discussed and analyzed by the Legislative Assembly as of next Monday, this project proposes going from the current 13% sales tax to a 13% value added tax (VAT) in most services. With this change services that currently don’t pay taxes will now have to pay it, that is the case for instance of gyms and services offered by independent...

Internationally renowned classical ballet company Bolshoi Ballet will have presentations in Costa Rica May 12 and May 13 at the Melico Salazar Theater in downtown San Jose. Saturday May 12 the show will begin at 8 p.m. while on Sunday, May 13 the presentation is scheduled at 5 p.m. The Bolshoi Ballet is based at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Russia; founded in 1776, it is ne one of world’s ol...

A forensic audit carried out at he National Institute for the Promotion of Cooperatives (Instituto Nacional de Fomento Cooperativo-INFOCOOP) revealed that during the past 10 years this entity "lost" close to $80 million dollars due to the illegal handling of public funds destined to the financing of cooperatives. The audit was carried out in the finances from 2009 through 2016 by accounting firm K...

An analysis carried out by project State of the Region brings attention to how the changes in the immigration policies of the United States will affect the Central American region, and in particular Costa Rica and Panama, countries that will likely see an increase in the flow of immigrants from other Central American countries. It is evident that the changes taking place will have an impact in ...

(Photo: Illustration Purposes Only) A man native of the United States was found dead in the pool of a condominium located in the area of Hermosa Beach in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. According to the Red Cross, it was his wife that found the body of the man in the pool in the early hours on Tuesday and made the call to the emergency service. Paramedics arrived at the scene and confirmed the death...

After seven years of absence the first Disney Cruise will arrive in Puntarenas, Costa Rica this upcoming Sunday, April 15 from Florida, USA. The announcement of the return of the Disney Cruises to Costa Rica was made back in March 7 when representatives of the Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) were taking part of the Seatrade Global Fair in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. The ship that...

A group of 40 Costa Rican firefighters was already at the border with Nicaragua this Monday morning ready to help the neighbor country to control the forest fire that has been affecting the Indio Maiz Biological Reserve for several days which has reportedly destroyed over 7,000 hectares of protected land, however, they were sent back after being informed that President Daniel Ortega had decided to...