Lezama said that 34 cruise ships are expected to arrive on the island between Dec. 30 to Jan. 5, totaling 119,938 tourists.

These record figures follow an announcement by Mexico’s lawmakers made early in December, postponing the application of a new US $42 fee for every cruise ship passenger docking at Mexico’s ports. The fee, originally scheduled to go into effect this month, will now be implemented in July.

While no final figures have been released, Cozumel’s Puerta Maya port expected over 28,000 tourists from six cruise ships on Jan. 1. Furthermore, Thursday will see 20,705 visitors, followed by 24,986 tourists on Friday. On Saturday, the number of arrivals is expected to drop to 9,470 people.

Meanwhile, Sunday will see 4,980 passengers aboard a single cruise ship docking at Punta Langosta pier, the only reception point that day.

“This achievement is the result of a joint effort between the Government of Quintana Roo, the municipality, and local service providers, reaffirming our Swallow Island as a leading destination in the Caribbean,” Lezama wrote on her official X account.

In the Maya language, Cozumel (Kuzamil) means “island of the swallows.”

In terms of distribution by pier, the Puerta Maya terminal in the southern part of the island and operated by Carnival Cruise Line, will see the highest number of tourists totaling 47,389. This figure represents 39.51% of the overall total. Next is Punta Langosta pier, which is expected to receive 34,744 visitors, while SSA México pier will accommodate 37,805 passengers.

Record number of flights in Quintana Roo

In addition to the number of cruise ship tourists arriving in the island, Dec. 28 saw record numbers of air operations at the state’s four international airports, with 765 air operations in total, Lezama said.

Quintana Roo is the only state in Mexico with four international airports: Cancún, Tulum, Chetumal and Cozumel.

Recording 665 operations on Dec. 28, Cancún International Airport came in first, marking its third-busiest day of the year. Next was Tulum International Airport with 56 flights, setting a record for the number of operations in a single day since its inauguration in December 2023.

With reports from La Jornada

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The ministry’s efforts include resolving issues negatively impacting tourism to Cancún, including mistreatment of passengers, exorbitant taxi fares and frequent blockades in the resort city’s hotel zone.

Quintana Roo Secretary of Tourism Bernardo Cueto Riestra chats with Richard Quest about the future of tourism in Cancún, particularly the need to keep visitors safe in this popular destination. pic.twitter.com/Wfghsm6H9a

— Quest Means Business (@questCNN) February 20, 2024

In the announcement, Cueto noted that for several years, the local government had been detached from the happenings at the state’s airports. They are now striving to improve the traveler experience and become more competitive as a tourist destination. 

“We need to improve some aspects and dynamics at the Cancún airport to ensure our tourists have a better experience. This is crucial for … competitiveness,” Cueto emphasized.

Cueto explained that immediate actions include halting irregular transport services and improving taxi fares to ensure they are not determined by supply and demand. Authorities aim to enforce fair prices to reduce abuses by some taxi operators and improve passenger mobility. 

Taxis departing from the Cancún International Airport are known to charge tourists upwards of 100 dollars for a ride to the hotel zone. According to the rates established by the city, a one-way trip from the airport to the hotel zone should cost between 100 to 400 pesos (US $5 to 20). 

In addition to the pricing issues, users of rideshare apps like Uber have experienced acts of violence from taxi drivers. 

On Dec. 12, local police arrested three taxi drivers in Puerto Morelos, south of Cancún, for threatening a tourist for using a rideshare app. Videos posted on social media show drivers blocking an English-speaking tourist from getting into the rideshare car. Immediately after, the governor of Quintana Roo, Mara Lezama, said in a statement that the taxi driver’s license had been permanently revoked.

In January 2023, the Supreme Court granted permission for Uber and other rideshare platforms to operate in areas of Cancún and the Riviera Maya, but strong opposition from local taxi operators has led to conflict, increasing attacks by taxi drivers.

With reports from Vértigo Político, Por Esto! and Diario Cambio 22

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Now if you’ve never been spelunking before, it’s just dawdling around exploring caves. I’ve been spelunking all over the world. So far, my favorites were bat caves in Cambodia and Slovenia’s huge Škocjan Caves Park. But this one, at Aktun Chen right here in the Riviera Maya, tops my list! National Geographic has listed it as #3 on their Top Underground Walks of the World.

A living museum

I love the tranquil peace of a cave system — especially one this old. Five million years is a long time, but not that long in the evolution of this planet. Whatever created this system, I’m thankful to experience it. Exploring the creamish-white caves is stunning. The ancient stalactites formed over thousands of years are amazing. The sparkle of the gemstones and mineral deposits in the stalactites is breathtaking. It’s a beautiful world rarely seen, which, to my eyes, makes it a little bit of magic here on Earth.

Plus, my inner child likes to pretend I’m in a Lord of the Rings movie on an epic quest, slowly moving deeper into the earth, listening to underground rivers and seeing a whole new world as your eyes adjust to the low light. But we didn’t need to on this walk.

The walk inside Aktun Chen, the cave system in the Riviera Maya

The caves aren’t that deep. A few meters under the surface, it’s well-lit and well-ventilated as you follow the guide. An easy 650-yard (0.36 mile, or 594 meters) walk. There are plenty of stops along the way as they explain about the cave system and its formation.

Geeking out on geological formations is a given in such an amazing place. Formations that fascinated me. Stalactites hang from the cave roof. Stalagmites grow from the ground up and the columns form as they grow large enough to meet. This takes thousands of years, forming from mineral deposits left from water dripping down. Occasionally, thick braids of tree roots hang from the ceiling, creating a living column through the cavern before disappearing into the earth again. The natural structure supports huge trees above, in the lush jungle. These caves support all sorts of life.

Life in the cave

In ancient times people lived in caves, using them for shelter. This makes them historically and geologically interesting, as well as geologically interesting. But the thing that I loved was the local legends. 

Echos are natural in any confined space like a cave. But in certain places, the acoustics make it sound like other people are there. So, the Maya used to think there were spirits and revered the caves. Now, I didn’t hear any spirits, but I would like to go back and try to. Our tour group was chatty, removing any spookiness that may be heard on a quiet day. I’d love a chance to talk with the spirits to see if they answer back. Imagine if they did?

Okay, I just gave myself goosebumps so let’s move on. I want to share my favorite part of the cave.

The underground river

Some moments in life concrete into treasured lifelong memories. For me, standing on the boardwalk crossing the underground river is one of them. Honestly, it is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places I have ever seen.

So much so, that I didn’t want to leave. My tour group moved on yet I remained to enjoy a moment of peace in the tranquility of the cavern. Pure, crystal clear water showed every underwater formation below my feet. Above, hung the honey and pale mustard of the stalactites, mixed with dusky pinks and pure whites of other formations. I could have spent hours in there marveling at the pristine beauty.

This area was my favorite. It’s easy to see why National Geographic has named it one of the top underground walks in the world. And it will remain that way. There is no swimming in the river so it remains protected. And you know what? Knowing that makes my nature-loving heart smile.

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Fernando Haro Salinas, director of ecology for Benito Juárez municipality, told reporters this week that the majority of the hatchlings were green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas), locally known as tortuga blanca.

While three or four of the more than 50 incubation sites were still active, Haro called this year’s season a success.

“The total number of arrivals was slightly less than last year, but still quite a high number,” Haro told reporters. 

Haro said this is not unusual, explaining that it is common for a high spawning season to be followed by a lower one, according to Diario Cambio 22.

Last year in the municipality, more than 11,000 nests were identified with an estimated 1,282,839 eggs from which roughly 1,205,000 hatchlings made their way to the sea.

On the other hand, Haro said, the survival rate at the incubation sites was approximately 97% this year, an improvement over the 94% hatch rate in 2022 and 2023. 

In response to a question, Haro said meteorological conditions were also a likely contributor to the reduced number of arrivals, as this year’s hurricanes impacted nesting areas by causing beach erosion. 

In all, the municipality and participating hotels protected 7,500 nests, which contained an estimated 978,000 eggs. Haro said the municipality operates four nurseries and the hotels — with permits issued by the federal Environment Ministry — manage the rest.

“We provide training [for hotel personnel] and work with the public to protect the nests,” he said. 

It is a curious phenomenon that female sea turtles return to the precise location where they were born to lay their own eggs. 

Four different turtle species laid their eggs along Cancún beaches this year (Cancún is the municipal seat of Benito Juárez), according to Haro. In addition to the green sea turtles, loggerhead (Caretta caretta), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) turtles were spotted laying eggs.

With reports from Noticaribe, Cambio 22 and Luces del Siglo

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Exactly one year after passenger trains started running between Campeche and Cancún, President Claudia Sheinbaum on Sunday inaugurated sections 6 and 7 of the 1,554-kilometer-long railroad.

The railroad has stations in or near the cities of Palenque, Campeche, Mérida, Valladolid, Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Chetumal, among others, and passengers can access a variety of other tourist attractions including archaeological sites, cenotes (natural swimmable sinkholes) and beaches.

“The Maya Train is one of the great legacies of [former] president Andrés Manuel López Obrador,” Sheinbaum said at a section 6 and 7 inauguration ceremony in Chetumal that doubled as a celebration of the first anniversary of the beginning of operations of the multi-billion-dollar railroad.

“His tenacity, will, vision and love achieved this feat, to which we’re providing continuity with the same determination and dedication,” she said.

López Obrador inaugurated the construction of the Maya Train railroad in June 2020, promising at the time that the project would be finished in 28 months, or by October 2022.

However, the railroad — which was built by private companies and the Mexican Army — faced a range of challenges, including court rulings that temporarily halted work and ardent opposition from environmental groups, which have argued for years that the construction and operation of the railroad pose a threat to wildlife, subterranean rivers and the Maya jungle.

Accompanied by the governors of the five states through which the railroad runs and various federal officials, Sheinbaum on Sunday rejected claims that the construction of the Maya Train violated laws or had an adverse impact on the environment.

She, like López Obrador, asserts that the railroad will help spur much-needed economic and social development in Mexico’s southeast. The ambitious infrastructure project was carried out “with and for the communities of the southeast of Mexico,” Sheinbaum said in Chetumal.

“… Only here in Mexico can a railroad of more than 1,500 kilometers be built … in just four years. In other words, only here in our country can a feat the size of the glorious Maya Train be done,” she added.

“…The Maya Train tells the world that Mexico is a great nation that does great things every day.”

Sheinbaum traveled from Palenque to Chetumal on the Maya Train on Saturday, completing the journey across section 7 of the railroad between Escárcega and the state capital of Quintana Roo. She posted a 38-second clip of her experience to social media.

During the inauguration ceremony in Chetumal, Sheinbaum said that her government would “consolidate the Maya Train as the world’s greatest tourism destination.”

Hoy viajamos en el Tren Maya de la estación Palenque, Chiapas a Chetumal, Quintana Roo, donde encabezaremos mañana el primer aniversario de esta gran obra e inauguraremos al público su último tramo. pic.twitter.com/GK8d8n28AO

— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) December 15, 2024

That was apparently a reference to both the train and the culturally rich and beautiful region through which it runs. The president praised the Mexican military for its role in the construction and operation of the railroad.

Sheinbaum also highlighted that freight trains will soon run on the Maya Train railroad. In addition, she noted that the railroad will connect to the the new Interoceanic Train railroad, which includes tracks across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec between Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, and Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz.

Óscar Lozano, director of the state-owned Maya Train company, highlighted that the railroad and its 34 stations are complemented by Maya Train hotels built by the army. The railroad, he added, provides access to archaeological sites such as Chichén Itzá and Uxmal as well as natural protected areas (including newly-created ones) and pueblos mágicos, or magical towns.

How much did the Maya Train railroad cost to build? 

Sheinbaum on Sunday didn’t say how much construction of the Maya Train railroad cost.

However, “independent calculations” have put the cost at over 500 billion pesos (US $24.8 billion), the newspaper Reforma reported. The figure of US $20 billion has been cited in various media reports.

The total cost is much higher than the original 140-billion-peso (US $6.9 billion) estimate.

How many jobs did construction of the project create?

Lozano, the Maya Train chief, said Sunday that the construction of the railroad created more than 600,000 jobs.

Other government projects in Mexico’s southeast, including the Tulum airport and the Olmeca Refinery on the Tabasco coast, also created significant numbers of jobs in recent years, many of which were filled by long-term residents of southeastern states.

How many passengers traveled on the Maya Train in its first year of operations?  

Just over 603,000 passengers traveled on the train between mid-December 2023 and mid-December 2024, according to the Maya Train company. That figure represents just 20% of the government’s 3 million target.

Only 33,547 of the 603,000 passengers — about 5.5% — were foreign tourists.

The government hopes that passenger numbers will increase now that people will be able to use the train to access virtually the entire Caribbean coast of the state of Quintana Roo.

Millions of foreigners fly into Cancún on an annual basis, many of whom spend most of their time in Mexico in Cancún or other coastal destinations such as Playa del Carmen and Tulum.

The operation of the Maya Train in a loop around the Yucatán Peninsula could help lure some of them away from the clubs and white sand beaches of Cancún, Playa and Tulum to more traditional tourist destinations and attractions in inland areas of the Yucatán Peninsula.

Interested in riding the rails?

Tickets for trips on the Maya Train can be purchased online.

Earlier this year, Mexico News Daily published a Maya Train travel guide, as well as a personal account of a trip between Mérida and Campeche.

Some passengers have reported a range of frustrations with traveling on the Maya Train, including that there is a lack of transportation between stations and final destinations. Hopefully, travelers’ experiences will improve with time.

If you do decide to take a trip on the railroad: Bon voyage! ¡Buen viaje! Have a great trip!

With reports from El Economista, La Jornada, Reforma and EFE 

The post Four years and 1,554 kilometers later, the Maya Train is complete appeared first on Mexico News Daily

On Tuesday, Colombia’s Avianca Airlines made its maiden flight to Tulum, arriving from Bogotá at 4 p.m. local time with 160 passengers on board, according to the newspaper La Jornada Maya.

Mario Cruz Rodríguez, the president of Tulum’s Tourism Promotion Council, was one of the passengers, returning home after spending a week in Colombia on Council business.

Arriving with him was an assemblage of Colombian reporters and tourism industry operators who were flown in on a “fam trip” to familiarize themselves with the amenities and attractions of the popular resort area on the Caribbean coast of Quintana Roo.

The Avianca plane was the first flight to arrive in Tulum from outside North America.

On Thursday, the airport welcoming committee sprung into action again, treating the first trans-Atlantic arrival to a water arch salute. That flight, operated by Discover Airlines, came in from Frankfurt, Germany, with 199 passengers on board.

Discover — a leisure airline owned by Lufthansa — runs the Frankfurt-Tulum route on a seasonal basis. It will land at Tulum International every Thursday and Sunday until April 27, 2025.

Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama and German Ambassador Clemens von Goetze led the welcome ceremony, according to the newspaper Riviera Maya News. 

Lezama celebrated the occasion by saying the new flights “[contribute] to the confidence generated by our tourist destinations and … by national and international business groups and investors,” adding that it indicates a promising future for the Mexican Caribbean.

Von Goetze also spoke at the ceremony. “The inauguration of this flight represents more than an air connection,” the ambassador said. “It is a bridge between Mexico and Germany.” 

Thursday’s arrival also marked the first landing of a wide-body aircraft at the new airport which opened its doors on Dec. 1, 2023, Riviera Maya News reported. 

In its first year of operations, the Tulum airport surpassed its target of transporting 700,000 passengers. On Dec. 1, 2024, airport officials announced that Tulum International Airport had received 1,074,000 passengers and had carried out 8,500 air operations.

More new routes will be inaugurated before the end of the year. Canada’s Air Transat will begin flights from Montreal and Quebec on Dec. 16 and Dec. 18, respectively.

With reports from La Jornada Maya and Riviera Maya News

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Executive Vice President of Volaris Holger Blankenstein celebrated the news, saying this route further expands the airline’s strategic portfolio in Quintana Roo. 

A partir de hoy, la tierra del mariachi y el tequila — #Guadalajara — tiene un portal directo con el corazón vibrante de la selva maya en #Tulum.

Descubre el nuevo vuelo de @viajavolaris y ven a disfrutar de un invierno de rituales atemporales, cocina etérea y playas radiantes. pic.twitter.com/a8mJO1D3rD

— Caribe Mexicano (@visitacaribemex) December 6, 2024

“With this new route,” Blankenstein said, “we are expanding our strategic portfolio towards a very important and promising destination such as Tulum, one of the biggest attractions for national and international visitors in Quintana Roo.” 

Offering 2,604 seats per week, the new route departs Guadalajara daily at 10:43 a.m. and arrives in Tulum at 2:10 p.m. It will depart Tulum at 2:50 p.m. and arrive in Guadalajara at 4:25 p.m. The flight has a duration of approximately three hours and 27 minutes.

“By adding a new direct flight that operates daily,” the airline said in a statement, “Volaris is enhancing its commitment to improving connectivity to more cities in the country, thus facilitating access to key destinations that foster economic development and promote tourism, through one of the most modern fleets in North America.”

Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama announced the Guadalajara-Tulum route in April, sharing that it would launch starting Dec. 8. 

Aeroméxico, Mexicana de Aviación, Viva Aerobus and Volaris all offer domestic flights to Tulum’s Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport, which recently celebrated its first year of operations. These airlines operate flights to the sunny destination from both airports in Mexico City, as well as Guadalajara, Jalisco, and Monterrey, Nuevo León.

Volaris is the largest air travel operator in Jalisco state, holding a market share of 42%. Departing from the Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta airports, it operates 55 flights to national and international destinations.

With reports from Revista Turismo, Reforma and Aviación Online

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The state government said it would begin building the wildlife crossings – along Federal Highway 307 and the path of the Maya Train tracks — before the end of 2024. 

The plan — with an initial budget of 17 million pesos (US $850,000) — calls for 15 elevated crossings, two aerial bridges and four underground passages.

On Monday, Quintana Roo Gov. Mara Lezama announced the creation of a trust to support the project. In a social media post, Lezama said her administration aims to conserve and protect the state’s biodiversity through the construction of these wildlife crossings to protect the state’s “emblematic species, including the jaguar, ocelots and spider monkeys.” 

All three species are native to Quintana Roo.

Quintana Roo’s Ecology and Environment Ministry (SEMA) and its Institute of Biodiversity and Protected Natural Areas will oversee the project, the newspaper Riviera Maya News reported.

Addressing the environmental impact of megaprojects

Wildlands Network, a U.S. NGO whose primary mission is to prevent biodiversity loss and promote climate change resilience, says wildlife crossings are critical to protecting species living in ecosystems fragmented by roads and other development. 

A November 2023 amendment to the Federal Highways, Bridges and Motor Transport Law now makes wildlife crossings mandatory in Mexico’s road infrastructure. In addition, a June 2024 regulation states that transportation infrastructure projects must include provisions for wildlife crossings. 

The Wildlands Network points out, however, that neither the law nor the regulation features enforcement language and that there are no specifics about the characteristics, maintenance or budget requirements for these crossings.

Although the Maya Train was promoted as an environmentally friendly project with promises of 500 wildlife crossings, activists claim such is not the case. 

The newspaper El Financiero reported in June that fences were installed in some areas and that some drainages and tunnels are described as wildlife crossings, though they were not built with that intention. 

“Animals such as spider monkeys are not going to come out of the trees to cross through a tunnel,” environmental activist José Urbina, known in Mexico as a defender of the Yucatán Peninsula’s cenotes and an opponent to the Maya Train project in the state, told El Financiero.

Such passages are not useful for wildlife, says Wildlands Network, and only a few of the drainages have the minimum characteristics to protect animals’ free passage. As a result, roadkill incidents are on the rise near the Maya Train, according to Wildlands Network.

The controversy comes on the heels of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s detailed plans to build 3,000 kilometers of railroad tracks during her administration.

In a positive development, a federal lawmaker on Tuesday introduced a bill mandating the inclusion of wildlife corridors during the design and modernization of railway infrastructure.

With reports from La Jornada, Riviera Maya News, El Financiero and Wildlands Network

The post Quintana Roo to build 21 wildlife crossings near Maya Train and highways appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Under the contract, the company Susoma Soluciones Ambientales S. de R.L. de C.V., is responsible for scaring away, capturing, removing and even euthanizing “harmful” species that pose a threat to the operation of the Maya Train. These species include jaguars (Panthera onca), Central American tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). 

https://t.co/ZP6bvfn3Nt

— SELVAME (@SelvameMX) December 2, 2024

The contract outlines that the staff of Susoma Soluciones Ambientales, S. de R.L. de C.V., based in Toluca, Mexico state, has the right to conduct “wildlife control” through a variety of mitigation activities. These include scaring away wildlife with fireworks, installing nets and traps and using tranquilizer darts for larger animals, among other methods.

“Measures like these not only represent a direct attack on local fauna,” Sélvame del Tren stressed in a statement, “but also a violation of Mexican environmental laws and international commitments regarding conservation.”

The agreement also calls for the company to develop a habitat management program that reduces the presence of wildlife attractors, through practices that include pruning flora, relocating tree species, creating natural barriers and building alternative watering holes away from the train tracks to keep animals away.

According to local media, the Maya Train paid 9 million pesos (US $444,000) to Susoma Soluciones Ambientales for the wildlife control services under this agreement, effective from Sept. 3, 2024, to Dec. 31, 2024.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) lists the jungles in the southeastern Mexican states of Quintana Roo, Yucatán and Campeche — along with jungles in Belize and Guatemala — as among the largest in terms of priority landscapes for jaguar conservation.

María José Villanueva, director of Conservation for WWF in Mexico, said the jaguar faces significant challenges in the region due to fragmentation of the jungle caused by the Maya Train’s construction, the subdivision of land for new real estate developments and polluting projects such as pig farms.

In contrast, preliminary results of the latest jaguar census in Mexico in September found that in most of the study’s areas, the species’ population has remained stable or even increased since the previous jaguar census, which was completed in 2018. 

The census’ final results will be announced in February 2025. 

With reports from El Economista and El Universal

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Márquez asked Pedro Cab to modify the traditional Colombian outfit known as the liquiliqui into a guayabera. Prior to the ceremony, the writer announced that he would wear the “Caribbean national costume” to the event: the guayabera.

Pedro Cab was also responsible for creating guayaberas for celebrities such as Prince Harry of England and King Juan Carlos I of Spain. His legacy is undeniable; today, Ricardo Rosado Cab represents the third generation continuing the personalized creation of this beautiful garment.

What makes the guayabera special

The guayabera’s origins can be traced to the Caribbean, specifically Cuba, at the end of the 18th century. The story goes that a woman designed a garment for her husband to collect and store guavas, which is why the classic guayabera features four pockets. Interestingly, over time, Yucatán, Mexico, emerged as the capital of guayabera production, while the state of Veracruz adopted it as part of its traditional attire.

So, what makes a guayabera so special? In Ricardo’s words, “The guayabera is the quintessential etiquette garment in a tropical environment. The quality of the fabric, the aesthetics of the design, its elegance, and its freshness make it one of the finest pieces of clothing.”. This is why it is renowned worldwide. “It is very breathable, protects you from the sun, and is incredibly presentable,”, adds Rodrigo Rosado, Ricardo’s 27-year-old son and the fourth generation in his family to craft guayaberas. “Moreover, a good guayabera can last for decades,” he continues.

“Today, the variety of designs includes the Classic (featuring the four front pockets), the Presidential (so named because many Mexican presidents wear it, characterized by the folds on the chest), the Gala (used for formal occasions such as weddings), and the Industrial series with embroidery,”, explains Rosado Cab.

Originally, guayaberas were made from 100% cotton, but now industrial versions are primarily crafted from polyester. However, Guayaberas Cab offers handmade, personalized options in Irish linen, Italian linen, or 100% Swiss cotton.

The legacy of Pedro Cab Paas

There is no doubt that Pedro Cab Paas is a legend in the world of guayaberas. Ricardo recounts how his grandfather started the business: “He moved from Hocabá to Mérida and began making guayaberas himself. His initiative was extraordinary, especially for a specific quality: Each piece is personalized and handmade to this day.”

“A single piece takes at least 15 days to complete and is crafted by skilled tailors. In the case of the design known as Deshilado, it can take up to three weeks to finish. The Deshilado design is one of the most intricate because it includes handmade unraveling designs in the cuffs, collar, or chest,” says Rodrigo.

“My grandfather was self-taught; he possessed a natural talent and learned through observation, acquiring the empirical knowledge necessary to create personalized guayaberas for various body types — short, medium, and tall — rather than producing them in bulk,”, argues Ricardo.

The fine guayaberas are handmade. As for prices, a personalized one in Italian linen costs around 7,000 pesos, one in Irish linen around 3,000 pesos, one in 100% Swiss cotton costs about 5,000 pesos, and the industrial versions (a mixture of cotton and polyester) are around 700 pesos.

“The purer the fabric, the higher the quality. The more polyester you find in your guayabera, the lower the quality,” Ricardo explains.

A good guayabera is an investment for life. A personalized piece, crafted with tradition and high-quality fabric, is a timeless, flattering, and fashionable garment that will never go out of style.

What else do you know about Guayaberas?

Ana Paula de la Torre is a Mexican journalist and collaborator for various outlets including Milenio, Animal Político, Vice, Newsweek en Español, Televisa and Mexico News Daily.

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