“Is our route clear?” is one of the most important questions travelers ask before crossing into Mexico. The answer requires checking the specific roads you plan to drive—and checking again as your trip progresses.
An announcement that a blockade has ended, or a traveler’s trouble-free drive yesterday, does not guarantee the same conditions today. Here are useful sources to bookmark.
Guardia Nacional: highway incident alerts
Guardia Nacional’s highway alerts report incidents affecting traffic on federal highways. Look for your road number, nearby towns, direction of travel and kilometer marker. Always check the date and time, then look for a later reopening notice.
CAPUFE provides information about traffic conditions, tolls and assistance on roads it operates. Contact 074 within Mexico or check its official account. CAPUFE does not operate every Mexican toll highway; for other sections, check the operator listed on your toll receipt or roadside signs.
Check Mexico’s Servicio Meteorológico Nacional for forecasts and warnings along your route, including overnight stops. Weather at your destination may be very different from conditions on the roads getting there.
Use Waze alongside official reports to check congestion and reported closures. A clear map should not be treated as confirmation that a road is safe or that every incident has been reported.
Ángeles Verdes: roadside help and travel information
For mechanical assistance and tourist information, call 078 within Mexico. Ángeles Verdes can assess your location and arrange assistance where its service coverage applies.
And of course, check our Facebook group, On the Road in Mexico, for updates from drivers currently on the road. Look for recent reports with the date, time, highway and direction of travel. Member reports describe individual journeys and should be checked alongside official alerts.
How to check your specific route
Write down your border crossing, highway numbers, destination and overnight stops. Check each day’s section the evening before and again before departure.
For travelers crossing Nogales and heading south on Highway 15/15D, check each section through the states you will actually travel, rather than relying on a general statement that “15D is clear.”
When asking for information or sharing a report, include the date, approximate time, road, direction and nearest town or toll plaza. Those details make a report far more useful to the next traveler.
Save these links and telephone numbers before leaving. Social-media pages may require a login, so keep more than one way to check conditions.
Of course, food is everywhere you go. But in Mexico, they take it to the next level.
Walk down a street, cross a plaza, wander through a market or settle into a chair on the beach, and food is usually close by. Someone is cooking it, carrying it, arranging it for sale or offering you something you hadn’t planned on eating.
Dorothy and I have spent decades travelling Mexico, and food has been a constant part of those journeys. Looking through these photographs, what strikes me is how much of it happens out in the open. You see the work, meet the seller and watch your meal being prepared.
A cooking stand beneath a red canopy in Mexico City. Photograph by Bill Bell.
A kitchen where you find it
A small cooking stand sits beneath a red canopy, with smoke drifting past the chairs. In another photograph, two men work beside a pickup truck, steam rising from the food between them. There are utensils, ingredients and a bag of limes within reach.
Two men prepare food beside a pickup truck. Photograph by Bill Bell.
These are practical arrangements. A place to cook, somewhere to prepare the ingredients and enough room to serve a customer. For the person passing by, they are an invitation to stop.
The photograph of the cook working over a hot grill brings us closer. His attention is on the food. Behind every quick meal bought on the street is someone doing the shopping, preparing the ingredients, tending the heat and cleaning up afterwards.
A cook tends a hot grill. Photograph by Bill Bell.
The market spills into the street
Some sellers have a stall. Others have a cart, a basket or a few crates arranged along a wall.
Against an ochre-coloured building, women sit beside their produce, the goods spread out where customers can see them. Elsewhere, a shaded market passage is crowded with bananas and other fruit.
Produce sellers sit beside their goods along an ochre-coloured wall. Photograph by Bill Bell.Fruit fills a shaded market passage. Photograph by Bill Bell.A colourful produce display brings the market into the street. Photograph by Bill Bell.Vendors sort and arrange a generous display of fruit. Photograph by Bill Bell.
Then there are the pineapples. In one photograph, they fill the foreground beneath the gaze of a man in a cowboy hat. In another, they are stacked across a cart under a red-and-white canopy. The display makes its own announcement.
Pineapples fill the foreground beside a seller in a cowboy hat. Photograph by Bill Bell.Pineapples stacked beneath a red-and-white canopy. Photograph by Bill Bell.
These photographs also show why I enjoy markets. There is plenty to look at, but there are people to notice as well: waiting for customers, sorting fruit, making a sale or taking a moment between jobs.
Even the beach has a menu
One of my favourite scenes is the food cart on the sand, its skewers lined up beneath an umbrella, with the sea and a small island behind it.
A beachside food cart, with skewers beneath an umbrella and the sea behind it. Photograph by Bill Bell.
You could hardly ask for a clearer example of food finding its way to wherever people gather. No dining room is required. The beach provides the setting.
And there is always something sweet
A seller stands behind a display of brightly coloured spiral lollipops. Another cart is crowded with snacks and fruit, with its operator tucked into the small working space behind the counter.
A sweets seller stands behind brightly coloured spiral lollipops. Photograph by Bill Bell.A sidewalk stall displays snacks beneath an umbrella. Photograph by Bill Bell.
Colour is part of the attraction. So is convenience. You’re walking past, something catches your eye, and suddenly you’re stopping. Not every purchase needs to become a meal.
The people behind the food
I would finish this collection with the woman seated beside her basket, wearing a white hat and a turquoise sweater.
A woman in a white hat sits beside her basket. Photograph by Bill Bell.
After the crowded displays, smoke and bright colours, it is a quieter photograph. It brings the story back to the individual. Food is a livelihood. Every cart, basket and market stall represents someone’s work.
For those of us travelling through, these encounters become part of how we remember a place: a roadside stop, something bought through a market stall, a meal prepared a few feet away.
In Mexico, food gives you plenty of reasons to stop. These photographs are about some of the people who make those stops worthwhile.
La Peñita, Rincón de Guayabitos and Los Ayala sit close together on the Nayarit coast, but each has a character of its own. One is a working town and service hub, another has the energy of a holiday destination, and the third offers a quieter beach-town pace.
Seen together, they tell a fuller story of this stretch of coast. Through my camera, each offers a different part of the picture.
La Peñita: the working heart
La Peñita is the working hub. Fishermen and people who work in the hotels of neighbouring Guayabitos live here alongside seasonal residents and full-time immigrants from north of the border.
There are restaurants and stores galore. This is a town where everyday life carries on well beyond the beach: people shopping, heading to work and making their lives in the community.
The catch in a fisherman’s hands and the fountain beneath colourful street banners offer two glimpses of that character. The sea is part of La Peñita’s identity, but so are its streets, businesses and people.
Rincón de Guayabitos: a holiday town with a residential side
Guayabitos has more of a holiday rhythm. Its mix of hotels caters to Mexican vacationers as well as visitors from north of the border during the winter season.
But the hotels tell only part of its story. Guayabitos also has a residential area with lovely homes, adding another dimension to a place often pictured simply as a beach destination.
These views across the water put the shoreline, boats and surrounding hills in the same frame. They are a reminder to look beyond the particular hotel or stretch of sand where you happen to be staying.
Los Ayala is a quieter, more laid-back version of Guayabitos. It offers the appeal of a beach-town holiday with a gentler rhythm.
The hillside view of the bay and the palms among the buildings show another side of these neighbouring communities. For those drawn to a quieter coastal setting, Los Ayala has its own appeal.
There is no need to choose a favourite to appreciate the differences. La Peñita’s working-town life, Guayabitos’ holiday atmosphere and Los Ayala’s quieter pace complement one another.
Spend a little time in each and the coast becomes more than a collection of beaches. It becomes a place of homes, livelihoods, visitors and daily routines—three neighbouring communities, each worth getting to know.
Which one feels most like your kind of place—and what keeps you coming back?
Weekly local news briefing | September 28–October 3, 2026
Heavy surf brought the coast into sharp focus this week, with beach restrictions around Bahía de Banderas and erosion affecting San Pancho’s waterfront. Meanwhile, a major tourism investment report, questions about a floating advertising screen and preparations for Día de Muertos offered plenty for residents and visitors to follow.
Here is our selection of local and regional reports, with links to the original coverage. Weather and closure information is dated: this roundup is not a live beach or navigation bulletin.
Rachel brings rough seas and beach restrictions
Meridiano reported on October 1 that beaches in the Bahía de Banderas area remained under red-flag restrictions as authorities monitored the effects of Hurricane Rachel. The warning concerned dangerous surf even as the storm moved farther offshore.
For anyone heading to the beach or planning a boat trip, check the flags, lifeguard instructions and the relevant harbour authority’s latest advice before setting out. Restrictions can change from one beach or port to another.
In San Francisco, better known as San Pancho, strong wave action removed sand and exposed foundations beneath parts of the beachfront restaurant area, according to Reporte Diario on October 2. Its coverage identified affected structures around La Perla, Olivas and Punta Paraíso.
The damage illustrates why a receding storm does not mean an immediate return to normal along the waterfront. Assessments and any repairs need to follow local safety guidance.
Nayarit tops the planned tourism investment portfolio
Nayarit led the federal tourism investment portfolio with US$9.281 billion across 25 projects, Tribuna de la Bahía reported on September 30. That is about one-fifth of the national portfolio, with much of the activity concentrated along the Riviera Nayarit corridor.
These figures describe registered, planned investment, rather than money already spent or projects already completed. The portfolio includes hotel, residential and mixed-use development, alongside other tourism segments.
Floating billboard raises questions about the bay’s skyline
The large floating advertising screen operating in Bahía de Banderas continued to draw objections. NoticiasPV Nayarit reported on October 2 that a Puerto Vallarta councillor had requested information from the Nuevo Vallarta harbour authority about the platform’s permissions, inspections and safety arrangements.
The operator says it has navigation permissions. The dispute concerns what those permissions cover and how advertising on the water should be regulated; the report does not establish a final ruling that the operation is unlawful.
Bahía de Banderas began a new stage of road patching in Valle Dorado, with approximately seven blocks included in the initial work, according to Meridiano’s October 2 report. For residents dealing with damaged road surfaces, the useful measure will be which streets are completed and how well the repairs hold up.
Día de Muertos plans bring culture and surf together
The International Día de Muertos Festival in Bahía de Banderas is scheduled for October 29–November 2, with Sayulita as the principal venue and activities also planned for Bucerías, San Pancho, San Juan de Abajo and Valle de Banderas.
The announced programme includes altars, catrina contests, parades, music, food and community events. A surfing tournament in Sayulita is scheduled for October 29–November 1. It is an early date to put in the diary, with individual event details worth checking closer to the festival.
Jasmine Bugarín’s appointment as coordinator of the Defence of Transformation and National Sovereignty in Nayarit was a major regional political story. La Crónica reported on September 28 that Héctor Santana publicly accepted the decision and called for strengthening the movement.
The appointment is part of the political preparations for 2027. It should not be confused with the result of a public election.
Words and photographs by Bill Bell, with a closing reflection from Dorothy Bell
Everywhere we go in Mexico, folklórico seems to find us. Guadalajara, Mexico City, beachside communities—somewhere the music starts, the skirts begin to move, and there I am with the camera again.
Dorothy and I have watched countless performances over the years. You might think we would eventually have enough photographs of swirling dresses. Apparently not.
Folklórico loves the camera. A skirt opens into a great fan of colour, ribbons trace the movement, and a dancer’s expression changes just as you press the shutter. The challenge is deciding where to look. Follow the dress and you might miss the smile. Watch the feet and you miss the exchange between partners.
And those exchanges are part of the pleasure. There is humour, pride and flirtation—a glance, an approach, a turn away. Even without knowing the story behind a particular dance, you find yourself drawn into the conversation.
The smile matters as much as the movement — Photography by Bill Bell.
The dresses are another reason to keep watching. Their styles, colours and details help express the different regional traditions represented in the performances. I would not pretend to identify every costume correctly, but I appreciate how much variety there is within what we casually call Mexican dance.
Colour, ribbons and the sweep of a skirt give each photograph its own rhythm — Photography by Bill Bell.
Some of our enjoyment has come from watching polished stage performances. Just as memorable are the dancers we encounter in smaller communities, where the performance feels close enough to be part of the gathering.
For Dorothy and me, these are among the experiences that have kept Mexico interesting through all our years of travelling here. There is always another performance worth stopping for, another expression worth trying to catch.
Dancing together: the shared enjoyment behind the spectacle — Photography by Bill Bell.
Then folklórico became part of our own family.
Our granddaughter Shanti lives in both Canada and Mexico, and while in Mexico she has been learning folklórico dance. Her grandmother Dorothy spent many long hours sewing her a dress.
I photograph the finished result. Dorothy knows rather more about the work that goes into making all that fabric move.
I love this photograph of the two of them. After all the movement in the other pictures, here is a quiet moment: a grandmother, a granddaughter and a dress made with care.
For Shanti, learning the dance is one way of taking part in the Mexican side of her life. For us, it has made something we have enjoyed watching for years a little more personal.
Dorothy has her own memories of that dress, and hers are the right words to finish with:
Shanti with her grandmother Dorothy, who spent many hours sewing her folklórico skirt — Photography by Bill Bell.
“Of all the projects I have sewn, the folkloric skirt was my favourite. Ever.
“Every seam, every ribbon was attached with care and love. I thought about Shanti and her future. Thought about all the rehearsals and performances. I thought about her and the love we have for this extraordinary artist. It was a gift of love. Total love.
“And I was somewhat sad to have it finished and wrapped up to present to her. I was enjoying the process of making something so beautiful for someone very special to us.”
Palenque, Uxmal and Teotihuacán Story and photography by Bill Bell, with recollections from Dorothy Bell
Dorothy and I could spend an inordinate amount of time exploring Mexico’s archaeological sites. And we did.
We have always loved Mexico’s history, especially the opportunity to explore these extraordinary monuments to its Indigenous past. Palenque, Uxmal and Teotihuacán were three places where we were quite happy to lose track of time.
We aren’t archaeologists. We are two curious travellers who wanted to look, learn and understand something of the lives behind the buildings. A quick walk through, a photograph and back on the road was never going to be enough for us.
There was always something else to see. And, as Dorothy reminded me when she read this, another story to hear—or a family memory to add to the ones we already had.
Palenque: monuments, stories and sounds
At Palenque, the setting is part of the experience. The buildings and the surrounding jungle draw your attention in different directions. You look at what has been uncovered, then wonder what lies beyond it.
It takes some imagination to see a living city where we now see an archaeological site. But that was part of what fascinated us. People worked here, made decisions, practised their beliefs and went about their lives.
Then there were the stories. An ancient king. The Red Queen. The eccentric count associated with the site’s early exploration. The people who studied Palenque, wrote about it and fell in love with it, much as we did.
We could spend hours looking at the buildings and listening to accounts of their history. Then a howler monkey would cry out deep in the jungle and change the whole atmosphere. Suddenly, you were very aware of where you were standing.
Dorothy calls Palenque “our sweet city of monuments, stories and sounds.” That captures something a list of temples and dates never quite could.
With a camera, there was another reason to slow down. A wide photograph gave you the setting. Moving closer brought out the stonework and workmanship. Both deserved time, and I was rarely in a hurry to put the camera away.
Pyramid of the Magician at Uxmal — Photography by Bill Bell.
Uxmal rewards a closer look.
The decorated façades can hold your attention long after you have taken in the buildings themselves. Patterns, carved faces and repeated forms make you stop and examine what you might otherwise have walked past.
I find that photography encourages this. You begin by looking for a picture and end up studying something.
Dorothy and I could spend far longer than we intended there. Another detail to examine. Another angle to consider. Another question neither of us could answer.
And then there were the legends. The dwarf magician said to have built the great pyramid in a single night. Stories that sent your imagination off in another direction. At the ball court, we wondered about the people who had played there and those who had watched.
Stone architecture at Uxmal — Photography by Bill Bell.
Alongside those old stories, our family collected a few of its own.
On one visit, our son Adam decided he wasn’t climbing any farther. Getting him down became my job, with Adam on my back. It is the sort of thing that stays in the family memory long after you have forgotten what the guidebook said.
We also remember introducing our cousin Maisie to Uxmal and sharing our fascination with the Maya. There is a particular pleasure in taking someone to a place you love and watching them discover it.
For us, Uxmal became a place of family memories as well as ancient history. We loved sharing it.
The pyramids and platforms of Teotihuacán — Photography by Bill Bell.
At Teotihuacán, it is the scale that first makes you pause.
The long views along the Avenue of the Dead and the great pyramids give some sense of the ambition behind this city. Even then, a photograph struggles to convey the whole experience.
Our visits brought together so many things: climbing where it was permitted at the time, exploring the museum, and walking down the Avenue of the Dead, imagining ourselves as a king or a soldier moving through a living city.
At each monument there were more questions. How did people live? How was such a place organised? What did it take to build and sustain it?
Those are large questions for a couple of visitors with a camera. We certainly didn’t leave with all the answers. But we enjoyed giving the questions some time.
Carved stone detail at Teotihuacán — Photography by Bill Bell.
The museum and the smaller details helped bring our attention back from the enormous structures to the people who had lived among them. A carved face could hold my attention just as surely as a pyramid.
Teotihuacán also reminded us how easily visitors can compress different peoples and centuries into one vague idea of “ancient Mexico.” The more we explored, the more we understood that each place deserved to be considered on its own terms.
Palenque, Uxmal and Teotihuacán are very different places. What they shared, for Dorothy and me, was the ability to hold our attention—and to bring us back.
We learned to be careful with the word “ruins.” It describes the remains of buildings, but it can suggest that the people and their cultures simply vanished. Mexico’s Indigenous communities are part of the country’s present as well as its past. Their histories extend far beyond the monuments visitors come to photograph.
Looking through my photographs now, I see reminders of how much there was to learn. Some pictures show the grand views. Others record a small detail that was enough to make me stop.
They also bring back our family visits. The children. A cousin discovering somewhere special. Dorothy and me taking our time, talking about what we had seen and wondering about what we still didn’t understand.
We loved that part of travelling in Mexico. We could follow our curiosity and stay a little longer.
At the archaeological sites, “a little longer” often became quite a while.
Scallops in Baja, oysters on the Nayarit coast, and a little shore fishing in Mazatlán: fresh seafood was one of the pleasures Dorothy and Bill Bell loved about RV life in Mexico.
With favourite sauces from home and a kitchen travelling along with them, dinner became part of the journey. Bill shares the memories and his photographs in Fresh from the Sea: Why Dorothy and I Loved RV Life in Mexico.
Mazatlán is the kind of place that makes you put the camera down long enough to order lunch, then pick it straight back up again. Sandy beaches, a working waterfront, music drifting across the sand and a historic downtown with plenty of character: there is a lot here beyond the resort strip.
Mazatlán in 60 seconds
Take a quick trip through Bill Bell’s photographs, from the Pacific shoreline and the city’s familiar pulmonía taxis to the José María Pino Suárez Market. This reel uses music and on-screen text, so you can enjoy the story with or without sound.
Mazatlán in 60 seconds · Photography by Bill Bell
More than a beach town
Mazatlán’s name means “Place of the Deer.” Just south of the Tropic of Cancer, this Sinaloa port brings together beach holidays and the everyday life of a coastal city. Leave time for the historic centre, a seafood meal and a stroll along the waterfront.
There is history behind the holiday atmosphere. Indigenous communities lived in the region before the Spanish arrived in the 1500s. German brewers founded Pacífico in 1900, and banda music is part of the sound of Sinaloa. The city’s Carnaval tradition adds another reason to return.
Make it part of the journey
Mazatlán makes a memorable stop on a west-coast Mexico road trip. Beaches and hotels are only part of the appeal; give yourself time to explore downtown and enjoy the food. If your journey continues across the water, check Baja Ferries for current routes and vehicle arrangements before planning your crossing.
Drive Mexico – Extraordinary Road Travel Photography by Bill Bell.
Music: “Mexico – Mexican Mariachi Music” by IKOLIKS, via Pixabay.
You park your vehicle, lock it and head out for dinner. When you return, it is gone—with your luggage, laptop, camera and everything else you packed for Mexico.
Would your insurance replace all of it? That question involves two different kinds of protection: insurance for the vehicle and insurance for your belongings. Before crossing the border, you need to know where one ends and the other begins.
What covers the stolen vehicle?
Mexpro offers policies with different levels of protection. Liability-only coverage does not insure your own vehicle against theft. To protect it, you need a policy that includes total theft coverage, such as the full-coverage options Mexpro describes.
Premium policies can also include partial theft: theft of certain parts or accessories attached to the vehicle. That does not mean partial theft of your luggage or other possessions. Covered equipment and exclusions depend on the insurer and policy.
A theft settlement is subject to the policy’s valuation rules, insured limit and deductible. The amount you enter when buying insurance is not automatically a guaranteed payout. Actual cash value generally means the vehicle’s current market value, rather than the cost of buying a brand-new replacement.
What does “contents” mean?
Think of the things you packed, rather than the vehicle itself: clothing, suitcases, phones, laptops, cameras and other personal belongings.
Mexpro states that its tourist auto insurers do not cover personal property stolen from inside the vehicle. Its explanation also applies to belongings carried in an RV, travel trailer or towed unit.
That distinction matters even when the entire vehicle disappears. Having total theft coverage for the vehicle does not turn everything inside it into insured vehicle equipment. Buying premium auto coverage does not automatically add contents protection.
Permanently installed equipment is a separate question. For example, the Chubb/ABA wording available through Mexpro requires special equipment to be described and included in the vehicle’s value for the applicable protection. Ask about expensive additions before purchasing; bolting something down does not guarantee coverage.
Can you buy protection for your belongings?
Possibly—and you may already have some. Start with your homeowners, condo or renters/tenants insurer. Personal-property coverage can extend to belongings temporarily away from home. Canadian insurer TD, for example, explains that possessions stolen from a car may fall under home coverage, with limits applying while travelling. Confirm that your own policy covers Mexico and the length and circumstances of your stay.
For expensive cameras, jewellery or other valuables, ask about scheduled personal-property coverage, sometimes called a floater or endorsement. Standard limits may be too low. Ask whether it covers theft from a vehicle in Mexico and, where relevant, equipment used for paid work. Additional valuables protection is available from some insurers, but eligibility and terms vary.
Another possibility is travel insurance with baggage and personal-effects benefits. Read the vehicle-theft exclusions carefully. Allianz, for example, describes restrictions involving unattended vehicles, locked doors, belongings visible from outside and high-value items. A baggage benefit should not be assumed to cover every camera or laptop you bring.
For RV travellers, describe your situation accurately, including extended stays or full-time living. Ask your insurer which personal-property protection, if any, applies to that use in Mexico. Do not buy a policy based only on the word “contents.”
Ask this before you leave
Give your insurer a realistic list of what you carry and ask:
“If my locked vehicle is stolen in Mexico with these belongings inside, which policy pays for them? What are the total limit, per-item limits, deductible and exclusions?”
Also ask whether settlement uses replacement cost or depreciated value. Request written confirmation of how coverage applies to your trip. Keep photographs, receipts and serial numbers somewhere accessible if the vehicle and your phone disappear together.
If a theft happens
Get somewhere safe, notify the police and call the claims number on your policy promptly. Mexpro stresses that claims must be reported while you are still in Mexico. Follow the insurer’s instructions before leaving. Notify the separate insurer covering your belongings as well, if applicable.
When buying through our Mexpro link, check the vehicle’s theft protection—and arrange any needed belongings coverage separately. “Full coverage” is a package name, not a promise that everything you own is insured.
Coverage depends on the insurer, purchased options and issued policy. This article explains the distinction between vehicle and personal-property insurance; it does not confirm coverage under an individual policy. We may receive a referral commission from insurance purchases through our link.
By Drive Mexico Magazine Week of September 21–27, 2026 · Published September 27
A powerful Pacific hurricane, a central-bank decision and questions over a major fuel investigation led a busy week in Mexico. Here are ten developments worth catching up on, with concise summaries and direct links to the original reporting.
1. Hurricane Polo puts the Pacific coast on alert
Reported September 22–27, 2026
Polo reached Category 5 strength during the week, prompting school suspensions in parts of the Pacific coast and warnings about heavy rain, dangerous surf and mudslides. By Sunday morning, the National Hurricane Center was tracking the hurricane southwest of Cabo San Lucas. Travellers should use current official advisories rather than earlier forecasts when deciding whether to move.
Mexico’s central bank voted unanimously to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 6.50%. The decision came as annual inflation reached 3.42% in the first half of September. Banxico pointed to the inflation outlook, exchange-rate movements and differences between the Mexican and U.S. economic cycles in explaining its cautious stance.
3. Mexico passes 130 million residents as births decline
Reported September 22, 2026
New INEGI intercensal findings put Mexico’s 2025 population at about 130.39 million. El País reported that the figure was below earlier projections and came alongside falling fertility. Veracruz, Guerrero and Mexico City lost population between 2020 and 2025—a reminder that national growth can conceal very different regional trends.
4. Questions deepen over Guanajuato’s huge fuel operation
Reported September 23, 2026
What had been presented as a major strike against illegal fuel came under scrutiny. La Jornada reported, citing federal prosecution sources, that the 59 million litres at a Guanajuato storage facility might not constitute fuel smuggling, and that the FGR’s state delegate had been removed. The legal origin of the fuel remained a matter for investigation, rather than an established finding of wrongdoing.
5. Juchitán mayor’s arrest leads to a court hearing
Reported September 26, 2026
La Jornada reported that Miguel Sánchez Altamirano, described in its report as Juchitán’s former mayor, was ordered held in preventive detention following his September 23 arrest. The case concerns alleged aggravated extortion and offences against state security. The detention is a procedural step; it is not a conviction.
6. LEGO announces a US$400 million expansion in Nuevo León
Reported September 24, 2026
A new investment announcement offered a brighter industrial headline. Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said LEGO would invest US$400 million in Nuevo León through 2029, with 1,300 jobs expected. Mexico News Daily reported that the expansion includes a packing facility and an automated warehouse. These are planned investments and jobs, rather than completed results.
Aeroméxico confirmed that exposed customer information included names, birth dates, email addresses and phone numbers, LatinNews reported. The airline said it had found no leak of financial details, passwords or flight itineraries and linked the incident to an external provider’s platform. Authorities were examining records offered online; customers should be alert to messages impersonating the airline.
8. Government presents its anti-corruption results
Reported September 22, 2026
Anti-Corruption Secretary Raquel Buenrostro presented results from the administration’s work since October 2024. El País reported her ministry’s figures of 87 sanctioned officials, another 1,650 in proceedings and 83.8 billion pesos in claimed public savings. These are the government’s reported results, not an independent audit of the programme.
9. Mexico seeks more North American content in electronics
Reported September 24, 2026
Deputy Economy Minister Luis Rosendo Gutiérrez outlined efforts with the United States and Canada to source more manufacturing inputs within North America. Mexico News Daily reported that Mexican value added in electronics exports is currently around 7%–8%, with officials seeking a much larger domestic or regional share. He also said the next bilateral trade-talk round had been postponed, potentially until October.
10. Mexico City, Querétaro and Nuevo León lead competitiveness rankings
Reported September 22, 2026
IMCO’s 2026 State Competitiveness Index ranked Mexico City first, Querétaro second and Nuevo León third. Querétaro climbed four places, while Guerrero placed last. The study compares 53 indicators across all 32 federal entities, covering areas such as infrastructure, employment and institutions. It assesses conditions for talent and investment, rather than serving as a travel-safety ranking.
Selected and summarised by Drive Mexico Magazine from the linked publications. Dates refer to the reporting or developments described. This is a weekly news selection, not a ranking by audience size. Developing stories may change; consult the original sources for updates.
