On Thursday, October 28 120 policemen and a contingent from the municipal welfare department showed up at El Chaparral migrant camp and put up a chain-link fence around the tents. This was part of an …
November 1, 2021
Mexico
Tijuana installs fence around El Chaparral migrant camp
Where the marigolds come from for Dia de los Muertos
Local farmers south of Tijuana used to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, and peppers, but starting eight years ago they have devoted one-quarter of their land to marigolds. This flower is considered as the flower of …
October 29, 2021
Guadalupe Valley draws the line at an amphitheater
On October 8 more than 300 neighbors held a demonstration against the construction of an amphitheater for massive events in the wine tourist area of Valle de Guadalupe. The Facebook group Por un Valle de …
October 19, 2021
Baja Beach Fest: Ozuna, Karol G, Lunay, El Alfa, Dalex, Anuel AA, Farruko, Myke Towers, Balvin, Agudelo 888, Rauw Alejandro
Baja Beach Fest, known to many Gen-Z San Diegans simply as “BBF,” is an annual music festival held just north of the Muelle De Rosarito fishing pier. The festival, which started in 2018, is a …
October 13, 2021
Chaos in Tijuana's city council
On Wednesday, September 29 the last session of Tijuana's city council under the administration of Arturo Gonzalez was disrupted by a bomb threat. This happened during a discussion for voting over a law that aims …
October 12, 2021
Valle del Redondo squatters sneak onto liquified gas field
Squatters sneaked into a lot that is used for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) near Valle del Redondo, on the east side of Tijuana. According to the gas company’s lawyer Esteban Capella, around 8 pm on …
October 4, 2021
Paella Toñico: past and present
I jump out of the cab. Cab burps off. What am I seeing? Oh yes. The red and blue Washmobile car wash. And the little slot in their building that accomodates Tortas Washmobile Originales. Been …
All is not wonderful where Amazon set up in Tijuana
Last week, photos of the new Amazon warehouse built in Tijuana reached national news. The controversy of Amazon’s new facility in the city came from its location in one of the poorest neighborhoods in town, …
September 21, 2021
Dead bodies pile up at Tijuana's Semefo
Once again the Forensic Medical Service of Baja California, known locally by the acronym Semefo, has been flooded with dead bodies. According to its director in Tijuana, Cesar Gonzalez, this situation has repeated since 2017 …
September 13, 2021
Playas de Tijuana – one of Mexico's five worst beaches
Playas de Tijuana still in the top five of the most contaminated beaches in Mexico According to the Federal Commission of Sanitation Risks, Playas de Tijuana is still one of the five most contaminated beaches …
September 6, 2021
The unintended Baja Med escapade
I met “Border Chef” Andrea Aguari — the title is her own — a decade ago when she was cooking for the short-lived Taberna Etxeverri on Calle Sexta. We hadn’t spoken in years when I …
August 25, 2021
MS-13 gang rules Tijuana migrant camp
What started as a refugee camp close to El Chaparral Port of Entry in Tijuana has ended up as a sort of shelter for criminals and gang members from Central America. According to Paty (not …
August 20, 2021
Deported nine times, Esther Morales takes things into her own hands
“On this side, there are also dreams,” she says constantly to the people she helps out – migrants and deported persons. She was more than once in the same situation, but now she owns a …
August 10, 2021
San Diego tacos – from the beginning to now
It’s just after noon on a Thursday at Escondido’s TJ Tacos. The place is surprisingly uncrowded, with only about six people in line for the taco stand’s signature adobada tacos, a spicy blend of marinated …
August 4, 2021
“The poorest neighborhood in Tijuana"
At least 277 families have settled in and started a new neighborhood near the east edge of the city. The media calls El Cerro de las Abejas, 22 miles from the border, “the poorest neighborhood …
July 30, 2021