Daily coverage from across the country, written for the expat community
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A mudflow of rocks and debris cascaded through the streets of Alausí on Wednesday — the third landslide event in the Chimborazo canton in just two weeks. The military has deployed to clear roads and assist evacuations as the rainy season intensifies.
Indigenous leader Marlon Vargas calls President Noboa's urgent mining and energy reform a threat to water, territories, and collective rights. The National Assembly has until March 2 to vote on the bill, and CONAIE is calling for unity against it.
The National Electoral Council unanimously approved the start of the electoral period on February 14, setting the stage for mayoral, prefect, and council elections on February 14, 2027. Campaign season officially begins in January 2027.
Repeated wave surges have flooded condo lobbies, destroyed sea walls, and damaged vehicles in Salinas and Punta Blanca. Experts warn that sea levels have risen 39 centimeters since the 1970s — and the worst is yet to come.
Ecuador's Naval Oceanographic Institute warns of agitated seas and dangerous rip currents along the entire Pacific coastline on February 17, as a spring tide coincides with Carnival's peak beach crowds. Salinas alone expected up to 300,000 visitors this weekend.
A team of 30 chefs prepared approximately 9,500 servings of mote pata in the Plaza de San Francisco, earning Cuenca an official Guinness World Record and cementing the city's status as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy. The record was the centerpiece of Cuenca's 'Carnaval de los 4 Ríos' celebrations.
INAMHI forecasts heavy rainfall with electrical storms across most of Ecuador through February 19, with three provinces on red alert and nine on orange. The highlands face afternoon thunderstorms, the coast faces flooding risks, and four highways remain closed from earlier weather damage.
Ecuador’s largest gold mine exported a record $1.8 billion in 2025 — a 51% jump from the prior year — as gold prices topped $5,000 per ounce for the first time. Lundin Gold just announced $100 million in new exploration spending and discovered a fifth copper-gold deposit, signaling the mining boom is just getting started.
Ecuador’s annual inflation rate hit a 20-month high in January 2026, driven almost entirely by a 20.79% spike in housing and utility costs after the government ended electricity and diesel subsidies. Food prices are rising too — plantains have roughly doubled, and the basic family basket now costs $822 a month.
A major landslide at kilometer 36 of the Calacalí–La Independencia highway on Friday night has completely shut down one of the two main routes connecting Quito to the coast. Travelers face 7-hour detours via Alóag–Santo Domingo as Carnival weekend begins.
Loja province has been placed on orange alert and emergency warehouses now hold over 6,000 humanitarian aid kits — three times the historical average. Three cantons are under active watch as the rainy season intensifies across Ecuador's southern highlands.
Everything expats need to know for the February 14-17 long weekend: tourism VAT drops from 15% to 8%, all bank branches close for four days, three highways are completely shut from landslides, domestic workers get double pay, and nearly 47,000 police officers are on the streets.
