Month: April 2026

Costa Rica’s Constitutional Chamber has ordered the suspension of tree-felling permits, construction authorizations, and density modifications tied to a hotel development in the Papagayo Gulf Tourist Complex, pending the resolution of a constitutional challenge that accuses regulators of fast-tracking the project without adequate environmental review. The decision was handed down by investigating magistrate Fernando Cruz …

Read more “Costa Rica Suspends Tree Cutting and Construction Permits in Papagayo”

An American flamingo rescued in Limón in June 2025 is still recovering under specialized care after arriving in critical condition, and the latest update brings mixed news. The bird has made what rescuers described as an impressive recovery, but it has already been ruled out for release back into its natural habitat. The flamingo had …

Read more “American Flamingo Rescued in Costa Rica Continues Recovery”

The sexual harassment case that has dominated the final weeks of Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly reached its final stage on Friday, though with an uncertain outcome. The special commission that investigated the complaint against Deputy Fabricio Alvarado presented three final reports: two recommending sanctions against the Nueva República lawmaker, and a third that clears him …

Read more “Costa Rica Assembly Races the Clock on Sanction Against Fabricio Alvarado”

Costa Rica is once again benefiting from a growing shift among older Americans who are looking outside the United States for their next chapter. In polling released by Monmouth University, 17% of Americans age 55 and older said they would like to resettle in another country, up from 4% in 1974. Advisers who work with …

Read more “Costa Rica Remains a Top Retirement Destination for People From the United States”

Guanacaste’s main international airport in Liberia just posted the strongest first quarter in its history, another sign that Costa Rica’s Pacific gateway is carrying a larger share of the country’s tourism traffic. Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport handled 793,075 passengers from January through March 2026, up 12% from the same period last year and the …

Read more “Costa Rica’s Liberia Airport Posts Best Quarter in History”

Costa Rica’s biggest auto fair of the year is in full swing, and this edition is one for the record books. Expomóvil 2026 started Thursday, and runs through Sunday at the Centro de Eventos Pedregal in Belén, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Association of Vehicle and Machinery Importers (AIVEMA), the trade group that …

Read more “Expomóvil 2026 Opens in Belén with 350 Models”

Costa Rica’s fraud problem is moving fast online, and travel is one of the clearest targets. What used to look like isolated scams now forms part of a wider pattern built around fake booking platforms, cloned websites, false promotions, and digital payment traps aimed at residents and tourists alike. The scale of the broader problem …

Read more “Costa Rica Sees Ongoing Spike in Digital Fraud Tied to Travel and Payments”

A new study from the National University’s Observatory on Tourism, Migration and Sustainability in the Chorotega Region says development in some of Guanacaste’s best known beach towns is becoming more exclusive, more segmented and less connected to the communities around it. Focusing on El Coco, Nosara and Tamarindo, the report argues that the dominant pattern …

Read more “Costa Rica Report Says Gentrification Is Reshaping Guanacaste”

Long before Costa Rica became synonymous with cloud forests and wildlife reserves, its coastlines were contested territory in one of history’s most dramatic power struggles. During the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, the country’s remote bays, dense jungles, and exposed river mouths made it both a target and a thoroughfare for pirates, corsairs, and privateers …

Read more “The History of Pirate Raids Along Costa Rica’s Coast”

Opposition to the Bahía Papagayo development in Playa Panamá is intensifying after SINAC authorized tree cutting in the project area. The citizen group Salvemos el Bosque de Playa Panamá has called two demonstrations, one for Tuesday, April 21, at 4:00 p.m. outside the Constitutional Chamber in San José and another for Wednesday, April 22, at …

Read more “Costa Rica Activists Rally Against Bahía Papagayo Plan to Cut 700 Trees”