Helados are generally made from dairy, so you get to enjoy the creaminess exploding in every taste bud. Typical flavors include chocolate, vanilla and even lemon pie, if you’re lucky. 

Nieves, however, are ice-based — no milk and no cream. In the provinces and in small towns within the city, like the ever-popular Coyoacán, these are the favorites because they’re usually handmade with real fruit. Nothing in a nieve is artificial, except perhaps the chamoy we add to the lemon and citrus flavors. 

Now that we’ve established the basics, it’s time to dive deep into Mexico City’s very best ice cream shops, where you’ll get a glimpse of what a childhood in the Mexican capital really tastes like.

The best ice cream shops in Mexico City

Tepoznieves Coyoacán

Every Mexico City-born youth has taken their special someone to eat ice cream at iconic Tepoznieves. Located on the corner of Francisco Sosa and Tres Cruces, right in front of Parque de los Coyotes in Coyoacán, it is one of those places that tastes like your elementary school years.

Tepoznieves established the difference between helados and nieves in Mexico. Originally from the picturesque town of Tepoztlán in Morelos, they define nieves as “water-based ice cream without artificial flavorings,” so all their products are made with natural fruit. Perfect for our plant-based readers!

• Where? Av. Francisco Sosa 1, Santa Catarina, Coyoacán.

La Michoacana

Founded in the 1930s in a town called Tocumbo, in the central state of Michoacán, La Michoacana has become one of Mexico’s emblematic ice cream experiences. Rafael Malfavón opened the first shop, but today, almost a century later, La Michoacana boasts thousands of locations throughout the country. With over 125 flavors, they have ice cream to please all tastes and preferences.

• Many locations! Find the one closest to you.

Nevería Roxy

For more than 75 years, Nevería Roxy has served ice cream in the Colonia Condesa. Over the years, it has established itself as the go-to for lovebirds, grannies and their grandchildren, and even tourists who wish to spend a nice Friday afternoon strolling around the area.

Ever since its original opening in 1946, Roxy has grown to have over 10 locations in and out of Mexico City, ranging from upper-class Polanco to the iconic Cineteca in Coyoacán — and even one in Querétaro! They’re famous for their amazing banana splits and wonderful milkshakes, so bring your children! They’re in for a majestic treat. 

• Where? Fernando Montes de Oca 89, Condesa, Cuauhtémoc.

Chiandoni

My father will never forget that, when he was a child, Don Pietro Chiandoni would enter his business every afternoon and pay the check whenever children were around. He would often come and say hi to my dad and his friends in the 1970s, when his ice cream shop had just opened in Mexico City’s traditional Colonia Nápoles.

Decorated in the same retro style that Don Pietro chose back then, Chiandoni’s is a gem for gelato lovers. All the products are handmade, in the traditional Italian style, and their creaminess is hard to match. Just as my grandmother took my father to Chiandoni’s for years, he took my sister and me for milkshakes in our favorite flavors. To this day, my favorite is mint chocolate chip.

• Where? Pensilvania 255, Nápoles, Benito Juárez.

Maca Helado and Café

 

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Una publicación compartida por Maca Helado & Café (@maca.cdmx)

Located on the border of Condesa and Escandón, Maca Helado and Café is one of the best spots to try frozen yogurt in Mexico City. Shop owners Natalia and Sebastián always knew they wanted to “create something delicious, with lots of variety and accessible to everyone”, as they told MND. Maca honors an adopted dog they owned, and it is one of the few ice cream shops in Mexico City that offers pet-friendly products, designed for our pawed companions to enjoy these warm summer days.

Whether you’re an affogato girlie or a cold brew person, this trendy ice cream shop in Mexico City has an option for every palate. Natalia and Sebastián personally love “the mandarin, cappuccino and vegan matcha flavors.” Beyond fro-yo, Maca also offers fantastic açaí bowls — so it’s the kind of place you’ll definitely want to visit this summer.

• Where? Esquina con Av. Benjamín Franklin, Unión 208, Escandón II Secc., Miguel Hidalgo. 

Andrea Fischer contributes to the features desk at Mexico News Daily. She has edited and written for National Geographic en Español and Muy Interesante México, and continues to be an advocate for anything that screams science. Or yoga. Or both.

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That’s the crux of a letter Frank A. Perez, Zambada’s lawyer, sent this week to Brian M. Cogan, federal judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

At the start of the July 6 “sentencing letter,” Perez wrote that its purpose was to “assist the Court with its decision regarding an appropriate sentence, and particularly, an appropriate recommendation for designation within the U.S. Bureau of Prison (BOP)” for Zambada, who was arrested in New Mexico in July 2024 after he was kidnapped by Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of convicted drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, and forced onto a light plane that flew him to the United States.

After noting that his client pleaded guilty, the Dallas-based lawyer said that Zambada — who is set to be sentenced on July 20 — was “fully aware” that the consequence would “be a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.”

“He accepts this outcome, and does not ask the Court to sentence him outside the law,” he wrote.

“Mr. Zambada’s unequivocal acceptance of responsibility has been a defining feature of his conduct since his involuntary arrival in the United States just under two years ago,” Perez added.

Later in the letter, the lawyer noted that Zambada is 76 and “contends with a complex of age-related health issues.”

“… The request made here is that, within its ability and discretion, this Court recommend designation to a BOP facility suitably equipped to address the defendant’s need for medical treatment, such as FMC [Federal Medical Center] Butner, FMC Rochester, MCFP Springfield, or a similar secure medical or administrative facility within the BOP,” Perez wrote.

“… Given the medical issues documented in the record, the defense respectfully asks that those issues be expressly considered as part of the designation process along with all security, administrative, and institutional factors BOP is required to assess,” he wrote.

Zamada’s health issues are redacted in the publicly-available version of Perez’s letter. However, an unredacted section of the letter states that the conditions “are progressive and likely to exacerbate as the defendant ages.”

Perez argued that Zambada deserves to be incarcerated in a prison where his health issues can be effectively treated because he pleaded guilty rather than opting to go to trial.

“In taking full responsibility for his wrongdoing, Mr. Zambada’s comportment has differed markedly from that of other foreign organized crime figures who have been brought to this country through extradition, including his former partner in the Sinaloa Cartel, Joaquin ‘Chapo’ Guzmán, who went through an 11-week jury trial seven years ago,” he wrote.

“… In contrast,” Perez wrote, “by accepting responsibility and entering a voluntary plea of guilty, Mr. Zambada:

• Avoided what would have been one of the most complex Federal trials in history;
• Spared victims and witnesses the fear and risk of being exposed and having to testify;
• Conserved substantial judicial and prosecutorial resources;
• Eliminated or greatly reduced the security concerns for all concerned that would be inherent in a protracted drug cartel litigation.”

“… Although there will be no benefit in sentence, it seems reasonable there should be some consideration in terms of designation within the BOP,” the lawyer wrote after once again highlighting the “differing” approaches of Guzmán and Zambada to resolving the charges against them.

“The way that Ismael Zambada has conducted himself since coming to the United States is the way our system wants to encourage defendants to behave,” Perez wrote.

“Mr. Zambada’s approach benefitted the system by reducing the logjam of justice. For Mr. Zambada to end up not only with the same life sentence as Mr. Guzman, but also in the same draconian Supermax prison, would fail to account in any way for the fact that he took the right path in resolving the charges against him. It would disincentivize other similarly situated defendants who are brought here in the future from following Mr. Zambada’s example rather than Mr. Guzman’s, and would seem somehow counterintuitive,” he wrote.

Zambada’s early life 

Perez’s letter includes some interesting information about the early life of Zambada, who founded the Sinaloa Cartel with “El Chapo” and others in the 1980s.

The lawyer wrote that “Ismael Zambada was born on January 30, 1950 to a family of subsistence farmers in an isolated rural community in Sinaloa, Mexico.”

“He was the second of seven children, and the first son. He attended three years at the local village school, which was as high as it went, and then went to live with his grandmother in the city of Culiacán where he attended grades 4 through 6. On weekends and in summers, he retuned to the village to work alongside his father on their farm,” Perez wrote.

He wrote that Zambada’s lost his father to brain cancer at the age of 12 and he “received no further schooling after that because, as the oldest male, he was needed to keep the farm running and help make sure the younger children were fed.”

“Mr. Zambada believes that if his father hadn’t died, he likely would have gone farther in school. However, he was familiar with the labors associated with the farm, since he’d been helping his father since early childhood, and he needed to fulfill that role,” Perez said.

El Mayo’s introduction to the underworld

Perez wrote that Zambada met his future wife, Rosario Niebla, while working as a delivery driver for his uncle’s butcher’s shop in his teenage years.

“They married and started their family in 1968, when he was eighteen,” he wrote in the letter to Judge Cogan.

“Mr. Zambada was introduced to the drug trade a year later when he was nineteen by a slightly older friend who took him up to the mountains about an hour from their village where each planted marijuana, camouflaging it within rows of corn on the same parcel. He recalls that the first cycle wasn’t very successful, though he was able to harvest around 60 pounds which he sold to another man, receiving approximately 180 pesos per kilo (about $15 USD per kilo based on the exchange rate at the time),” Perez wrote.

“… From these origins, Mr. Zambada began to meet and establish friendships with other Sinaloans involved in the marijuana and opium trade. Gradually, over the course of many years, he rose to become one of the dominant figures in drug trafficking, first in Sinaloa and ultimately in Mexico as a whole. This rise to leadership evolved over numerous decades and was not foreseen by the defendant or others,” he wrote.

The lawyer also said in his letter that his marriage to Niebla produced five children but ended after around 20 years.

“A series of relationships with other women ensued, some of which overlapped. Mr. Zambada has a total of 16 children ranging in age from 6 to 55. To the best of his ability, he strived to maintain ties with each of them,” Perez wrote.

Mexico News Daily 

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In July 2024, Zambada was arrested by U.S. authorities after arriving at the Doña Ana County International Jetport in New Mexico in a light plane along with Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of convicted drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and a pilot. Last December, Guzmán López said in a U.S. court that he orchestrated the kidnapping of Zambada before the Sinaloa Cartel kingpin was forced onto a plane and flown to the United States.

Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada and a son of ‘El Chapo’ arrested in Texas

In a statement in August 2024, Salazar, who served as U.S. ambassador to Mexico between September 2021 and January 2025, said that Guzmán López surrendered voluntarily to U.S. authorities, but added that evidence indicated that Zambada was taken to the United States against his will.

In the statement, the-then ambassador said that “no United States resources were used to facilitate Guzmán López’s surrender, asserting that “it was not our plane, not our pilot, not our people.”

Salazar also said that no flight plan was presented to United States authorities before the plane took off in Sinaloa, and asserted that the pilot was not a United States government employee nor was he hired by the U.S. government or “any U.S. citizen.”

In light of a recent report by journalist Luis Chaparro asserting that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had admitted involvement in the capture of Zambada, Sheinbaum on Tuesday asked the question, “Did Ambassador Ken Salazar lie?” when he released his statement in August 2024. She subsequently suggested that he did.

On Wednesday, the FGR — which is investigating the report by Chaparro and his media outlet/YouTube channel Pie de Nota — also called into question the veracity of Salazar’s remarks.

If it is confirmed that the FBI and/or other U.S. agencies were involved in an operation to capture Zambada, the Mexican government would consider that another violation of Mexican sovereignty by the United States.

Sheinbaum has already denounced U.S. interference in Mexico in light of the CIA’s alleged participation in a drug lab raid in Chihuahua in April and U.S. prosecutors’ request for the arrest of Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya and various other current and former officials accused of drug trafficking in league with the Sinaloa Cartel. She, like her predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has asserted that the U.S. government was involved in the capture of Zambada, which occurred while former U.S. President Joe Biden was still in office. Sheinbaum has noted that the López Obrador administration asked U.S. authorities to explain how the arrest of Zambada came about, but it never received a clear response.

Stemming from his belief that the U.S. government was involved in an operation to capture Zambada, López Obrador asserted that the United States was partly to blame for the escalation of violence between “Los Chapitos” and “Los Mayos,” whose long-running feud intensified after El Mayo’s kidnapping and arrest, claiming well over 2,000 lives and causing the disappearance of thousands more since September 2024. Sheinbaum has indicated that she shares that view.

The plane used to fly Zambada and Guzmán López to the United States was recently placed on display at the War Eagles Museum, located at the Doña Ana County International Jetport. In his report, Chaparro, who obtained access to the plane, said that the U.S. government “has accepted” that the capture of Zambada was an FBI operation.

He asserted that a “joint work group” made up of personnel from the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the Central Intelligence Agency were “behind” the operation to capture Zambada and used Guzmán López as “the main material operator of the kidnapping” of “El Mayo.”

🔴Aquí el documento con el que el FBI se atribuye la operación del secuestro de “El Mayo” Zambada.

Se trata de la Operación Air Kings.

El documento ya lo tiene el gobierno mexicano, quien lo solicitó a raíz del reportaje de Pie de Nota, me dice @LuisKuryaki

📃@Piedenota pic.twitter.com/Gf8kddnOh8

— Azucena Uresti (@azucenau) July 9, 2026

“Today, Pie de Nota obtained an official statement attributed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, where it explicitly accepts its participation,” Chaparro said in his video report, which was posted to YouTube last week.

Zambada pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in U.S. federal court last August, but has not yet been sentenced.

Salazar: ‘The truth is the truth’

In a statement published to his personal website and X account, Salazar acknowledged that Sheinbaum “has asked a question: who told the truth?”

“Let me answer it plainly:” he said.

“Attorney General Merrick Garland and I communicated to the Mexican government in our public statements and to the Mexican government on July 25 and 26, 2024 on the arrests of Ismael Zambada García and Joaquín Guzmán,” Salazar said.

“We communicated to the Mexican government that it was not our plane, not our pilot, and not our operation,” he said, apparently referring to the statement he released on August 9, 2024.

“La verdad es la verdad, the truth is the truth,” Salazar said, expressing his position in both Spanish and English.

Statement by Former Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar

President Claudia Sheinbaum has asked a question: who told the truth? Let me answer it plainly:

Attorney General Merrick Garland and I communicated to the Mexican government in our public statements and to the Mexican…

— Ken Salazar (@KenSalazar) July 8, 2026

FGR: Salazar’s assertion that US was not involved in the capture of ‘El Mayo’ is ‘false’

At a press conference on Wednesday, Raúl Armando Jiménez, a high-ranking FGR prosecutor, said that “according to the information being collected” by the FGR as part of its investigations into the capture of Zambada, Salazar’s assertion that “there was no intervention” from a U.S. agency is “completely false.”

He and Attorney General Ernestina Godoy said that the former U.S. ambassador wouldn’t be summoned to Mexico to answer questions or investigated due to the diplomatic immunity he had while representing the U.S. government.

Godoy, attorney general since last December, said that FGR “records” related to the Zambada case “warn” that U.S. authorities “on various occasions have provided false or imprecise information” regarding the “identification” of the plane used to transport Zambada and Guzmán López to the United States.

She also said that if it is confirmed that there was a “successful, planned and organized operation carried out by the FBI to capture and kidnap on Mexican soil a person of Mexican nationality in order to transport him and incarcerate him in another country, everything indicates that we would be facing three serious situations.”

If that were the case, there would be “a series of violations of Mexican and international law,” Godoy said.

There would also be an “agreement outside the law” — i.e., a pact between U.S. authorities and Guzmán López — as well as a “lie from a U.S. diplomat,” she said, referring to Salazar.

Godoy acknowledged the statement the ex-ambassador released and August 2024, and said that if he lied in it, that act would represent “a violation of the fundamental principle of good faith in diplomatic relations, as set forth in various international treaties.”

She said that the FGR has seven different investigations related to the capture of El Mayo. The autonomous agency said in 2024 that it was investigating whether treason had been committed, given that kidnapping a person in Mexico for the purpose of handing him or her over to the authorities of another country constitutes that crime. The FGR has also sought to obtain information from U.S. authorities about any involvement they had in the capture of Zambada and his transfer to the United States.

In a statement based on the information Godoy and Jiménez provided at the press conference on Wednesday, the FGR linked the capture of Zambada to the legal status in the United States of Ovidio Guzmán, another son of “El Chapo” Guzmán and brother of Joaquín Guzmán López.

“On July 23, 2024, it was reported by the media and through reports from Mexican diplomatic missions in the United States that Ovidio ‘N,’ who was extradited by the Mexican government on September 15, 2023, joined that country’s witness protection program,” the FGR said.

“Two days later, on July 25, 2024, the U.S. Embassy announced the change in the precautionary measure [i.e., custodial status of Ovidio Guzmán] without consulting the Mexican government,” it said.

“That same day, July 25, the operation took place that resulted in the illegal extraction or kidnapping of Ismael ‘N,’ through a strategy that is currently under investigation, carried out in Sinaloa and concluded in New Mexico.”

The FGR asserted that “the proximity in time” of the events, as well as the family ties between Ovidio and Joaquín Guzman allowed an inference to be made that the kidnapping of Zambada “was the result of the change of the precautionary measure” applicable to Ovidio Guzmán.

Added to that is “the reception of 17 relatives” of the extended Guzmán family by the U.S. government in 2025, the FGR said.

In effect, the FGR is alleging — or at least suggesting — that Joaquín Guzmán López collaborated with the U.S. government on the capture of Zambada to win concessions for his brother (and presumably himself) and safety for his relatives in the United States. Guzmán López, one of the leaders of the “Chapitos” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in federal court in Chicago in December, but has not yet been sentenced.

The pilot of the plane was arrested in Mexico last year and handed over to US authorities 

At Wednesday’s press conference, another FGR official, David Boone de la Garza, said that the pilot of the plane that flew Zambada and Guzmán López to the United States was arrested in Mexico last August on weapons charges. The pilot has been identified as Mauro Alberto Núñez Ojeda, aka “Jondo.”

Boone said that Núñez was deported to Mexico after flying the plane to the United States, and he subsequently continued committing crimes in Mexico until his arrest. He said that Mexican authorities transferred Núñez to the United States after his arrest.

The Los Angeles Times reported in May that “the pilot was apparently released after landing [in New Mexico] and allowed to return to Mexico.”

“He was later arrested in Sinaloa by Mexican security forces and quietly handed over to the Trump administration last August, along with more than two dozen other suspected cartel figures,” the L.A. Times reported on May 10.

“Court records show he pleaded guilty to federal charges last month in Washington, D.C., admitting that his job in the cartel was to ‘work directly’ for [Iván Archivaldo] Guzmán Salazar” — another son of “El Chapo” Guzmán and “Chapitos” leader — “overseeing his fleet of aircraft, serving as his personal pilot and ferrying shipments of drugs and weapons.”

With reports from El Universal, La Jornada, El Financiero and Reforma

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That, in itself, is not unusual. Sargassum is part of life in this region. But over the past eight years living on Cozumel, I’ve noticed a change: every year, there seems to be more of it. Much more.

When sargassum becomes a season

Sargassum is no longer just a nuisance. It is a season.

During the height of it, the beach can disappear completely. “What beach?” is the joke among locals, and it lands because it’s true. The days of long walks, beachcombing and lazy picnics by the water can vanish under thick, rust-colored mats.

Even restaurants feel it. People pull over for lunch or a drink, catch the smell of rotting seaweed, and get right back in the car.

On the island’s east side, the buildup can become so dense that boats have to carve tunnels through it just to get out to sea. That may sound dramatic, but on some days it is exactly what happens.

How it changes daily life

For anyone who spends time in the water, sargassum changes everything.

I swim every other day, and like most swimmers, I get out if there is too much of it. When the wind swings around from the northwest, things can get ugly fast. That is when sargassum hits the protected side of the island — the side where the reefs, boat tours, diving, snorkeling and day trips are concentrated, and where most of Cozumel’s population lives.

So yes, sargassum affects everyone. Tours get canceled. Water activities are cut short. People who were excited to dive or snorkel suddenly decide not to.

It is not only unpleasant; it is physical. Sargassum gets tangled in your hair, and with it comes an entire miniature ecosystem. Tiny sargassum crabs. Stinging creatures. All the things you would rather not discover on your body mid-swim.

Just last week, the wind changed while I was in the water. What had started as a perfect morning swim — purple sea fans swaying below, butterfly fish darting past, angelfish circling in pairs — turned in minutes into stingers, seaweed and a quick retreat to shore. The Caribbean can go from postcard to problem very quickly.

And that is the point: sargassum does not just affect divers, snorkelers and swimmers on vacation. It affects the people who live here and the people whose businesses depend on being in, on or near the ocean.

The cost to local business

That impact is clearest among small local businesses.

My swim coach is one example, and the effect on his work is hard to watch. When sargassum moves in, people cancel lessons. Income drops. Athletes training for major island events such as Ironman and Oceanman lose training days, which affects not only local coaches and guides but also the athletes’ preparation and, potentially, whether they come at all.

That matters because these events are not small. Ironman Cozumel is the island’s biggest event of the year and a major economic driver. If athletes cannot train or compete in decent conditions, they can choose another Caribbean destination instead.

Oceanman is smaller, but the logic is the same. If the water is unusable, the island loses business — not only for race organizers, but for hotels, restaurants, drivers, guides and shops.

Surf schools on the wild side are another good example. Surfing remains one of Cozumel’s most popular activities, but when sargassum piles up thick enough to choke the shoreline, there is no clear way into the water. In some bays, half the ocean seems to turn into a floating field of brown weed. At that point, businesses either relocate or close, sometimes for weeks.

And no, however optimistic anyone may be, you cannot surf on seaweed.

Restaurants suffer too. Beach clubs, bars and waterfront stops that would normally be full can feel deserted when the smell rolls in and the view turns from turquoise blue to mounds of drying algae. Across the channel in Playa del Carmen, the situation is much the same, with heavy equipment often brought in to clear beaches.

A paradise with a problem

This year broke records, and sargassum is clearly not going away anytime soon.

Cozumel is still paradise in many ways. That has not changed for me. But sargassum is now part of the story of living here, and it is becoming a bigger part of the economic and environmental story of the entire Mexican Caribbean.

A possible use for the waste

One reason this issue has become more interesting lately is that people are looking beyond cleanup and asking a more practical question: What can be done with all this seaweed?

One answer is Sargacreto, a concrete-like construction material made with processed sargassum. Grupo Dakatso says it spent five years researching, testing and certifying the material before bringing it to market, and the company has promoted it as a commercially viable way to reuse part of the enormous volume washing ashore.

In simple terms, Sargacreto replaces part of a standard concrete mix with biochar made from treated sargassum. The process uses pyrolysis, which heats the algae without oxygen. According to the company, the finished material retains the structural properties of conventional concrete.

There is obvious appeal in that. Cement is one of the most carbon-intensive materials used in construction, so reducing the amount of cement in a mix could lower environmental impact. Using sargassum in building materials also means less of it going into landfills.

Useful, but only part of the answer

That does not mean Sargacreto is a magic fix.

Even if production scales up, the volume of sargassum arriving each season remains enormous. Mexico News Daily reported earlier this year that sargassum had returned early to Quintana Roo and cited reports of millions of tonnes moving across the Atlantic basin toward the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, underscoring the scale of the challenge.

So the debate is fair. Is it worth it if the material costs more? Is it meaningful if it only absorbs a fraction of what comes ashore? Those are reasonable questions.

Still, using some of the waste productively seems better than simply piling it into landfills. Whether it ends up in roads, paving stones, walkways or larger construction projects, it is at least one way to put a dent in a problem that is getting harder to ignore.

Not a solution, but a start

That may be the most realistic way to look at it.

Sargassum is not going to disappear because a new building material exists. The real long-term answer will probably have to include better containment and collection before so much of it reaches shore, alongside local reuse projects for what does make landfall

But if some of that seaweed can help build roads, stations, walkways or homes instead of choking beaches and filling dumps, that is not nothing. In a region where sargassum has become part of everyday life, even partial solutions matter.

Mexico Correspondent for International Living, Bel is an experienced writer, author, photographer and videographer with 500+ articles published both in print and across digital platforms. Living in the Mexican Caribbean for over seven years now, she’s in love with Mexico and has no plans to go anywhere anytime soon.

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In a World Economic Outlook update, the U.N.-linked financial institution lowered Mexico’s growth outlook for this year to 1.2% from the 1.6% it predicted in its April report.

It also reduced the 2027 growth forecast for Mexico, Latin America’s second-largest economy, to 1.9%, down from the 2.2% estimated three months ago.

The IMF wrote that uncertainties continue to hold back economic activity in Mexico, but  Amador pointed out that the revision presented by the IMF was not ‌due ⁠to domestic factors.

“It was a global downward revision to the IMF’s estimates for world economies resulting from the shock to the ⁠energy market caused by tensions in the Persian Gulf,” he said.

The report was made public the same day U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters he was ending the cease-fire agreement with Iran following renewed hostilities between Iran and the United States.

The IMF said “[r]isks to the [global] outlook are more balanced than in April but still tilted to the downside. The possibility of renewed Middle East conflict looms large and could extend commodity price volatility, further threaten supply chains, raise prices and weigh on financial conditions.”

Amador, who a day earlier had pointed to another UN-connected agency’s report that Mexico is among the top 10 globally in attracting Foreign Direct Investment, also noted that ⁠the IMF’s initial estimates for Mexico’s economy for 2025 turned out to be overly pessimistic and ⁠the results — the economy grew 0.5% in 2025 — were closer to the government’s projections.

Once again, IMF forecasts are more circumspect than those of the Mexican government, which has estimated growth of 1.8% to 2.8% for this year and projects growth of between 1.9% and 2.9% for 2027.

While forecasting stable growth in Latin America and the Caribbean with moderate acceleration next year, the IMF said economic growth in Mexico “is projected to accelerate modestly amid less restrictive domestic policies, but uncertainty will continue to constrain activity.”

The update places Mexico below the estimated growth for Latin America, which is expected to increase by 2.4% in 2026 and 2.7% in 2027.

It also sees global growth rising above baseline if tangible progress is made in international negotiations and domestic policy agendas, while adding that current challenges demand nimble and credible policies.

One comment in the report that is particularly relevant for Mexico refers to trade pacts, which the IMF insists “could lower tariffs and revive investment that has been delayed by an uncertain external environment.”

Mexico has just this month begun to deal with the consequences of the U.S. decision to not renew the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement in its current form. The necessity of negotiating annual reviews of the pact puts key industries — such as the automotive sector, Mexico’s leading economic driver, generating over US $100 billion in annual exports — and new investment in limbo.

With reports from LópezDóriga.com, Reuters and BNamericas 

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Márquez’s appointment is part of Mexico’s Sports Project 2030, which aims to transition the national team into a younger side before the 2030 championships with an emphasis on youth development.

“Rafael Márquez’s appointment is part of an orderly transition outlined in the FMF’s institutional vision,” the FMF said in a statement July 8. “The move aims to build upon the work accomplished during the previous World Cup cycle, strengthen the Mexican National Team’s sporting development, and prepare the squad for upcoming international commitments.”

Márquez’s promotion was no surprise. He was confirmed for the head coach position before the 2026 World Cup, pending the end of Javier Aguirre’s contract. Márquez joined the national team’s coaching staff in 2024 as top assistant, at the same time that Aguirre took the reins.

Márquez played in 148 caps for Mexico from 1997-2018 and is widely regarded as the best defender in El Tri’s history. He played in five World Cups and won two CONCACAF Gold Cups in 2003 and 2011. His final match for Mexico came at the 2018 World Cup in a round of 16 loss to Brazil. 

Mexico exceeded expectations in 2026, earning all nine group stage points for the first time with wins over South Africa, South Korea and Czechia. Breakout stars included Julian Quiñones, who tied Mexico’s record for most goals in a single tournament thanks to four successful shots. Also of note was the presence of 17-year-old Gilberto Mora — the youngest player at the World Cup and an early product of Mexico’s Project 2030 — who received his high school diploma after returning from the championships July 8. 

La continuidad de una historia, con un proyecto a largo plazo y de transición.

Hoy inicia una nueva etapa para nuestra Selección junto a ti, Rafa.

¡Vamos juntos! 🙌#SomosMéxico 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/E7boV2UjX5

— Selección Nacional (@miseleccionmx) July 8, 2026

Mexico defeated Ecuador 2-0 in the round of 32 for its first knockout stage win in 40 years, securing its fourth World Cup win at a single tournament for the first time ever. They bowed out in the round of 16 in a competitive 3-2 loss to powerhouse England. 

Aguirre and Márquez helped lead Mexico to titles in the CONCACAF Gold Cup and Nations League in 2025. Aguirre stepped down following the 2026 World Cup, completing his third stretch leading Mexico after stints from 2001-2002 and 2009-2010. 

“The Mexican National Team extends its deepest gratitude to Javier Aguirre for his professionalism, leadership, and dedication throughout this cycle,” the FMF said. “His legacy will endure as part of Mexican soccer history and as a testament to the pride involved in defending our country’s colors.”

Leading Mexico will be Márquez’s first senior coaching role. His initial coaching gig was with the Alcalá youth program in Spain. He moved up to coaching Barcelona Atlètic, the B team for historic club FC Barcelona, from 2022 to 2024 before joining Aguirre’s staff. 

Márquez excelled as a player at the club level, playing 163 caps for FC Barcelona from 2003 to 2010, helping them win four La Liga titles and two UEFA Champions League trophies in that span. He played in 110 games for Monaco from 1999-2003 after starting his club career with Atlas FC in Guadalajara in 1996. 

He came back to Mexico in 2012, winning two Liga MX titles with Club León before finally finishing his playing career with Atlas, his boyhood club. 

The 2030 World Cup will be hosted in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Qualifying for the 35 affiliated CONCACAF teams will start in September 2027, a process that Mexico avoided in 2026 by being a host nation.

Jared Tucker is a summer intern at Mexico News Daily in San Miguel de Allende and a rising senior at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he is the sports editor for The Daily UW. He was previously a fellow at TheFulcrum.us, where he covered public participation in American democracy.

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Presented annually since 1946, the Ariels recognizes artistic and technical excellence in the Mexican film industry. The 2026 Ariel Awards presentation is scheduled for Oct. 3 in Mexico City, but the Academy has yet to confirm which platform or channel will broadcast the ceremony. 

Last year, the event took place in Puerto Vallarta and was available on HBO Max. 

“Every year, we see better and better cinema,” said Daniel Hidalgo, president of the AMACC. “But we now face greater challenges, such as young people relying on cell phones rather than going to movie theaters, competition from streaming platforms and concerns about how AI will change cinema.”

The film “En el camino” (“On the Road”), co-produced by Diego Luna and directed by David Pablos, garnered 13 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, while the film’s star Osvaldo Sánchez earned a Best Actor nomination.

The movie portrays the love between a truck driver and a young man and, due to the content, received a “C” rating, meaning it is intended for viewers 18 and older.

“Aún es de noche en Caracas” (“It’s Still Night in Caracas”) earned the second most nominations with nine. This film — an adaptation of Karina Sainz Borgo’s novel “The Spanish Woman’s Daughter” — tells the story of Adelaida who, after burying her mother, finds her home invaded by armed militia while Venezuelan society collapses around her. 

The newspaper Infobae reported that Mexico City’s Ibero-American University “positioned itself as a breeding ground for talent in the national film industry,” as three recent alumni earned nominations. 

Ernesto Martínez Bucio co-authored and directed “El diablo fuma” (“The Devil Smokes”), his first feature film. It will be competing in the Best Picture, Best First Feature, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing categories, as well as three acting categories.

Martínez’s film centers on five siblings abandoned by their parents who must learn to survive while in the care of their paranoid schizophrenic grandmother.

Sebastián Molina Ruiz is competing in The Best Short Documentary category with “Toda la vida para siempre” (“All My Life Forever”), an anthology of dreams from people who had to leave their homes only to find themselves in Europe, where no one speaks the same language and no one understands each other.

Juan María León Piña was nominated in the Best Animated Short Film category with “Te Prometo Violencia” (“I Promise You Violence”).

All the nominees are announced in the video below.

Netflix reaffirmed its strategic role in the national film industry by securing a total of 13 nominations, with “Aún es de noche en Caracas” leading the way.

Actress Rosita Arenas and documentary filmmaker Demetrio Bilbatúa are this year’s recipients of the Golden Ariel.

Arenas, 92, one of the last divas of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, acted in nearly 50 films, including features starring alongside Pedro Infante and Cantinflas. 

Bilbatúa, 91, boasts an extensive filmography, including more than 1,000 documentaries, over a 50-year career that began in 1954. The book “Demetrio Bilbatúa: Witness to Mexico” mentions 589 films. 

With reports from El Universal, Excelsior, El Imparcial and Infoba

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Among the country’s many islands, which are the largest and which have the highest population?

If you don’t already know, you’ll find out in this week’s “Mexico in Numbers” article!

Mexico’s largest islands 

Mexico’s largest island is Isla Tiburón (Shark Island), an uninhabited island in the Gulf of California off the coast of the northern state of Sonora. The area of Isla Tiburón is 1,198.7 square kilometers, according to INEGI.

Thus, Isla Tiburón is just over 20 times larger than the island of Manhattan, New York, whose area is approximately 59 square kilometers.

Mexico’s second largest island is Isla Ángel de la Guarda (Guardian Angel Island), which is also in the Gulf of California. The area of Isla Ángel de la Guarda, located off the eastern coast of Baja California, is 930.4 square kilometers. The island is around 16 times larger than Manhattan.

Mexico’s third largest island is Cozumel, located in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo. Cozumel’s area is 467.9 kilometers, making it around eight times bigger than Manhattan.

Mexico’s fourth largest island is Isla de Cedros (Island of Cedars), located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California. This inhabited island has an area of 346.9 square kilometers, according to INEGI, making it almost six times larger than Manhattan.

Mexico’s fifth largest island is Cabo Rojo (Red Cape), an island (or coastal barrier) in the Gulf of Mexico off the northern coast of the state of Veracruz. The island, which encloses the Tamiahua Lagoon, has an area of 343.5 square kilometers.

Earlier this year, Mapoteca published an image showing Mexico’s 20 largest islands by area. Click here to check it out.

Mexico’s most populous islands 

According to INEGI, Mexico’s most populous island is Isla del Carmen, an island that is linked to Mexico’s mainland (in the state of Campeche) by two bridges. At the time of Mexico’s last census in 2020, the population of Isla del Carmen, where the city of Ciudad del Carmen is located, was 191,512. Isla del Carmen is Mexico’s 11th largest island with an area of 103.7 kilometers.

Mexico’s second-most populous island is Cozumel, which had a population of 88,626 in 2020.

The third-most populous island in Mexico is Isla Mujeres, located off the northern coast of Quintana Roo near Cancún. The island’s population in 2020 was 13,174.

Fourth in terms of number of inhabitants is Isla Aguada, an island that is connected to Isla del Carmen by a bridge. Its population was 7,648 in 2020.

The fifth-most populous island in Mexico is Cabo Rojo, which had a population of 4,104 in 2020.

Mexico News Daily 

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• ⚖️ Mexico to pursue criminal and civil action over deaths of Mexicans in ICE custody and ICE operations: Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Velasco reported that 17 Mexicans have died in ICE detention centers or ICE operations since the start of the second Trump administration, most recently Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot by an ICE officer in Houston on Tuesday. Velasco said Mexico has sent 11 diplomatic notes of protest and raised the issue with the U.N. and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, but that President Sheinbaum has now instructed officials to take “forceful legal actions,” including criminal complaints filed directly with U.S. state and federal prosecutors and civil cease-and-desist letters against the private companies that operate ICE detention centers.
• 🗣️ Sheinbaum: complaints will target those responsible for “what we consider to be homicides”: Asked to clarify who the complaints would target, Sheinbaum said the government would file criminal complaints with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices against those responsible for deaths it considers homicides, and separate complaints over human rights violations in other cases where poor detention conditions contributed to deaths. She said her government would do “everything in our hands” to defend Mexicans in the U.S., including those held in privately run ICE facilities.
• 📉 Annual inflation falls to 3.37% in June: Sheinbaum noted headline inflation continued its decline from a 2026 high of 4.59% in March to 4.45% in April, 3.94% in May and 3.37% in June — just above the Bank of Mexico’s 3% target — calling the June figure “even better” than the estimate she gave the previous day.

Why today’s mañanera matters

President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Thursday morning press conference was significant as Mexico’s foreign affairs minister presented new actions the Mexican government will take in response to the death of Mexican nationals in immigration detention centers in the United States and in operations carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The presentation of the new actions comes two days after a Mexican man was shot and killed by an ICE officer in Houston, Texas.

Sheinbaum has long expressed her opposition to the aggressive deportation campaign the Trump administration has pursued since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House in early 2025. On Wednesday, she said that “the only offense” of Mexicans who have died in ICE detention centers was “not yet” having immigration papers.

On Thursday morning, the federal government once again made it clear that defending the rights of Mexicans in the United States — whether they have legal immigration status or not — is a priority.

Also of note at today’s mañanera was Sheinbaum’s acknowledgement that inflation in Mexico once again declined in June.

Velasco presents new government ‘actions’ in response to the deaths of Mexicans in ICE custody  

Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Velasco told reporters that, during the second Trump administration, 17 Mexicans have died in ICE detention centers or in operations carried out by the agency. The most recent death was that of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot by an ICE officer in Houston on Tuesday. A total of 14 Mexicans have died in ICE immigration centers in 2025 and 2026, while three were killed in ICE operations, according to the information presented by Velasco.

The foreign minister said that 58 deaths of foreigners in ICE detention centers have been “publicly reported” in 2025 and 2026.

Velasco noted that the Mexican government has provided a range of assistance and support to the families of Mexicans who have died in the United States under ICE custody. He also highlighted that the government has sent “11 formal diplomatic notes of protest” to the U.S. government, “demanding the clarification of the events” related to the deaths of Mexicans under ICE custody or in ICE operations.

Velasco said that the U.S. government has responded to that communication, telling its Mexican counterpart that investigations are being carried out.

He also said that the Mexican government “formally set out the seriousness of the situation” to U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk during his visit to Mexico in April. Velasco noted that Türk subsequently made a statement on the matter. In late June, the high commissioner “urged prompt action to prevent further loss of life in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody and called for independent investigations into all deaths under ICE custody,” according to a U.N. press release.

Velasco also noted that the Mexican government formally asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to conduct a review of cases involving the deaths of Mexicans in the custody of ICE.

He subsequently said that “the president has instructed us to commence forceful legal actions to respond to this very painful tragedy we’re going through.”

Velasco said that the Foreign Affairs Ministry would ask for assistance from the Federal Attorney General’s Office to present criminal complaints in the United States against “whoever is responsible” for the deaths of Mexicans under ICE custody or in ICE operations.

“We’re going to leave the diplomatic domain in order to go directly to U.S. attorney’s offices to file complaints about these events, requesting investigations in the criminal domain,” the foreign minister said.

He also said that the Mexican government would commence “civil actions against companies that operate ICE detention centers. Velasco said the government would send “cease and desist letters” to those companies, asking them to put an end to “actions and conditions” that violate people’s human rights and which “led to the deaths of 14 Mexicans.”

“… These cease and desist letters are a legal mechanism that exists in the United States,” he said.

Velasco also said that the government, along with Mexican civil society organizations, would present a request to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights asking for “the protection of Mexicans in detention centers” in the United States.

In addition, he said that the government would ask Volker Türk, once again, to seek “the protection of Mexicans in ICE detention centers.”

“… Apart from this, naturally we’re going to continue the communication with the [U.S.] Department of State, with the Department of Homeland Security and with different U.S. authorities,” Velasco said.

“The president has asked for that to be a priority,” he said.

La presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum lamentó la muerte de connacionales relacionadas con el ICE, e informó que se presentarán denuncias ante las fiscalías estatales y la fiscalía federal de Estados Unidos. pic.twitter.com/71OusT4HCZ

— NMás (@nmas) July 9, 2026

Velasco said that he had also asked Mexico’s new ambassador to the United States, Roberto Lazzeri, to seek “immediate” meetings with U.S. authorities “to continue attending to this issue.”

He said that the defense of Mexicans in ICE custody is currently “the most important” issue for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“The priority of our work is always the defense of the human rights of our compatriots and for that reason we’re initiating these legal actions,” Velasco said.

Sheinbaum: Mexico will file complaints against those responsible for ‘what we consider to be homicides’

A reporter asked the president to clarify against whom the Mexican government will file its criminal complaints in the United States.

Referring to the death of Salgado in Houston on Tuesday, Sheinbaum said that “due to what happened recently — the death of a Mexican in an ICE operation — … we took the decision … to file complaints with state Attorney General’s Offices and the Office of the U.S. Attorney General against whoever turns out to be responsible for what we consider to be homicides [in some cases].”

In “other cases” in which Mexicans have died under ICE custody, complaints will be filed against those responsible for violating their human rights, she said. The Mexican government has asserted that poor conditions in detention centers in the United States and a lack of care for people in ICE custody has caused or at least contributed to the deaths of Mexicans.

Sheinbaum said that her government would do “everything in our hands” to defend Mexicans in the United States.

“We can’t turn a blind eye to Mexicans who have died in ICE operations or who are detained in these detention centers that are operated by private companies contracted by ICE,” she said.

“That’s why we’re undertaking more actions,” Sheinbaum said.

Annual inflation fell to 3.37% in June

Near the end of her press conference, Sheinbaum noted that Mexico’s annual headline inflation rate fell to 3.37% in March, just above the Bank of Mexico’s 3% target.

Inflation increased in each of the first three months of the year to reach an annual rate of 4.59% in March. Inflation subsequently declined to 4.45% in April, 3.94% in May and 3.37% in June.

The rate in June, Sheinbaum said, is “even better than what we said [it would be] yesterday.”

By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)

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Jalisco’s strategic plan to improve water quality and access in the Guadalajara Metro 

With one in 10 neighborhoods in the GMA experiencing dirty water from water taps and others suffering from service outages, Jalisco state officials announced last week that solving these problems will require infrastructure investment of more than 20 billion pesos (US $1.1 billion), with projects spanning years.

Protestan en Casa Jalisco: exigen a Pablo Lemus alerta sanitaria por agua contaminada con plomo y mercurio pic.twitter.com/kuZ1m0Fg3r

— SIAPA CORRUPTO (@SiapaCorrupto) July 4, 2026

The high cost reflects the need to replace and expand significant parts of the city’s hydraulic system operated by SIAPA, as much of it is obsolete following decades of use and chronic underinvestment. 

The strategic plan unveiled last week includes more than 30 short, medium and long-term projects intended to address water quality, supply, distribution and sanitation issues across approximately 200 neighborhoods. 

As part of this strategy, Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro ordered the creation of a permanent executive committee comprised of different state agencies, for the purpose of coordinating and monitoring the projects’ progress.

Financing is needed, but water system privatization is ruled out

Although the state government confirmed it would seek a financing scheme to pay for the work, there are no details yet on how it would be structured or whether private funding would be sought.

The estimated 20 billion pesos in funding needed for these projects equates to more than three times SIAPA’s annual budget of 6.35 billion pesos. In addition, the public agency is already saddled with a substantial debt, which accounts for 15% of its annual spending.

Chief of Staff of the Government of Jalisco, Alberto Esquer, called on both the federal government and the state congress to contribute funding in support of these essential water projects.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Alberto Esquer Gutiérrez (@albertoesquerg)

“So far, everything has been done with the state’s own resources, and in less than a year, these actions will allow us to see results in the city’s water quality. To resolve this issue once and for all, at least four additional long-term projects with sufficient resources will be required to guarantee the distribution and supply of quality water for our city,” he told the local press. 

This substantial funding gap has given rise to speculation that the public water system might be handed over to private companies. In response, Esquer emphatically denied that privatization was under consideration, insisting that management of SIAPA would remain in government hands. That said, the private sector will be invited to bid on the myriad infrastructure projects the state intends to carry out. 

Initial projects are already underway with public funds

The new head of SIAPA, Ismael Jáuregui, announced that the first stage of the program has already kicked off with more than 5 billion pesos in public funds from the state of Jalisco. 

Key projects in this phase include expansion and modernization of Water Treatment Plant 1 in Miravalle, which has been operating for 70 years and supplies more than half of the water consumed by the metropolitan area. 

Also among these projects is the construction of a new replacement aqueduct between Chapala and Guadalajara, which will guarantee higher quality water, reduce water extraction from Lake Chapala, lessen the environmental impact and optimize pumping costs. 

The project also includes the modernization and expansion of Water Treatment Plants 3 and 5 to increase the system’s capacity and meet the growing demand of the metropolitan area. 

A long road ahead

While the first phase of infrastructure projects should deliver meaningful improvements for many long-suffering residents, Esquer noted that at least four additional long-term projects will be needed to guarantee both the quantity and quality of water that the GMA now needs. 

Finally, Esquer stressed that transformation of the GMA’s hydraulic system would require better coordination between the federal, state and local governments, in addition to citizen participation.

World Cup tourists spent lavishly and boosted Guadalajara’s economy

The economic impact from World Cup games in Zapopan across the state of Jalisco is now estimated at 11.5 billion pesos (US $657 million). This figure came in at the high end of projections, though the factors driving it took local officials by surprise.

According to Gustavo Staufert, Director of the Guadalajara Visitors and Conventions Bureau, “We reached the economic goal, but … the breaking point, for better and for worse, was the price of the tickets at the stadium and the way they were marketed. So the income was extraordinary, but the cost of the ticket meant that a very high-income customer came.”

A World Cup bringing fewer, more affluent tourists resulted in hotel occupancy rates 11% below expectations. However, room rates trended as much as 300% higher than normal — which drove hotel revenues of more than 2.1 billion pesos from an estimated 2.5 million visitors. 

But not all businesses benefited equally

By category, luxury hotels in upscale neighborhoods such as Providencia generally did well due to solid demand from foreign tourists, with occupancy rates north of 60% on game days. At the other end of the spectrum, budget-oriented hotels in Guadalajara’s Historic Center suffered occupancy rates of 40% or less on game days, with mostly domestic guests.

The story was similar for restaurants. In a survey conducted by the Jalisco delegation of the National Chamber of the Restaurant and Seasoned Food Industry (Canirac), about 30% of restaurants in the GMA experienced increased sales from the World Cup, with the rest seeing no change. 

Those that benefited did so thanks to strategic locations near fan zones in Guadalajara and Zapopan centers, or in high-traffic corridors where visitors congregated after matches, such as Avenida Chapultepec, Colonia Americana, Punto Sao Paolo and Andares.

MND Writer Dawn Stoner is reporting from Guadalajara.

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