Tag Archives: Tijuana

First Look At Salma Hayek & Mathieu Demy In ‘Americano’

Written by: Oliver Lyttelton – THE PLAYLIST

It’s always said that when it comes to breaking into the film industry, it’s not what you know, but who you know, and it’s hard to deny that nepotism is rife in the industry. But when it’s meant that talents like Sofia Coppola, Nicolas Cage, Peter Fonda, Drew Barrymore, John Huston and, uh, Clint Howard, to name but a few, it’s hard to complain too much. Today we’ve obtained an exclusive first image of a project that utilizes a number of members of famous film-making families, and it’s looking pretty promising.

First Look At Salma Hayek & Mathieu Demy In ‘Americano’

First Look At Salma Hayek & Mathieu Demy In ‘Americano’

Actor Mathieu Demy comes from famous film-making stock, being the son of French film-making giants Agnes Varda and Jacques Demy, and he’s already racked up an impressive career in front of the camera, in films like “God is Great, But I’m Not,” “Aram” and “The Girl On The Train.” Now, according to a press release from BAC Films International, who’ve picked up all of the worldwide rights to the project, he’s made his directorial debut, on a self-penned project entitled “Americano,” and he’s attracted fellow filmmaking family members to the cast like Chiara Mastroianni, daughter of Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve, Geraldine Chaplin, daughter of Charlie Chaplin and Carlos Bardem, the older brother of Javier Bardem. But the film will be toplined by Demy himself, opposite international star Salma Hayek.

Demy will play Martin, a man grieving from the death of his mother, and escaping a failing relationship, who returns to Los Angeles, where he grew up, to sort out his inheritance. Troubled by childhood memories, he goes off to track down Lola, a Mexican woman (Hayek) who he knew in childhood, eventually finding her down at the Americano club in Tijuana, where she works as a stripper. Mastroianni will play Martin’s ex-girlfriend, while Chaplin will play an old friend of the family who kicks off his quest.

Demy comments in the press release “”Americano” is a film I have been working on for years. I wanted to tackle a theme that directly relates to my history, my identity: transmission. What do you inherit from your parents? How do you deal with it? And how do you write your own story?” And it seems like he’s using the unique advantages of his own upbringing: “I used footage from one of my mother’s film, “Documenteur”, where she filmed me when I was 8 and was living with her in LA. Those images find a special echo in the film, and question our relationship to fiction and reality. But I also wanted to do a universal film, that will travel and please all type of audiences. That is why I decided to gather a very special cast, whom I must thank for their support and their faith in the project.”

The film’s now in post-production, having recently wrapped its multi-lingual, globe-spanning shoot—it lensed in Paris, L.A. and Tijuana, and will be in French, English and Spanish—and should apparently be ready for the festival season in the fall, so a bow in Toronto or Venice wouldn’t be out of the question. Les Films du Losange will distribute in France, and BAC Films will be the sales agent. It all sounds fairly intriguing, and Demy’s parentage alone is reason enough to make us very, very curious about what he’s come up with.

Browse for Mexico Real Estate and Real Estate in Baja.

Baja California Responds To Safety Concerns And Eyes Rebound In Tourism

By Jeff Barnes, Editor, Mission Times Courier

(Mission Times Courier, San Diego, CA) – If safety concerns have kept you from visiting Baja California, the State wants you to know security has been stepped up across the region with your safety in mind.

Baja California Responds To Safety Concerns And Eyes Rebound In Tourism

Baja California Responds To Safety Concerns And Eyes Rebound In Tourism

The mayors of Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada, Mexicali and Tecate recently invited media on a three-day tour of the region to discuss the changes that have been made to ensure the safety of tourists. The Mission Times Courier was one of several media outlets from California, Arizona and Nevada that joined government officials on the tour.

Tijuana’s new mayor and police chief say public safety for tourists is a top priority. Mayor Carlos Bustamante says media reports of crimes involving drug cartels over the past several years have led many to believe Tijuana has turned into “a crime city”. Today, officials say that perception couldn’t be farther from the truth. Police Chief Gustavo Huerta credits heightened enforcement and training for turning the city back into a safe place for residents and tourists. Thanks to greater coordination among federal, state and local law enforcement, the city has seen a higher number of seizures of drugs. The city has seen a 30% decrease in crimes involving cartel members and a 40% decline in violent crimes and robberies.

The police chief says new training standards and procedures have also been implemented to make sure officers are fulfilling their obligation. More than 500 officers have been fired for failing to comply.

“We’re not going to put up with any corruption,” Chief Huerta said.

A new “tourist police” force has been put in place in tourist areas, including Avenida Revolución, a downtown area known for its restaurants and shopping. The bilingual officers are more easily recognized and are eager to help tourists during their stay.’ read more »

How safe is travel in Mexico

It all depends on your destination. The State Department warns against travel in the border towns of Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juárez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros, but most beach resorts and other historical spots popular with American tourists are unaffected.

Carol Pucci
Seattle Times staff columnist

How safe is travel in Mexico?

How safe is travel in Mexico?

How safe is travel in Mexico?

It all depends on where you’re going.

As a new travel warning by the U.S. State Department (http://travel.state.gov) points out, the areas of concern are not the beach resorts or historical cities most Americans visit, but rather the border towns, specifically Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juárez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros.

Too often in the past, these types of government alerts have taken a broad-brush approach, simply advising against travel to a country as a whole. What’s different about this warning, issued Sunday following the shooting in Ciudad Juárez of three people with ties to the American consulate, is its level of detail, and the way it rightly targets only towns where drug-related violence has been rampant.

This could have something to do with the fact that Mexico’s tourism economy is fragile, and the U.S. government doesn’t want to do anything that might damage it, but let’s hope it also has something to do with a new, more responsible approach to travel warnings in general.

As the State Department points out, millions of U.S. citizens safely visit Mexico each year, and this isn’t likely to change. Nearly a million Americans live in various parts of the country, enjoying the benefits of an inexpensive retirement and low-cost medical care. read more »

The Baja Blondes in Fox 5 Morning News

The Baja Blondes cast makes an appearance in FOX 5 Morning News with Chrissy Russo, Arthel Neville, Raoul Martinez, Shally Zomorodi – KSWB

Click to play video.


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Construction Begins At San Diego Border Crossing

By ELLIOT SPAGAT, AP

December 17, 2009

SAN DIEGO — The federal government has begun replacing the nation’s busiest border crossing, promising shorter waits into California for tens of thousands of people who enter daily from Tijuana, Mexico.

Existing Tijuana - San Ysidro Border Crossing

Existing Tijuana - San Ysidro Border Crossing

The $577 million blueprint unveiled Thursday calls for increasing the number of lanes into San Diego to 30 from 24 and equipping each lane with two inspection booths instead of one. Six existing lanes into Tijuana will be moved slightly to the west.

Construction is scheduled to finish in September 2015, though the date hinges on money. Congress has funded about half – $293 million – none of it from the federal stimulus package.

Waiting times for the 50,000 vehicles that enter San Diego daily often reach two hours, clogging Tijuana roads. And as the Mexican government has beefed up inspections for guns and cash this year, motorists can wait more than an hour on California Interstates 5 and 805 to enter Tijuana.

Waits for California-bound motorists will drop significantly, but it’s too early to say by how much, said Oscar Preciado, the program manager for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. read more »

Mexican, U.S. Officials Meet In Santa Ana For 2nd Mayors of the Californias Summit

Mexican, U.S. Officials Meet In Santa Ana For 2nd Mayors of the Californias Summit

Mexican, U.S. Officials Meet In Santa Ana For 2nd Mayors of the Californias Summit

SANTA ANA, CA. Government and law enforcement officials from both sides of the border met at the Santa Ana Police headquarters December 4 for the 2nd Binational Mayors of the Californias Summit.

The goal of the meetings is to increase cooperation between officials from Southern California and Baja, a region that combined represents one of the world’s larger economies as well having many other shared interests.

Among cities represented were Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada, Tecate, Santa Ana, Brea, South El Monte, West Covina, La Habra, Redondo Beach and Fullerton at the event co-hosted by Santa Ana groups and Rosarito.

Workshops at the daylong summit included ones on security, infrastructure and the economy. The importance of sharing information and efforts in the closely linked region was stressed.

“The border does not exist when we talk about air quality, when we talk about water quality,” said Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulito in explaining the need for increased cooperation. read more »

First Group of Baja Tourist Police Set to Graduate on December 18

First Group of Baja Tourist Police Set to Graduate on December 18

First Group of Baja Tourist Police Set to Graduate on December 18

ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO—The first group of a new Metropolitan Police Force to help patrol Baja’s tourist corridor from Tijuana to Ensenada is scheduled for a graduation ceremony Dec. 18 at the San Diego Police Department.

The ceremony will be at 11 a.m. for the 15 officers, five each from Tijuana, Rosarito and Ensenada. The new uniforms for the special force also will be introduced at that time and the force will have specially marked patrol cars.

The duties of the Metropolitan Police Force, expected to be on duty by early 2010, will be to help other regional departments protect and assist the millions of visitors along northern Baja’s popular 70-mile coastal tourist corridor.
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Finally Some Good News on Travel in Mexico

Drug cartels. Murders. The news is often bad out of Mexico. Peter Ferry journeys beyond the headlines.

Finally Some Good News on Travel in Mexico

Finally Some Good News on Travel in Mexico

Poor old Mexico. Talk about kicking a guy when he’s down! Just when the price of oil plummets, American jobs dry up, and the fear of drug violence cuts tourism in half, along comes swine flu to cut it in half again.

OK, it’s time for a little good news. In May, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control lifted its recommendation against travel to Mexico; the swine flu isn’t so bad after all, and it probably didn’t come here from Mexico in the first place.

And now a little more good news. Drug violence is not a threat to ordinary tourists like you and me. This is according to the Mexican government, the U.S. State Department and me. Let me give you a little background.

I had driven to, in and around Mexico with impunity and pleasure, but that was years ago. Now I was planning two road trips, one from the border to central Mexico, another from Mexico City to Cuernavaca to Oaxaca and back, and my friends were alarmed.

“What about the drug war?” read more »

San Diego To Assist Baja California In Training New Tourist Police Force

San Diego To Assist Baja California In Training New Tourist Police Force

San Diego To Assist Baja California In Training New Tourist Police Force

ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO—The San Diego Police Department will help train members of a new Mexican metropolitan tourist police force that will patrol from Tijuana to Ensenada.

The training agreement was formalized in a letter of intent signed Monday at San Diego City Hall by Mayor Jerry Sanders and mayors of the Baja California cities of Tijuana, Rosarito and Ensenada.

The new force will patrol primarily the 50-mile coastal tourist corridor from the U.S.-Mexico border to Ensenada. Exact size of the force and other details will be developed in the next few weeks prior to the start of training.

The goal is to have the force in operation by early next year. It will be designed primarily to deal with visitors from the U.S., Baja’s traditional main market.

“We’ve always prided ourselves on our working relationship with our friends to the south,” Sanders said, adding that the economies of the two regions are closely tied and both benefit from binational tourism. read more »

USA: California medical tourism association formed to promote Baja

Baja California Medical Tourism Association (BCMTA)

Baja California Medical Tourism Association (BCMTA)

Baja California Medical Tourism Association (BCMTA) is a State of California non-profit mutual benefit association. It is the only association outside the Republic of Mexico totally dedicated to advocating and promoting medical services for the entire state of Baja California. BCMTA will represent all of Baja California not just one location or cluster

BCMTA aims to help provide medical service seekers access to Baja California’s highest quality, affordable and compassionate medical services. It has offices in Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego, USA.From the Mexico border north through the Greater Los Angeles Region there are 24 million residents.

The huge number of Americans traveling to Mexico has seen many agencies; hospitals and clinics open to medical tourists, or set up specifically for them. While many offer excellent care at reasonable prices, some are taking advantage of the modern equivalent of the California gold rush.

Choosing a clinic or hospital is a lottery, and incompetent or dishonest surgeons and agencies cheat a few unlucky medical tourists. BCMTA wants to offer a “Seal of Approval” to people seeking medical services, information and referrals in the Western United States, with emphasis in California’s vast Hispanic and non-Hispanic population. BCMTA wants to make available a network of highly accredited health care providers dedicated to the practice of providing treatment with healing in mind and dedicated to wellness programmes. The organization believes that the practice of medicine requires of its practitioners an advanced level of competence and above reproach moral values. BCMTA considers for membership only those who meet this code of values. read more »