Did I miss something? Because so help me I could swear that there was no shortage of people telling me a couple years back that vacationers and other travelers would be pouring into Peñasco from California by the carloads once that coastal highway from the ‘West’ was completed…
Maybe those were the same people who also insisted that once the airport was open for business flights from California and other places would be landing here and spewing out tens of thousands of tourists each month onto the streets of our wonderful seaside community with fistfuls of Pesos to spend.
Now don’t get me wrong because everything takes time and, yes, I’m fully aware of the recent landing of the first “chartered” Boeing 737 flight on July 30th from Ciudad Juarez with 110 passengers and that is ¡Fantástico!
I never believed that ‘Californians’, etc. would be coming in droves, at least not any time soon. But what is happening (and I would love to see more of) are thousands of Mexican Nationals visiting Peñasco. And when they return back home and show their neighbors the photos of their vacation, the beaches, etc. and spread the good news about Peñasco then their friends and co-workers, etc. will plan to visit here in the near future as well.
That will lead to more Mexican business owners (retail, etc.) coming in from afar and opening up ‘shop’. And that will lead to more jobs for Peñasco residents and their children so that they, too, can remain in the community once they are adults as opposed to having to move to (e.g.) Mexicali for opportunities.
That will all lead to more tax Pesos in the coffers for better schools, roads, medical facilities, etc. and before you know it, Peñasco will have evolved into a community filled with even more pride, and it will become more attractive to visitors from within Mexico and all points in Central and South America.
As that is being accomplished (hopefully along with forever banning ‘Spring Break’) Peñasco will never again have to depend on the folks from (mostly) Arizona. Because as we’ve all seen, counting on those Arizonan's Pesos can get downright ugly when things aren’t going well 'up there' and instead of Peñasco having all its tourist eggs in one basket, spread ‘em out all over Mexico and all the other near-by nations in this hemisphere! And that, too, will be ¡Fantástico!
¡Viva Puerto Peñasco y México!
elgitanopenasco@gmail.com
