Cuenca is quietly setting up for a bigger tourism future. The city's extended municipal budget for next year includes money earmarked for a comprehensive rehabilitation of the airport runway in 2027, one of several infrastructure projects flagged by the municipality alongside studies for new green space: a west phase of the botanical garden, a second phase of Miraflores park, work on the San Roque plaza, a pedestrian path along 3 de Noviembre between El Vado and Todos Santos, and later phases of the Parque del Arco. For anyone who has flown into this Andean city, a runway overhaul is welcome news for flight reliability and route prospects.
Culture-wise, the timing is good too. As part of Cuenca's Independence fiestas, the Museo del Banco Central on Calle Larga is hosting 'Along the Inca Trails: goldsmithing, worldview, and memory of the Andes' until 29 November. It's the first time this collection has shown in Ecuador: 43 silver pieces by master silversmiths from the Peru Silver Board of Trustees Collection, organised around the Qhapaq Ñan, the Inca road network that once stitched together trade and ideas across the Andes. Hours during the holiday period are 10:00-16:00, and it's free.
If you're heading to Ecuador this month, know that the coast is a different story. President Noboa has decreed overnight curfews, midnight to 5:00, in five coastal provinces: Guayas, Manabí, Los Ríos, El Oro and Esmeraldas, running into 10 November. It's the fourth curfew of the year, and it overlaps a national holiday. Cuenca itself is not affected. Protest organisers including the teachers' union UNE and the Frente Popular have also called demonstrations for 7 and 15 November, with further marches on 25 November and 10 December, so expect some street disruption in city centres on those dates.
Elsewhere in the roundup: ARCSA health inspectors closed two salchipapa fast-food spots in the Totoracocha area after finding cockroach infestations, though roughly 30 restaurants inspected overall mostly passed. And customs officers seized nearly 500 bales of contraband used clothing near Guayaquil, valued at about $390,000.
For travellers, the practical read is simple: base yourself in Cuenca, where there's no curfew and a free, first-in-Ecuador silver exhibition on until the end of November, but plan coastal legs (Guayaquil, Salinas, Manta, the Esmeraldas beaches) around the midnight-5:00 restrictions and steer clear of protest dates if you don't want your sightseeing interrupted. The runway work, still a couple of years out, signals the city expects more visitors, and the park and riverside pedestrian projects will only add to Cuenca's walkable appeal when they land.
