Sixteen years after Hernán Cortés landed in Cozumel with a few hundred Spaniards to begin the conquest of Mexico, he sailed into the bay of La Paz with three ships on May 3, 1535.
He wasn’t the first European to reach the shores of the Baja California peninsula. Cortés, entranced by stories of gold and pearls in Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo’s 1510 story of romance and adventure, “Las Sergas de Esplandían” — the origin of the name California — had sent two prior expeditions. The first failed and the second was hijacked by mutineer Fortún Jiménez, who landed near La Paz in 1533, before he and his men enraged local Indigenous inhabitants, with predictably dire results.
Cortés, however, was the first to establish a settlement on the peninsula, and although it proved short-lived — the colonization effort lasted less than a year — his arrival is celebrated as the birth of the city of La Paz, the capital of Baja California Sur.
The origin of the Fiestas de Fundación in La Paz and the celebrations in 2026
La Paz is celebrating its 491st anniversary this year with free rock concerts for the public in Parque Revoción.
The annual Fiestas de Fundación, with which La Paz memorably celebrates its long history, wasn’t established until the mid-1940s, and one of its traditional highlights, the reenactment of Hernán Cortés arrival, didn’t take place for the first time until 1958. The reenactment and the annual crowning of a Reina Calafia almost certainly owe an inspirational debt to Fernando Jordán’s iconic poem “Calafia,” which was submitted for the Juegos Florales competition in 1955, and memorably invoked Queen Calafia while recalling the initial meeting between Cortés and the Indigenous Guaycura.
Fiestas de Fundación celebrations since then have ranged from a single day to an entire month’s worth of festivities and planning and scheduling can often be a bit quirky. This year, for the 491st anniversary, for example, the city has gone non-traditional, focusing on Rock Fundación, which will showcase performances by Mexican rock bands Jumbo, DLD, Resorte, and Allison at Parque Revolución on May 16-17. The concerts will be free and open to the public.
Beach vendor chaos in Los Cabos
While La Paz celebrates, Los Cabos will be attempting to solve the ongoing and extremely messy unauthorized vendor situation centered around Playa El Médano in Cabo San Lucas.
Mexico News Daily first reported on this battle over “informal commerce” last August, when municipal authorities announced that they had conducted a sweep to rid the popular beach of over 300 illegal vendors. In the future, it was noted, only the 698 authorized vendors wearing uniforms and official ID tags would be allowed.
By November 2025, the 300 unauthorized vendors had all returned and the Los Cabos Coordinating Council (CCC) had called a press conference to address what the head of the Revolutionary Workers’ Confederation (COR) was describing as a lack of institutional control. The Los Cabos Hotel Association wasn’t happy either, citing complaints from tourists over the sheer number of people trying to sell them things as they tried to enjoy their margaritas in peace.To absolutely no one’s surprise, the “chaos and anarchy” has continued into 2026, with CCC President Julio Castillo Gómez accusing the municipal government of being “permissive” with the 300 illegal vendors, who by now seem as entrenched on the beach as their legal counterparts.
But since the illegal vendors are being linked with drug sales and fostering a climate of insecurity, private sector interests are pushing for the municipality to hire a dozen more enforcement officials, to go along with the 15 officials already so employed, and finally put a stop to the acrimonious situation.
Celebrity couple donates US $2 million to local charity
Celebrities have been a staple of Los Cabos life since the earliest days of tourism in the destination, with many proving not only to be active promoters of the area, but also benefactors for local causes. But no celebrity in recent memory has come close to the staggering generosity shown by the Why Not You Foundation of Super Bowl-winning NFL quarterback Russell Wilson and his pop star wife, Ciara, who pledged US $2 million during a recent benefit gala for the Los Cabos Children’s Foundation (LCCF) at the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Cabo San Lucas at Cabo del Sol.
When it was founded in 2002, the mission of LCCF was to help local children receive needed cancer treatment in the U.S. However, in the years since, that mission has grown as the organization has expanded to collaborate on numerous health-related projects, to the benefit of over 121,000 children and adolescents.
“Giving back is the greatest gift,” said the couple about their life-changing donation, which will go to providing essential healthcare, nutrition, preventive care and rehabilitation services to children and families throughout Baja California Sur.
“Over the past decade of work with our Why Not You Foundation, our goal has always been about helping the youth globally! This partnership with Los Cabos Children’s Foundation and our Why Not You Foundation helps expand critical access to pediatric health and rehabilitation services in Mexico, in a city that has brought many memories to us over the years! We are blessed and extremely grateful in advance, knowing this partnership will hopefully bring great joy and memories to children and families in Cabo.”
Los Cabos hotel group Solmar invests $6 million in upgrades and sustainability
Solmar is the only hotel group that was born in Los Cabos. Former cannery manager Don Luis Bulnes Molleda’s Hotel Solmar was the first property to open in 1974, near Land’s End in Cabo San Lucas, but in the half-century since, several more high-profile projects, from resorts to restaurants, have followed.
The company behind the portfolio, Solmar Hotels and Resorts, recently announced a US $6 million investment to provide guest room upgrades and sustainability improvements to some of its signature properties, including the Grand Solmar Land’s End Resort and Spa, where a new water heating system will be installed, and Playa Grande Resort, which is getting a design makeover, plus new in-room mattresses.
Chris Sands is a writer and editor for Mexico News Daily, and the former Cabo San Lucas local expert for the USA Today travel website 10 Best and writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook. He has also contributed to numerous other websites and publications, including The San Diego Union-Tribune, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise and Travel, and Cabo Living.
