There has been a spate of interesting news recently to catch up on for the 20 million or so visitors annually to destinations around the Baja California peninsula — from infrastructure projects to culinary announcements, and even an award-winning literary work set among Baja’s Spanish missions.
Let’s start in Los Cabos, the municipality that’s now home to 44% of the total population of Baja California Sur.
Los Cabos’ cities, Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo, will get downtown makeovers
The central downtown areas of both Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo will benefit from a 120 million peso makeover, it was recently announced by Los Cabos’ Mayor Christian Agúndez Gómez. The urban beautification work on these areas is set to begin later in 2025 and is expected to be completed by early 2026.
The funding for the project comes courtesy of Fideicomiso de Turismo de Los Cabos (Fiturca, or the Los Cabos Tourism Board), which is administered through a 4% hotel tax. The expected changes are expected to be extensive and should include the renovation of public squares and plazas, building façades, and improved landscaping, sidewalks and lighting.
The result, if all goes well, will be a significant upgrade to the overall urban image of the two cape cities, and it’s definitely needed based on declining sales figures in these areas in recent years, with Cabo San Lucas’ traditionally party-hearty nightlife industry particularly hard hit. These losses can indeed be attributed to several factors, including declining alcohol sales among Gen Z and more travelers choosing all-inclusive properties where there is little reason to venture out for food or frolic. But a bad urban image, particularly in Cabo San Lucas, has definitely played a part.
No architectural illustrations have yet been released for the makeover, which is to be overseen by the Urban Development Department, with input from area business owners. So, to see the fruits of this latest in a long line of infrastructure improvements locally, you’ll have to come and visit in 2026.
Tacos know no borders, as a famed Tijuana taquería expands with new locations in the San Diego area
At the other end of the peninsula, one of Tijuana’s most famous taquerías — one recognized by the Michelin Guide — has recently opened two new locations across the border in the San Diego area. Such cross-border hopping is, of course, not uncommon in the CaliBaja Mega Region that sees a whopping US $70 billion annually in shared trade, with 200,000 daily border crossings. But at a time when the border is such a contentious, politicized issue, it’s always nice to see people uniting on an issue we can all agree on: namely, that tacos are delicious and deserve to be shared.
Baja California is justly famous for pioneering the modern fish taco. However, Tacos El Franc, which began as a street cart in 1974 and has since expanded to brick and mortar locations in Tijuana and, as of 2025, in San Diego, specializes in carne asada and marinated adobada. A Tijuana institution for more than 50 years, Tacos El Franc has seen its reputation spread far and wide in recent years, thanks to its recommended status from the Michelin Guide and its featured role on the popular Netflix series, “Las Crónicas del Taco (“The Taco Chronicles”).
Originally founded by Javier Valadez and still owned in Tijuana by the Valadez family, U.S. expansion plans for Tacos El Franc have been undertaken in partnership with Roberto Kelly and Salvador Lombroso. The first new location premiered to acclaim in National City’s Westfield Plaza Bonita in June of this year, with the second opening its doors in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter on Oct. 8.
The expansion was a long time coming
The new locations represent the culmination of a 20-year odyssey for Kelly. “The reason why I pushed for the expansion is that I never tasted anything even close,” Kelly told the San Diego Business Journal. “The quality of the food and overall taste were extremely different from what people get on this side of the border. I strongly believe that people in the U.S. should have access to the same quality of food and taste.”
Or they could just drive over and try the original tacos on Blvd. Sánchez Taboada in Tijuana — although, unlike at the U.S. locations, there won’t be any beef tallow fries featuring a variety of proteins on the menu.
The Baja California peninsula’s Spanish Missions are the subject of a new award-winning literary work
The more than two dozen Spanish missions built on the Baja California peninsula by successive waves of Jesuit, Franciscan and Dominican missionaries between the 17th and 19th centuries were foundational to regional history and culture, and, as a consequence, have inspired some excellent guidebooks and accounts; a fact touched upon in a recent interview with author David Kier.
As of September 2025, they’ve also provided the backdrop for some award-winning new fiction, including “A Desert Between Two Seas,” a novel of linked stories written by author Amy Muia, which was recently published by the University of Georgia Press. “Though the stories span landscapes, villages, characters and decades, the heart of the novel is Baja California itself,” Muia notes. “A stark land of cactus and creosote, of russet canyons and splintered wastes of rock — where people living in the shadow of ruined missions seek redemption on an inhospitable peninsula forsaken even by its priests.”
Muia did her research well. The book reflects not only her understanding of the colonial culture and customs of the time, but also her decade-plus of study and exploration at mission sites around the peninsula. The book has already earned the prestigious Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, and based on its skillful interweaving of some of the mythic elements in 19th-century peninsular history — from pearl diving to legendary missions — should also find favor with Baja-loving readers.
Chris Sands is 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’s also a contributor to numerous websites and publications, including Tasting Table, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise, Cabo Living and Mexico News Daily.
