Acuña Facts and Quirky Information
Continental Airlines has recently signed a deal with the city of Del Rio, Texas (3 miles away from Acuña, Mexico), and will begin flights from IAH (Houston) to DRT (Del Rio, TX) this coming March. The contract is for one year. Prior to that time, the only airplanes allowed into Del Rio are private planes.
There are more than 55 maquiladeros (industrial plants) in Acuña. The average worker in one of these plants makes about $70 per week and lives with his family in a one-room, dirt-floored hovel, cardboard box, or lean-to. The majority also have only an outhouse (if they're lucky) as a bathroom for their hovel. Among the plants owned by US companies here are Kimberly-Clarke, Alcoa, Sunbeam, and many more. The most infamous seems to be Alcoa, cited by many workers as offering up horrific working conditions, a prison-like atmosphere, and managers limiting toilet paper to three squares per employee, per bathroom visit. There are no unions here -- instead, there are strong lobbyists with a lot of money preventing that from ever happening.
Are you a risk-taker looking for a cheaper way to get bar iatric surgery? Scarily, there is a doctor who does this in Acuña - Jose Rodriguez, MD, Bar iatrics, Acuña, Mexico (Lap Band).
You must be in a particular lane (lane 1) at the border crossing from Acuña to Del Rio if you have any purchases or medicines from Mexico to claim. As you cross over the Rio Grande and into Acuña, you'll notice many locals from the Acuña side taking a dip in the water below the bridge-crossing.
Events and Celebrations
Each October, Ciudad Acuña and Del Rio, Texas (its sister city across the border), celebrate the traditional "Fiesta de la Amistad" (The Celebration of Friendship). The main events of this celebration are parades and speeches by the mayors of both cities, but this celebration offers up much more (listed below). It's a celebration of friendship and trade between Del Rio, TX, and its neighbor, Acuña, Mexico. Another of the biggest celebrations here is the "Day of the Dead" celebration (during Halloween). The locals dress in costume, make Day of the Dead cakes (complete with faux skeletons) and celebrate their lost.
Also in October, an international chess match was held in Acuña this past year, gastronomical delights are offered up by local restauranteurs each year, and cycling races are held each year, whereby the riders cross the international bridge on bikes and return. The significance of the race appears to be relative to freedom and immigration. Arts and Cultural Week falls around the third week of each October.
Marijuana seizures have increased at the Acuna/Del Rio border crossing.
Hotels/Motels in Acuña
HOTEL BEST WESTERN VILLA REAL 4* 55 habitaciones Bravo No. 643
Cd. Acuña, Coahuila. Tel. 52 877 772 7100
HOTEL ALASKA 3* 42 habitaciones Guerrero y M. Múzquiz
Cd. Acuña, Coahuila. Tel. (877) 772-5296
HOTEL LAS VEGAS, MOTEL 3* 40 habitaciones Guerrero y Villaldama No. 900
Cd. Acuña, Coahuila. Tel. (877) 772-5423
HOTEL LOS ALPES, MOTEL 3* 43 habitaciones Blvd. Guerrero Sur No. 2775
Cd. Acuña, Coahuila. Tel. (877) 772-6231
HOTEL SAN ANTONIO 3* 57 habitaciones Hidalgo y Lerdo No. 110
Cd. Acuña, Coahuila. Tel. (877) 772-5108
HOTEL TARASCO, MOTEL 3* 42 habitaciones Blvd. Guerrero y A. Obreg n No. 150
Cd. Acuña, Coahuila. Tel. (877) 772-4428
HOTEL DAISY INN 3* 43 habitaciones Lib. José de las Fuentes Rodríguez No. 850
Cd. Acuña, Coahuila. Tel. (877) 772-8271
HOTEL SAN JORGE 2* 24 habitaciones Hidalgo No. 165 Ote. Altos
Cd. Acuña, Coahuila. Tel. (877) 772-5070
HOTEL LOMA ALTA 2* 28 habitaciones Blvd. Guerrero Sur No. 900
Cd. Acuña, Coahuila. Tel. (877) 772-4410
For RVs, there's the Lonesome Dove RV Ranch in Del Rio: http://www.lonesomedovervranch.com
The only hotel I can recommend with certainty in Acuña is the Best Western Villa Real. The others are mostly rated as two-star motels and appear from the outside to be quite dilapidated and, in some cases, unclean.