Mexico Newsletter —
November 2026

Your monthly Mexico newsletter is filled with inspiration, meaningful knowledge, helpful connections, and tips for better living, lifestyle, and leisure in Mexico.

Living & Lifestyle insights for November

Insights and tips for better living & lifestyle in Mexico

Key events across Mexico in November
Weatherwise, November is one of the most remarkable months to experience Mexico. The rain season typically draws to a close this month, but with plenty of moisture still in the ground the landscapes remain verdant and colorful for a while, and contrast against a background of a crisp blue sky on clear days—especially in the central highlands. Day of the Dead is the highlight event on the calendar, followed closely by the Revolution Day weekend holiday. The clocks don’t change in most of Mexico and as the nights a draw-in a little bit, November prepares the ground for the Guadalupe-Reyes festive season in December.

Día de los Muertos
Day of the Dead is a celebration of the continuity of life—and one of Mexico’s most important religious holidays observed on November 1st and 2nd. Neither day is an official public holiday, but is widely observed as one of Mexico’s important festive periods. Halloween is often tied-in with the festivities these days which run from the 31st to the 2nd—although related parades and other festivities kick-off up to a week beforehand.

Traditions include ofrendas, artistic Catrina skulls, delicious pan de muerto, cemeteries dressed in Cempaxochitl flowers, and a Mexican version of Trick or Treat.

The great parade in Mexico City, popularized by the James Bond film Spectre, takes place on Monday November 2nd.  The parade starts in Chapultepec park, travels along the famous Paseo de la Reforma avenue, and culminates downtown at the Zocalo, the capital’s main square.

Día de la Revolución holiday
Twenty years ago Mexico created three long-weekend holidays by folding particular national holidays into UK-styled ‘bank holiday week-ends’.

Mexico’s Revolution Day is one of those three, and also forms part of El Buen Fin—Mexico’s counterpart to the ‘Black Friday’ shopping event in the US.

The holiday is marked on the third Monday of the month, that this year falls on November 16. The Buen Fin shopping event, now in its fifteenth year, officially begins on Friday November 13 and runs to Tuesday November 17, although physical and online stores typically launch their promotions in the two weeks leading up to the holiday weekend, and some online stores extend their sales to ‘Cyber Monday’ that this year falls on November 30.

Autumnal Clock Changes 2026
Europe moved its clocks back again by one hour on Sunday, October 25, and the US & Canada move clocks back by one hour on Sunday November 1. Most of Mexico no longer moves its clocks, but clock changes elsewhere will create time differences you might need to take into account—see this article for details.
See also: Time zones in Mexico

Changing from Temporary to Permanent Residency
When you’ve held Temporary Residency, Residente Temporal (RT), for four consecutive years (two years if you are married to a Mexican national), you can apply to change your status from Temporary to Permanent, Residente Permanente (RP). This past year we’ve had a regular stream of people asking about this procedure, and here are some important notes about the process:

• The procedure to change a RT card for a RP card after the qualification period is not a renewal or an exchange; it’s an application for a change of residency status.
• You must not allow your RT residency card to expire if you intend to apply for RP. If your card expires, you will lose any qualifying years accrued under RT.
• You also cannot use the 60-day grace period available for regular renewal of RT if you are outside of Mexico when your RT card expires and return to Mexico to apply for a change of status to RP.
• Under the current rules, you do not have re-prove your income or savings when you apply to change status from RT for RP.
• You must file the application for the change of status inside the 30-day window before your RT card expires. It cannot be filed before this window opens, and we have seen that some offices will only accept applications one week before the RT card expiry date.
• If you allow your RT card to expire at the end of its fourth year, and want to remain resident in Mexico, you will need to restart the residency application process from the beginning.

Applying for and managing your Mexico residency card
Mexperience published detailed guides and offers helpful connections to apply for, and actively manage, Mexican residency.

• When you intend to apply for the first time (or re-apply), our guide to applying for residency in Mexico gives a detailed summary of the process.
• When you already have a residency card, learn about the renewal rules and process for residency cards.
• If your residency card has expired, read this.
• If your card is lost or damaged, read this.

Tail end of the wet season
Mexico’s rain season, that affects much of the mainland (but not the Baja peninsula) typically begins in May/June and ends in October. This year’s rain season began a bit earlier than usual. Late October has shown signs of the rains passing, although rain season storms can spill into November. Learn about the rainy season and dry season, and how to live well with and without the rains.

Learn or improve your Spanish this fall
When you’re living in Mexico, or if you plan to make Mexico a part of your lifestyle plans in the future, learning or improving your Spanish language skills will give you deeper access to the culture and make your everyday experiences more meaningful. Our Spanish language associates offer online lessons customized to your language-learning goals.

Places in Mexico that can become cool or cold this time of year
One of the great attractions about visiting and living in Mexico is that the country enjoys agreeable climates year-round, but it’s worth taking note that some areas can get cool or cold, particularly after sundown, during the fall and winter months.  Learn about the places that can get cooler or cold; we also share advice about keeping your home warm.

Road trips in Mexico this fall
Our articles and insights about driving in Mexico share key things you need to know before you hit the road; and our guide to auto insurance will help you to get the coverage you need for peace of mind when you’re driving, that can include coverage for vehicle breakdown assistance.

• Arrange Insurance coverage for your foreign-plated vehicle with our associate—that offers attractive and competitively-priced insurance coverages for your vehicle.
• If you have a Mexican-plated car and intend to drive it across the border to the United States, our associates offer Northbound car insurance for your trip.

Lifestyle tips for the seasonal change
As the autumn season begins to unfold in earnest in Mexico:

• it’s a good time of year to prepare for the coming dry season;
• be mindful of seasonal wind storms;
• check your home for maintenance needs; also check your home insurance policy; and
• make travel provisions for the coming holiday seasons, in particular, Revolution Day and the Christmas holidays in Mexico.

Our sections about Mexico Home Life and Home Stewardship offer articles and guides with in-depth local knowledge and insights.

Buying, selling, renting, and owning a house
Our guides to real estate in Mexico are extensive and share essential information about property in Mexico whether you are:

• Renting property in Mexico;
• Buying a home in Mexico;
• An owner who needs to insure and maintain the property;
• An owner who plans to rent their property in Mexico;
• Selling your home in Mexico; and
• Working with Real Estate Agents in Mexico.

Our guide to Mexico real estate is continually updated to provide meaningful insights for buyers, owners, sellers, and renters.

Filing official documents in Mexico
When you plan to move to Mexico, and when you’re resident here, you will inevitably need to have official documents at hand for official filings and other matters.

• Document Notarization / Apostille: Documents not issued in Mexico need to be notarized and/or apostilled before any government office will accept them. See our article about getting your documents notarized/apostilled. (Also contains a section about getting Mexican documents apostilled for use abroad.)
• Document Translation: In addition to being notarized/apostilled, documents may need to be translated into Spanish by a certified translator.  See our article about getting documents translated.
• Document interpretation: If you’re living in Mexico and need support with interpreting or comprehending a document(s) in Spanish, our associates offer a document interpretation service.

Health insurance options when you’re in Mexico
Readers often ask us about what options exist to get health coverage while they’re in Mexico.  The options vary depending on the time you intend to spend in Mexico, your preferences regarding coverage levels, and your available budget.

• Long-term residents in Mexico may arrange a local private health insurance plan, known in Spanish as seguro de gastos medicos mayores, or might choose to enroll in Mexico’s healthcare system, IMSS.  Some long-term residents with health plans in the US choose instead to buy medical evacuation insurance.
• People on (frequent) short-stay visits to Mexico can arrange for medical expenses to be covered during their stays with insurance coverages for short-term trips not lasting more than 90 days.
• For extended stays in Mexico up to six months, our article about coverages for extended stays in Mexico provides guidance about getting coverage for emergency medical expenses.

Our article about health and medical coverages in Mexico describes the choices available and the box below summarizes key points.

Key factors to consider as you plan a new lifestyle in Mexico
Creating a realistic and workable lifestyle plan can help to make the most of your resources and avoid common pitfalls.  Taking time to consider these key factors will help you to step back and define your intentions, discover what lifestyles Mexico offers, identify opportunities of interest to you, weight up the compromises, consider your options, and plot a course based on the things that are important to you—whether you’re relocating alone, with your partner, or with your family.

Autumn Leisure Tours in Mexico

Plan your fall/winter visit to the butterfly sanctuaries
The Monarch Butterflies return to the Oyamel fir tree forests situated in the mountains west of Mexico City, and if you’ve been intending to witness this extraordinary natural phenomenon (or return to see it again!) our travel associate can help you plan your visit.

Mexico Living Essentials

Guides and updates for everyday living & lifestyle in Mexico.

Roadcraft — Browse our extensive insights about driving & road trips in Mexico. Learn about being properly insured for the journey.

Immigration & Residency — Mexperience publishes detailed and regularly updated information about residency in Mexico.  Learn about how to apply, and how to manage your residency card and status. Obtain tele-assistance or accompanied assistance to help with the procedures and filing.

House & Home — Our guide to Mexico real estate is the most comprehensive you’ll find. When you buy or rent a home here, learn about how to keep it well cared for with our articles about Home Stewardship.  Also learn how to keep your dwelling spaces adequately secured and properly insured.

Health & Wellbeing — Read tips & insights for health and wellness in Mexico.  Learn about health insurance options.  Get a quote for private health insurance.

Money & Banking — Our complete and regularly updated guide to money and banking in Mexico helps you to learn about Mexico’s peso, open and manage a local bank account, make money transfers, use bank cards, and deal with everyday financial matters in Mexico.

Discover More of Mexico

Mexperience accompanies you throughout your journey.

When you’re looking for a new lifestyle in Mexico, Mexperience is with you at every step—from those first key decisions about moving, to settling-in and cultivating a fruitful lifestyle everyday.  And when you need time away for leisure and recreation, we help you to discover & arrange meaningful leisure experiences.

Topic	Mexperience Sections
Mexico Lifestyles	Living & Lifestyles Guide | Lifestyle Planning Living in Mexico | Retirement in Mexico Cost of Living | Money & Finances Health & Wellbeing
Residency	Routes to Residency | How to Apply Managing Your Card & Status Get Assistance
House & Home	Mexico Real Estate Guide—Buying, Renting, Owning, Selling Home Stewardship | Home Life Home Maintenance & Security | Home Insurance
Transport & Communications	Driving | Auto Insurance Flying | Buses | Taxis | Getting Around Wifi & Internet | Telephones
Leisure & Recreation	Travel Inspiration | Travel Destinations Custom Tours Driving & Road Trips | Car Rental
Learning Spanish	Why Spanish? | Spanish in Mexico PinPoint Spanish Series Language Courses
Assistance	Connect to Helpful Assistance Services
Lexica	Explore Mexico A-to-Z