Vowels don’t change their sound in Spanish

By themselves, Spanish vowels never really alter their sound, unlike English vowels, which, to the native Spanish speaker can be quite baffling. Pronunciation of words like determine, waffle, sausage, and names like Ian and Graham, as well as wind (the kind that blows) and wind (as a watch), read (present) and read (past), and differences in the pronunciation of words such as rough, bough, though, thought and thorough, are almost anathema to the logical Spanish mind.

Vowels joined together

Even when two vowels together join to make a single sound, that sound is essentially a combination of the two vowels’ individual pronunciations.

Here are some examples:

• Amainar —to wane or diminish— has the regular ‘a’ sound, (a as in cat) in the first syllable, while the ‘ai‘ is pronounced like the long i in English, as in high.
• If you join the short ‘a‘ and the Spanish i (pronounced as the long ‘e’ in English—like the first ‘e’ in Peter) you get a sound very similar to the English long i. It requires a bit of squashing them together as two vowels are made to fit the space of one, but the basic sounds are kept.
• The ‘au‘ in Spanish is pronounced like the ‘ou’ in the English ‘out’ and is a similar combination of the Spanish ‘a’ sound and the Spanish ‘u’ – which is like the English ‘u’ in flute.
• The ‘o’ in Spanish is pronounced as the short ‘o’ in dog. The ‘o’ combined with ‘i’ or ‘y’ is pronounced as the ‘oy’ in boy, and presents little difficulty.
• ‘Ou’ in Spanish only occurs in foreign words —for example ‘voucher’— and its pronunciation is usually as close as possible to that of the foreign word. the Royal Spanish Academy, the Real Academia or RAE, actually spells it ‘váucher.’ More common in Spanish is cupón or vale.

This holds true for other combinations of strong and weak vowels joined to form a single syllable.

The ‘sharp’ E in Spanish

There is, however, one subtle variation in the sound of the Spanish ‘e’, which is slightly sharper at the end of a word than at the beginning or in the middle.

While the correct pronunciation of the Mexican currency —the peso— is closer to PE’-soh than PAY’-soh, the sound of the ‘e’ at the end of a word (i.e. not followed by a consonant) is slightly closer to ‘ay’ without being quite the same.  Here are some other examples to illustrate the point:

• Perderé — (I will lose) – is approximately pair-de-RAY’.
• Depende — (it depends) – roughly de-PEN-day.
• Impenetrable — EEM-pe-ne-TRA-blay.

Veritable armies of vendedores ambulantes make up a fairly large part of what is known as Mexico’s “informal economy.” Chambers of commerce don’t like them, because they get in the way of established business, while the government is somewhat in two minds.

It might be a nuisance, but this informal commerce provides work and keeps the unemployment rate from reaching what would otherwise be uncomfortable levels. Every few years or so, the city government takes some measures to alleviate the problem —mostly through programs to relocate the vendors to established market spaces— but the vendors always come back, like a relentless tide.

This informal commerce is extremely adaptable: at the first drop of rain, umbrellas appear on sale as you leave the Metro; at the first cold snap of winter, coats, gloves and scarves; agendas and calendars in January; flags and banners before Independence Day.

“This city has many plazas, where there are continuous markets and dealings in buying and selling. It has another plaza twice the size of the city of Salamanca, walled around with great porches, where daily there are more than sixty thousand souls buying and selling; where there is every kind of merchandise that can be found in any land.”

This description might not sound strange to the modern-day visitor who takes a stroll downtown in the country’s capital. The letter, written in October 1520 by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés to Emperor Carlos V, dedicates the next several pages to describing the goods —those he could remember— on sale in Tenochtitlán, as the city was then called. Summarized for blogs, there was “everything from food and jewelry, to live animals, herbal medicine and earthenware.”

The point is, perhaps, that it will take more than a desire for modernity to do away with five hundred years of tradition.

Now if there’s one thing that’s liable to get friends and family wound up, it’s talking as if you had been born and bred on the peninsula. The reasons for this could be historical, or cultural, or a bit of both. The point is that applying the preferred Iberian usage of the imperfect subjunctive tense in Mexico is considered pompous at best.

The imperfect subjunctive in Spanish

The imperfect subjunctive is very common in Spanish and it’s easy to mix it up with the conditional tense.

The imperfect subjunctive is formed by taking the root of the past historic tense, and adding the endings iera, ieras, iéramos etc. for “er” and “ir” verbs and ara, aras, áramos, etc. for “ar” verbs.

Also correct are the endings iese, iésemos, ase, ásemos, etc. The conditional tense is formed in a similar way as the future tense. The endings ía, ías, íamos, etc. are added to the infinitive of the verb—with certain exceptions for irregular verbs. In any case, Spanish conjugation tables are readily available online.

The two tenses in practical use

The two tenses —imperfect subjunctive and conditional— are used together when dealing with “if … then …” constructions. For example:

“Si supieras la razón, no preguntarías por qué” – if  you knew (imperfect subjunctive) the reason, you wouldn’t ask (conditional) why.

In Mexico, it’s most common to hear the imperfect subjunctive used instead of the conditional in these cases. Whether or not correctly is probably a matter of taste, since the usage is quite widespread.

So instead of saying “si no hubieras venido, yo habría entendido,” (if you hadn’t come, I would have understood), people will say “si no hubieras venido, yo hubiera entendido.” In fact, the conditional “habría” (from the auxiliary verb haber – to have) is almost always replaced in Mexico with “hubiera.”  This isn’t as often the case with other verbs.

The unconditional imperfect subjunctive

There are also a number of uses of the imperfect subjunctive without the conditional “if,” although the conditional is frequently implicit in the meaning:

“Hubieras hablado antes de venir” means you should have, or ought to have, called before coming;

“Bueno fuera” can be translated as, if only (it were true).

Quisiera (from querer) hablar contigo” means I would like to talk to you. “Quisieras ser rico” can mean you would like to be rich, but more than likely means you wish you were rich (the tone of voice will clarify that).

Implicit caveats in conditional tenses

The conditional tense also has uses beyond the basic “would.” In newspapers it’s frequently used to convey the entire idea of reported fact (or fiction) without needing to specify an origin or source:

“La economía crecería 1%” quite compactly expresses the idea that the economy would grow 1% if whatever reason for assuming so, or whoever says so, is correct;

“Habría más de 40 arrestados tras partido de futbol” means there were reportedly 40 arrests after the football game;

What the conditional tense does is rather neatly add an implicit caveat to the information presented.

Verb tenses and Mexican Spanish

Mexican Spanish plays fast and loose with the different verb tenses, particularly where the conditional and subjunctives are concerned. To learn all the different ways, practice is ultimately better than a thick grammar book, particularly one people speaking the language won’t —or wouldn’t— have read.

See also: Variation on a Theme: The verb “poder”

Many of the these documents (whether on paper, digital, or on a website) are straightforward to deal with; but some that arrive might be confusing, especially if you don’t know much Spanish and a translation or AI scan still doesn’t give you clarity about what the document is telling you, asking for or demanding.

Document interpretation service

If you receive a document(s) in Mexico that you’re struggling to understand and respond to, our associate offers human assistance with document interpretation.

Whether you have received a physical document or email in Spanish, been given information online that is difficult to understand our associate helps by providing a clear explanation of the information to help you interpret it.

This service is designed for foreign residents or visitors in Mexico who would like personalized assistance understanding information, researching a topic cited in the document to obtain clear explanations in English about what the document is about and what it’s asking for so that you can make an informed response.

Example of situations our associate can assist with

Our associate will be pleased to receive your request and assess your situation when you have a document(s) in Spanish that you need assistance in understanding. Most typically these include:

• Understanding emails, physical letters, or other messages written/published in Spanish.
• Interpreting information found on or delivered on website portals.
• Translation and human interpretation of short texts and everyday communications delivered in Spanish. (If you need a certified translation read this.)
• Human review of forms, documents, instructions, and procedures, and clear interpretation offered for these

How the service works

To keep the service simple and focused our associate offers this personalized human assistance service using email.  They do not provide support by telephone, video meetings, or text-messaging support.

• Complete the request form below.
• You will receive an email introducing you to our associate, and providing you with their email address to which you can send the documents and other relevant information.
• Our associate will review your request, offer you a no-obligation quote, and if you decide to proceed, they will bill you directly.
• Typically, our associate quotes US$20-US$50 per request, depending on the situation and complexity.
• If you decide to proceed, our associate will interpret your document(s) and provide a written response by email.

Make a service request

Complete the request form below and our associate will contact you directly.

What happens next?

• After you complete the request form below, you’ll receive an email introducing you to our associate, and that provides you with an email address to which you can send the documents and other relevant information.
• Our associate will review your situation and offer a no-obligation quote for the service. (Typically between US$20 and US$50 per request.)
• When you’ve paid, they’ll begin work to interpret your document(s) and provide a written response by email.
• Mexperience will send you an email to confirm these details.

The ‘Hoy No Circula’ program

This program, that translates to ‘today (these vehicles) don’t circulate’ was originally introduced as means to reduce the number of cars circulating on roads in the Mexico City area. The restriction zone also encompasses 18 municipalities in the State of Mexico which are adjacent to the capital.

Restriction zone: View an illustrated map of the restriction zone

The restrictions are determined by three factors:

• the level of emissions generated by a vehicle, determined by a code on a holographic sticker on the vehicle; and/or
• the last number on the vehicle’s license plate; and
• environmental contingencies — enacted when air quality levels deteriorate in the Hoy No Circula zone.

‘Hoy No Circula’ Restriction Zone

The Hoy No Circula program is in force in all 16 Delegations of Mexico City (Google Map) as well as 18 Municipalities in State of Mexico (Google Map).

Restriction zone: View an illustrated map of the restriction zone

Mexican-plated vehicles not registered in these states and foreign-plated vehicles traveling in the restricted zone are not exempt from the rules.

Foreign (plated) vehicles

Any vehicle that does not have plates issued in an area where Hoy No Circula applies, whether the car is Mexican-plated or foreign-plated, is considered ‘foreign’ according to the rules.

‘Foreign’ vehicles cannot circulate:

• at least one day of the week, Monday through Friday —from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.— determined by
• a combination of the last number on the vehicle’s license plate and the code on its holographic vehicle emissions sticker.
• See the section below about ‘holographic sticker codes’ for more details

Furthermore:

• if your Mexican-plated vehicle does not have a holographic emissions sticker, or if your vehicle has non-Mexican plates: in addition to the above restrictions, you cannot drive in the Hoy No Circula zone every weekday morning between 5 AM. and 11 AM

Emissions test and holographic stickers

If you live in and/or intend to drive regularly in or through the Hoy No Circula zone, you will need to get your vehicle ‘verified’—an annual process that requires you to take your vehicle to an approved testing center.

After the test, you’ll be issued with a holographic sticker to place on your windshield; the number on that sticker will depend on the level of emissions the vehicle generates, and that will determine how often, and when, your vehicle can circulate in the Hoy No Circula zone.

Holographic sticker categories

There are five holographic sticker categories: 00, 0, 1, 2, and Exempt:

• If your vehicle is issued with a 00, 0, or Exempt sticker, you can drive without restrictions inside the Hoy No Circula zone, although note that if there is an environmental contingency in place, 00 and 0 stickered vehicles become restricted too;
• If your vehicle is issued with a holographic sticker bearing number 1, your vehicle is restricted one day a week depending on the last number of the license plate and two Saturdays a month—from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.;
• If your vehicle is issued with a holographic sticker bearing number 2, your vehicle is restricted one day a week depending on the last number of the license plate and every Saturday—from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.;
• If your vehicle is issued with an ‘Exempt’ sticker, there are no restrictions on when the vehicle can be drive in the Hoy No Circula zone;
• Use the online calendar tool to determine what days you can and cannot drive if your vehicle is not exempt.

Vehicles exempted from Hoy No Circula

Certain vehicles are exempt from the restrictions.  If your vehicle meets one of these criteria, it is exempt, and can circulate without restrictions inside the Hoy No Circula zone.

Important: Note that some of these exemptions may be withdrawn in the event of an environmental contingency in the restricted zone.

Exemptions include:

• the vehicle has been tested and ‘verified’ (see above), and has a holographic sticker displaying the number 00 or 0 on the windshield;
• the vehicle has a Tourist Pass (see next section);
• the car is solar/electric powered;
• the vehicle has Mexican-issued plates with disabled or ‘antique/classic car’ emblems on them;
• the vehicle has an ‘Exempt’ holographic sticker.
• Other exempt vehicles include: funeral hearses, federal transport vehicles, school buses, emergency vehicles, and vehicles displaying ‘trade plates’ (used by car dealerships).

Hoy No Circula ‘Tourist Pass’

If you intend to visit the Hoy No Circula zone for a defined period (or drive through it) you can apply for a ‘tourist pass’ for your vehicle.

A vehicle tourist pass:

• Exempts the vehicle from restrictions for a defined period;
• Can be requested only once every six months for 14 days each time; or twice every six months for 7 days each time
• Can be requested for 3 days during Mexico’s long-weekend holidays
• Foreign-plated vehicles can apply for the tourist pass, provided that the car was manufactured from 1993 onwards
• You apply for the tourist pass online. You’ll need to print out the two permits the system will send to you (one for Mexico City and the other for the State of Mexico) and display these prominently in your windshield when you are driving in the Hoy No Circula zone.

However:

• Vehicles less than eight years old with Mexican plates from: Mexico City, the State of Mexico, Querétaro, Puebla, Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Morelos, or Tlaxcala cannot apply for this pass as they can verify their vehicles in those states and obtain a holographic sticker with a 0 or 00.
• Tourist passes are suspended if there is an environmental contingency;
• Mexican- and foreign-plated vehicles manufactured before 1993 cannot apply for this pass.

Penalties for non-compliance

Traffic police in Mexico City and the State of Mexico are especially vigilant regarding this matter and are quick to pull drivers over for non-compliance.

If you drive your vehicle through the Hoy No Circula zone and you don’t have the prescribed permit or exemption, your car will be stopped, towed, and impounded (at your expense), and you’ll have to pay:

• a fine, that is determined between 20 and 30 days of UMA; plus
• towing and impoundment release fees that will add about an additional $2,000-$3,000 Mexican pesos; thus
• a violation will cost several thousand Mexican pesos (a few hundred US dollars) plus at least half a day of your life that you won’t get back—and significant hassle.

Further information

Here are some online resources about Hoy No Circula for further reference:

• Hoy No Circula information and online calendar
• Latest updates from CA Megalopolis, an integrated multi-state agency that keeps the public updated about Hoy No Circula
• Apply for a Tourist Pass online
• Tourist Pass FAQs
• Environmental contingency (air quality) news
• Vehicle verification info and testing centers

Learn more about driving in Mexico

Mexperience offers articles with insights to help you prepare for your road trip and drive confidently in Mexico.

• Insuring your vehicle for driving in Mexico
• Importing a foreign car or other vehicle to Mexico
• Getting a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) for your vehicle
• Your Mexico road trip checklist
• Latest articles about driving in Mexico
• Guide to auto insurance in Mexico

Place is personal, subjective, and important—and as you consider places to live in Mexico, Mexperience helps you to consider your choices and shortlist locations that may suit your lifestyle needs.

Discover locations to live, work or retire in Mexico

To help you discover and explore potential places to live here, Mexperience publishes a curated list of locations to consider for living, working or retirement in Mexico—organized by popularity and notoriety and classified by the location type.

Our articles introduce you to key places where many foreign residents live now, emerging locations that are becoming increasingly popular with foreign residents, as well as those places that are less well known, or situated off-the-beaten path. We also publish a selection of detailed guides of places to live in Mexico:

Detailed living guides

For detailed guides to selected places to live and work or retire, connect to our section with Guides to Living Places in Mexico

Mexico’s tipping culture is impromptu and often spontaneous.  Tipping is always optional although the people serving you will appreciate the small token of your appreciation in exchange for good service.

Frequent tipping is a routine that takes getting used to, especially if you come from a place where tipping is not commonplace, or where tipping is practiced but only in certain, specific circumstances.

Common situations where tipping is practiced

In Mexico, la propina is employed in all kinds of everyday situations. Here are some examples, followed by a link to our guide that gives a more comprehensive list of situations where you should consider tipping:

Eating and drinking out

Waiters working at restaurants and bars should always be tipped for good service; a sum equivalent to 10-15% of the total bill is appropriate.

Taxi drivers

Local cabbies and App Cab drivers (e.g. Uber, Cabify, Didi) appreciate a tip. Consider rounding-up the fare on the meter from a street cab to the nearest $5 or $10 pesos; app-cab apps now allow you to add a tip at the end of your journey, or you can pay the driver a tip in cash.

Hotel stays

When you stay at a hotel in Mexico it’s customary in Mexico to leave a tip for your hotel room chambermaid, a sum between US$1 and US$5 (equivalent in Mexican pesos), for each night’s stay spent at the hotel. If you’re staying more than one night, it’s a good idea to leave the tip daily as chamber maids work on a rota.

Car parking and valets

Car parks in Mexico’s bigger towns and cities are oftentimes kept under vigil by men (and occasionally women) who ‘patrol’ the car park, helping drivers to find a free space, keeping an eye on the cars, and helping drivers to reverse out when they leave.   It’s optional, but customary, to pay $2-$5 pesos as you depart.  If your car is attended by a valet service, a small tip of $10-20 pesos to the valet attendant, commensurate with the class of the establishment, is expected.

Home deliveries

When you have goods or services delivered to your home, it’s customary to tip the service providers.  Examples include: gas deliveries, water bottle deliveries, supermarket deliveries, postal and courier services (e.g. Amazon, Mercado Libre). $10-$20 pesos is sufficient.

Other situations

Other ‘informal’ situations where a tip is customary include the porter at the hotel who carried your bags; the concierge for booking a table at a local restaurant or who arranged a taxi for you; the person who washed your windscreen at the stop-light; the attendant at a gasoline station; the person (usually a student or retiree) packing your groceries at the local supermarket; and attendants keeping washrooms/restrooms clean (provided you did not pay to enter the facility.)

Learn more by reading our guide to Tipping and Bargaining in Mexico for guidance about who, where, when, and how much to tip in Mexico.

A footnote about small change

Ironically, despite the constant need to pay tips small change can sometimes be difficult to get hold of in Mexico when you need it most, and appears in abundance when you don’t need any.  It’s good practice to build-up a cache of small change as you shop. If you’re staying at a hotel or resort, the front desk can break larger notes into small bills and coins for you: the $20 peso bill is popular for tipping at hotel resorts.

Visiting versus living in Mexico

While those who visit on vacation can enjoy Mexico without needing to speak any Spanish, when you’re living here and doing everyday tasks like shopping at the market, paying your bills, getting your car repaired, and arranging for a plumber to fix a leaking pipe, most conversations you encounter will need to be undertaken in Spanish.

Mexican Spanish is clear and easy to understand, and those with a basic grounding in the language —possibly from High School— tend to find that they can use their existing capabilities to engage in straightforward conversations. (Mexican Spanish is not spoken as fast as it is in some other Latin American countries.)

Situations where speaking Spanish makes a positive difference

There are some situations when being able to speak some Spanish will make a material difference to your experiences here.

Spanish for leisure visits

If you’re visiting Mexico for a well-earned vacation, or arriving for a short business trip, being able to speak some Spanish will give you deeper access to the local culture and with it, a richer and more vibrant travel experience.

Spanish for lifestyle

If you’re living in Mexico already, or planning to move here to live part-time or full-time (perhaps to retire), making an effort to learn Spanish to at least a level where you can get by for your day-to-day needs should form part of your planning if you’re not already conversant in the language.

While there are some foreign residents living here that don’t speak much —if any— Spanish, daily life without being able to converse locally will be more challenging and it’s always more convenient to be able to negotiate your way around everyday situations without the help of an interpreter, or relying on others to speak in English to you.

Spanish for working and business

If you intend to work in Mexico —formally, or as a self-employed person— then you will need to have at least a basic grasp of the language, and ideally be able to speak Spanish at an intermediate or advanced level.

While many professionals in Mexico speak English well, your business networks and your career prospects will be in good part formed by your ability to build relationships and work while speaking, reading and writing in Spanish.

Helpful resources for learning Spanish

Whether you’re just beginning to learn Spanish or you’re already proficient, there are options for developing your skills: with online courses, and local language classes, workshops, and local language groups.

One of the best ways to improve your Spanish is to become immersed in the language, and thus moving to live in Mexico and being surrounded by the language everyday, will help anyone who is determined to improve or master use of the language.

Mexperience offers a range of resources to help you learn and/or improve your Spanish language skills:

• Pinpoint Spanish: An ideal resource for readers who want to gain practical insights into the language is PinPoint Spanish —an extensive series of articles that helps you to study Mexican Spanish language usage and which additionally provide context and nuance of the language as it’s contemporarily spoken and applied in everyday situations across Mexico.
• Language schools and online courses: Find connections to language schools in Mexico and online courses
• Further reading: For additional resources about Spanish language and its usage, connect to the Learning Spanish section of Mexperience.

Auto insurance coverage valid in Mexico

Some auto insurance policies might contain wording that leads you to believe that you are covered in Mexico, but this out-of-country cover, if any is included, is limited to damage to your own vehicle and certain things you may be carrying inside your car.

The most important aspect of an auto insurance policy when you’re driving in Mexico is third-party liability, because claims for damages by third parties can be substantial.

Third party liability abroad needs a special policy

By law, US and Canadian insurers can’t provide third party liability and this coverage must be underwritten by a Mexican insurance company and be specially formed to be legally valid under Mexican law.

Third party liability covers any losses your actions might cause to others. These most commonly include (but are not limited to):

• damage to another person’s vehicle, or their property;
• injuries to another person in an accident; and
• damage to public property (e.g. road structures).

How much liability insurance is needed in Mexico?

While no one expects to be involved in an accident —and far less a serious one— when arranging coverage, it’s worth considering the worst-case scenario: that you accidentally cause serious injury or death of another person as a result of a vehicle accident.

Here in Mexico you can be made financially responsible to the other party (or their kin) if you unintentionally cause the death of another motorist, and reputable insurance brokers suggest that you have no less than US$300,000 in liability insurance and they will usually recommend US$500,000.

Get a policy covers more than just accidents

There are other factors besides financial liability to consider when you are arranging your auto insurance when you drive in Mexico.  The three most important aspects to consider when choosing a policy are:

Legal representation

If you’re involved in a serious road accident in Mexico, it’s common for those involved to be detained until the situation is assessed, fault is determined, and financial responsibility is assigned.

Due to this process, the legal representation which better policies offer will provide you with:

• local assistance to help you deal with the complex paperwork and procedures (in Spanish, and liaise with you in English);
• a fund to post a bail-bond and get you released as soon as practicable; and
• a legal team to negotiate on your behalf if fault and responsibility is assigned to you.

Medical coverage

If you or any of your vehicle’s occupants are injured in an accident, medical payments might or might not be covered. Medical coverage on auto policies vary and you’ll need to compare the choices to ensure you have an adequate amount of coverage, per person and in total.

Assistance for accidents and vehicle breakdowns

When an accident happens, what really matters is the practical support provided by an insurance policy.

If your vehicle breaks-down, or in the event of a minor accident which leaves your car damaged but readily repairable, a roadside travel assistance plan offered by the insurer can be an enormous benefit to you.

Roadside assistance can be purchased as part of an auto insurance policy and offers very practical help in what can be stressful and confusing circumstances.

• In the event of a breakdown or minor accident which leaves you stuck, help with things like gas delivery, a flat tire, a locksmith, or a tow truck to a nearby garage for essential repairs can be a phone call away.
• In the event of an accident, assistance can provide practical support and liaison with key personnel to help you recover more quickly and get back on your road trip as soon as practicable.

Learn more about driving in Mexico

Mexperience offers articles with insights to help you prepare for your road trip and drive confidently in Mexico.

• Insuring your vehicle for driving in Mexico
• Importing a foreign car or other vehicle to Mexico
• Getting a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) for your vehicle
• Your Mexico road trip checklist
• Latest articles about driving in Mexico
• Guide to auto insurance in Mexico

Detailed guides and helpful connections that enable you to plan and realize your relocation to Mexico

Mexperience provides in-depth insights and local knowledge with extensive articles, guides, and cross-references and connections to help you discover more of Mexico, consider your lifestyle options, define your intentions, make a plan, and help you to avoid making material mistakes with your Mexico lifestyle plans.

Our guides are written by people who know Mexico intimately, are continually revised and updated—and are free to access.

Mexperience helps you through every step of the journey

Our detailed guides and insights offer you complete information throughout every step of your journey:

• Discovering the benefits and opportunities Mexico offers to live and work or retire.
• Detailed insights that help you to consider whether Mexico is right for you and your partner—and family if relevant.
• When you’ve determined that Mexico is right for you, we offer lots of practical advice to help you plan your lifestyle in Mexico.
• Mexperience also helps you to plan your move, settle-in to Mexico, cultivate your social and community networks and helps you learn how adapt to the country and its culture.
• When you’re settled here, our up to date articles and monthly newsletter help you to cultivate a fruitful home life in Mexico.
• Our homestead articles offer practical advice to help you manage your home in Mexico and its dwelling spaces.
• Our insights and local knowledge also help if you’re living in Mexico now but want to revisit your intentions and need guidance to help you settle, adapt, and reform your plans.

Take the next step: start here

Mexperience offers extensive insights, local knowledge, and connections to help you plan and realize a relocation to Mexico, whether you’re single, a couple, or a family.

Begin your journey

Our Mexico Living & Lifestyles guide connects you to in-depth articles and information about living in Mexico. It’s continually updated, helping you to make considered choices and useful connections.

Help with lifestyle planning

Our regularly-updated section about Lifestyle Planning in Mexico shares insights to help you make informed decisions about your lifestyle choices in Mexico.

Calculate your living costs

Our detailed guide to the cost of living in Mexico helps you calculate a personalized budget based on your life stage and lifestyle choices.

Consider places to live in Mexico

We publish guides to help you consider places to live in Mexico, whether you come to live, work or retire.

Obtain your Mexico residency permit

Our detailed guide to applying for residency in Mexico shows you every step needed to qualify and apply for legal residency in Mexico

Real estate and property rental in Mexico

We publish a detailed guide to real estate in Mexico that shares practical insights when you’re buying, owning, renting, and selling property here.  We recommend you rent a house first before you buy, unless you’re familiar with the area you’re moving to.

Learn how to keep in touch when you’re in Mexico

Our comprehensive guides describe how you can keep in touch when you’re in Mexico.  Our local insights include learning about Mexico cell phone plans, how to dial phones, connecting to internet services including satellite services, and also learn about post and couriers… and the cost of utilities and communications.

Cultivate your home life

When you’ve made the move and you’re living here, our regularly updated articles about cultivating a fruitful home life in Mexico will give you insights, inspiration, and ideas to make the most of your everyday lifestyle.

Manage your money & finances in Mexico

We publish detailed, updated, information about managing your finances in Mexico, including bank accounts, money exchange, and money transfers.

Homestead care and management

Whether you’re renting a home or have purchased a property here, our regularly updated guides help you manage your home and dwelling spaces in Mexico, with tips and local knowledge to keep them well maintained and secure for you and your family.

Learning and improving your Spanish

We encourage you to learn Spanish to help you make the most of your experiences in Mexico.  We connect you to language courses, and our in-depth PinPoint Spanish series helps you to learn about the nuances of language usage in Mexico.

Driving, road trips and running a car in Mexico

Our guides and articles about driving and taking road trips in Mexico help you to prepare your longer road trips as well as dealing with everyday driving matters.

Free Monthly Mexico Newsletter

Sign-up to our free monthly newsletter about Mexico that is filled with inspiration, meaningful knowledge, helpful connections, and tips for better living, lifestyle, and leisure in Mexico.

Discover even more of Mexico

Our Discover Mexico section provides a constantly updated stream of articles and guides that share knowledge and keep you updated about opportunities in Mexico.

Permanent and temporary checkpoints

The checkpoints are either permanent or of the type which are set-up on the fly and may appear on any highway at any time of day or night.

Some checkpoints stop every vehicle for inspection, although most create a bottle-neck to slow down the traffic enabling the officers at the checkpoint to selectively signal certain vehicles to pull-over and stop at an inspection area situated at the side of the road. Private vehicles, public buses, taxis, as well as commercial trucks and vehicles may be stopped and searched at these checkpoints.

Getting stopped at checkpoints

If you’re riding on a public intercity bus, a military officer may signal the bus driver to pull-over and have search dogs check the baggage holds; officers might also board the bus to undertake further searches.

There is no need to feel alarmed if your vehicle, or a bus you are traveling on, are selected for a revision and signaled to pulled-over.

If you are traveling in a private vehicle, the officer in charge will politely ask to look at the contents of your car’s trunk, and they might also ask you to step out of the vehicle while they check the contents inside.  At some checkpoints, mirrors are used to inspect underneath the vehicle, and search dogs may be present to sniff for the presence of drugs and other illicit items.  To expedite the process in the shortest time, simply be courteous and comply with the lead-officer’s requests.

Purpose of military checkpoints

The checkpoints are installed to monitor and prevent the illegal movement of goods on Mexico’s roads.  In addition to checking for illicit narcotics, officers are inspecting vehicles for the unauthorized transportation of products such as precious woods (e.g. mahogany) as the trading of these is licensed in Mexico; illegal firearms; ancient artifacts that might have been stolen from archaeology sites; and ensuring that large commercial trucks have their paperwork in order when they are transporting restricted or licensed goods.

In the unlikely event that the lead officer decides to detain you or your vehicle, you should ask why they are doing so and, if you are a foreign national, you should request access to your country’s consulate to inform them of your detention.

Most inspections are completed within a few short minutes and you should soon be on your way.  Unless heavy traffic has caused a backlog of slow-moving cars on the approach to the checkpoint, the event is unlikely to make any material difference to your journey’s itinerary.

For complete guides to getting around in Mexico, connect to our Travel Essentials : Transport in Mexico section here on Mexperience.

Medical insurance for short visits to Mexico

If you’re visiting Mexico for a short period —on a vacation or short business trip, for example— travel insurance policies which cover you for a limited time while you’re away from home should suffice.  These might be provided by your current healthcare provider—but double-check as many policies exclude or significantly limit out of country coverage.  Learn more about getting short-term emergency and medical expenses insurance coverage for your visit to Mexico.

Medical insurance for Extended Stays in Mexico

If you plan to be in Mexico for an extended stay —for longer than 90 days and less than 180 days— for example, you might take a sabbatical, a volunteer job, or plan to stay in Mexico part-time, then a short-term travel insurance policy won’t cover you as they are limited to 90-day stays in Mexico.  You can however obtain emergency & medical insurance for extended Stays in Mexico on a policy that will last for visits up to 180 calendar days, about six months.

Health insurance for foreign residents in Mexico

If you intend to apply for, or have, legal residency in Mexico, a travel insurance policy won’t be valid as these are designed for people who come to Mexico for a defined period and return to their country of residence, or travel back and forth between Mexico and another country.

Therefore, if you plan to reside in Mexico, you should consider health insurance coverages that will be valid and provide adequate care for your needs.  Here are the options:

Mexico’s IMSS medical coverage

Foreign residents (temporary or permanent) can apply for the Mexican public healthcare insurance system known an IMSS on a voluntary basis which provides access to certain doctors, clinics and hospitals in Mexico.  Some medications are also covered under this plan.

Coverage costs depend on your age; restrictions and limitations apply and, like all publicly-funded healthcare systems, patient demand is usually higher than the supply of services, so you may have to wait for care. (Note also that people who are enrolled in IMSS through an employer get priority over those who enroll voluntarily.)  This article explains the IMSS medical insurance system in Mexico.

Private medical insurance in Mexico

Most foreign residents who can afford to do so will take out a private medical insurance plan that covers their personal needs and gives them direct access to private doctors, clinics and hospitals in Mexico.

Policies are crafted to the individual situation of the person, couple, or family, and premiums depend on things like your age, term of coverage, coverages included, and the deductible you are willing to pay in the event of a claim.  Learn more about private health insurance providers in Mexico.

Medical evacuation from Mexico

If you are resident in Mexico and continue to have health coverage in your home country then you might consider a medical evacuation plan to enable you to get home for treatment and to convalesce close to your own doctors and family in the event that you experience a serious accident or health event (e.g. heart attack) while you are here.  Note that medical evacuation insurance coverages only cover evacuation costs in serious cases and so you’ll need to get routine or non-critical health matters attended to in Mexico.  Learn more about medical evacuation plans.