The Tico Times

If you spent the mid-year break at the beach, today is the day most people head home — and two things will shape your afternoon drive. Route 27 turns all its lanes toward San José for four hours, and the weather turns wet and windy from the middle of the day. Plan around both and you’ll skip the worst of it. Between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., every lane on Route 27 runs one way, toward the capital.

Costa Rica is ranked as the second-worst traffic in the world in Numbeo’s 2026 Mid-Year Traffic Index, placing behind only Nigeria and ahead of far larger countries known for severe urban congestion. It received a Traffic Index score of 301.0, compared with Nigeria’s 320.3. Sri Lanka ranked third with 254.5, followed by Bangladesh, Kenya, Egypt and Peru. Costa Rica recorded an average one-way commute of approximately 60 minutes, the second-longest among the countries included in the ranking.

Smoke from hundreds of Canadian wildfires has added an unexpected health and weather concern to Sunday’s World Cup final between Argentina and Spain, although improving forecasts suggest the match should go ahead without major disruption.The haze spread across the northeastern United States during the week, pushing air quality into unhealthy ranges in parts of New York and New Jersey.

Costa Rica’s Pacific coast has produced another world record, completing a fishing story more than two decades in the making. On May 9, angler Will Hefley landed a massive 32.91-kilogram (72-pound, 9-ounce) Pacific black snook while fishing out of Marina Pez Vela in Quepos. The catch has now been officially recognized as the new International Game Fish Association All-Tackle World Record for the species.

A San José municipal official has resigned days after controversial rules covering live music, dancing, DJs and karaoke were halted for review.

Former President and Nobel Peace laureate Óscar Arias has accused Costa Rica of surrendering its foreign-policy independence to the United States, telling a San José television program that it “sold itself” for the leverage Washington holds over which members of the political class keep an American visa. The remarks aired on the program La Reacción in an interview conducted by journalist Danilo Chaves.

A coalition of environmental organizations has launched a nationwide campaign to protect Costa Rica’s coral reefs as a powerful El Niño threatens to push ocean temperatures higher through early 2027. The “United for Costa Rica’s Reefs” campaign is calling on coastal communities, fishers, surfers, dive centers, tour operators, scientists and members of the public to reduce the human pressures placed on reefs while they face extreme heat stress.

The World Cup ends this weekend, and you can watch both closing matches from Costa Rica without staying up late or paying for a seat in New Jersey. Two games remain. This afternoon, Saturday, France and England play for third place. Kickoff is 3 p.m. Costa Rica time (5 p.m. Eastern) at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Tomorrow, Sunday, Spain and Argentina meet in the final. That one kicks off earlier, at 1 p.m. Costa Rica time (3 p.m. Eastern), at MetLife Stadium outside New York City.

Juan Manuel Cerundolo has found an opponent and a setting that bring out his most stubborn tennis. For the second consecutive year, the Argentine defeated Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals of the Swiss Open, rallying for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory in two hours and 15 minutes. Cerundolo appeared headed for defeat after dropping the opening set and falling behind 4-2 in the second.

More than 199,000 patients were waiting for surgery in Costa Rica’s public healthcare system at the end of 2025 as a severe shortage of anesthesiologists forced major hospitals to close operating rooms and reschedule procedures. An internal audit of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund, known as the CCSS or Caja, identified a nationwide shortage of at least 99 anesthesiologists.