Do you know that Rosarito Beach’s Mayor Hugo Torres (right) surfs? I once saw a picture of the septuagenarian in a local Mexican newspaper, looking fit and ready to hit the waves with his surfboard.
Torres may not be competing in this weekend’s Rosarito Beach Pro-Am surf contest (Aug.22-23), but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him there promoting the sport and the city’s attributes. To learn more about the event, here are excerpts from a Rosarito Beach press release that came to me via e-mail:
ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA , MEXICO—The first Rosarito Beach Pro-Am surf contest will be held this Saturday and Sunday with $10,000 in prizes. The event is organized by the city, FDt Marketing and sponsored by Monster Energy Drink
“We have promotional parties set up for Saturday Aug 22 , and beach activities happening during the event,” said Jeff Stoner, president of FDt Marketing.
The event will be webcast live on surfshot.com.
Registration for the contest is open, and spots remain for those interested in competing. Registration is available on active.com(keyword search: Rosarito Beach ), or by contacting the FDt Marketing offices directly at 858.272.2191.
Registration fees are $100. Hotel accommodations and discounts are provided by the Rosarito Beach Hotel, and can be made by calling (866) ROSARITO.
Shuttle services will be provided to and from the US Border to the Rosarito Beach Hotel. Passports are required. For more information on the Rosarito Beach Pro-AM surf contest, please visit rosarito.org/surf or call FDt Marketing at 858.272.2191.
ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA , MEXICO—The first Rosarito Beach Pro-Am surf contest will be held this Saturday and Sunday with $10,000 in prizes. The event is organized by the city, FDt Marketing and sponsored by Monster Energy Drink.
“We have promotional parties set up for Saturday Aug 22 , and beach activities happening during the event,” said Jeff Stoner, president of FDt Marketing.
The event will be webcast live on surfshot.com.
Registration for the contest is open, and spots remain for those interested in competing. Registration is available on active.com(keyword search: Rosarito Beach ), or by contacting the FDt Marketing offices directly at 858.272.2191.
Registration fees are $100. Hotel accommodations and discounts are provided by the Rosarito Beach Hotel, and can be made by calling (866) ROSARITO.
Shuttle services will be provided to and from the US Border to the Rosarito Beach Hotel. Passports are required. For more information on the Rosarito Beach Pro-AM surf contest, please visit rosarito.org/surf or call FDt Marketing at 858.272.2191.
Screenshot of Rosarito Beach mayor Hugo Torres from Rosarito Beach city government page.
Across the border 
BEWARE OF ROSARITO
Do not believe everything written on the many Baja blogs as the majority commentors are those with vested interests(hoteliers,real estaters,restaurateurs, property owners etc) & the moderators delete anything that doesn’t support their interests. I live here and know of no one who hasn’t been robbed either on the street, in their homes or by the police! Ca. is deporting every criminal it possibly can and the miscreants are all ending up here doing their dirty deeds.If by chance the police are not initially involved you CANNOT count on them for any appreciable assistance in solving your case. Possibly if you are young and pretty or wealthy and you are beheaded or raped by the gangsters someone will pay some attention. Short of that you are simply pushed aside with the dozens of dozens of others who have been violated, kidnapped, car jacked and often murdered withot ever being reported for fear of retalliation.
Recently the only hope of help a foreigner had, FRAO-the office of assistance, was closed and all problems have been referred to the convention bureau staffed by a man only interested inhanding out pamphlets amd promotional BSn to foreigners I repeat: VISIT AT YOUR OWN PERIL AND EXPECT NOTHING FROM THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES.
Dear Baja Man. I have some issues with what you said in your post because you are making sweeping statements – “no one who hasn’t been robbed,” “the miscreants are all ending up here.” etc… – without any evidence/numbers.
I also have lived in Tijuana , covered some pretty awful crimes in Tijuana and Rosarito Beach as a reporter, and continue to go there frequently. Despite that, I have not had any problems. In fact I love traveling in Baja – and I have no vested economic interests in the region whatsoever!
You do mention something about the Rosarito office (is that the one that was set up to help U.S. expats?) that I find interesting. Can anyone else confirm what may have happened to that office?
About the office FRAO: there is an announcement, albeit euphemized ,in this current issue of the Baja Times. What it doesn’t say is that the previous office was left with only an answering machine saying more or less from the previous administrator “please leave me a message” rather than “this office has been closed , you can now call xxxxxx”
sorry about the ‘sweeping statements’ without evidence but i am not a reporter and although my statement are anecdotal and mildly hyperbolic they are not far from fact and said to make a general point.
to make things even clearer: I was the victim of a home invasion, beating and robbery that included everything of value in my house and my car.I live on a nice street! I am quite furious with the way the incident has been handled on every level and that anger along with the constant drone of “Rosarito is safe” is what fuels these postings. It truly isn’t safe here.
Some Headlines:
– El Mex reporting in ROSARTIO BEACH last night the grocery store “La Jarocita” robbed at knifepoint by 2 assailants. The owner wrestled with one of the attackers and was stabbed in the chest. No word of his condition and no arrests.
– Frontera reporting in ROSARITO BEACH one man waiting inside of his truck for his friend approached by 3 men armed with an iron rod, beat the victim over the head and stole his vehicle. No arrests.
Hi, Baja Man. I am sorry to hear about your situation. I passed on your concerns to Ron Raposa, who works at Rosarito Beach doing international public relations. This is what he has to say:
“The Foreign Residents Attention Office was recently consolidated
into the city’s office for tourist assistance. Like many other cities
in these tough economic times, we’ve had to cut back a bit. But it
is still a great priority to us, we have considerable resources devoted
to it and 24-hour-a-day assistance available. I don’t know of any place
that is doing more.
Of course we’d like fewer crimes, as would just about any city, and recognize
the need for continued work to achieve that. But I don’t recognize the picture
of Rosarito this gentlemen portrays. I’ve been a frequent
visitor here for 30 years and a full-time resident for five, and have
experienced no crime. I know of many of the estimated 14,000 expatriates
who live here who can say the same thing.
If he needs assistance or would like to discuss a specific problem, he can contact
me personally at ronraposa(at)hotmail.com. We’ll do what we can to help.”
Thank you for taking the time to involve yourself, I do appreciate it. Let me run it down for you:
#1:when the police arrived at my house after the event they did nothing in the way of collecting evidence. Fingerprints could easily have been recovered from the knives lying around +more
#2: there was some confusion about the police behavior & the happenings immediately after the violation. I was told since I didn’t take the initiative to identify the police on the scene nothing could be done ! Luckily Mariza was available to contact the police chief directly and address my concerns.
#3: When making the declaration at PGJE there was no english speaking person present in-spite of the many claims I had heard that there would be. the man (attorney?) that took my declaration
was disinterested,impatient , discourteous and imprecise. I could hardly get him to list the name brands of what was stolen and he plain refused to accept serial #’s etc. It was clear he had no delusion that anything was going to come of this #4 Almost a week later the spanish only speaking investigators came to my house for less than 5 minutes. They said they were very busy with problems in TJ. I thought to myself “how much work will they do for me with all that’s happening in TJ? and I was correct. I never saw or heard from them again even though I was promised a return visit and a report. At this point the FRAO was closed and i no longer had Mariza to turn to, although as I said, I didn’t know this-as I mentioned in a previous post.
#5 a month or so later there was an incident nearby that i felt was very material to my case and was advised by the tourist police on the scene (federales were making the arrest) that I should contact my investigators and have them question a suspect in custody. It was at this point I found the new office and went there. I was told again-I was at fault for not obtaining an identifying # from the investigators who had briefly appeared at my house! and nothing was possible without it.
#6; and finally on three different occasion I have gone to speak with this new employee ‘Fernando’ and on three occasions he has sworn to find that identifying# and call me, He never has!
It was kind of your acquaintance to include his email but i won’t be contacting him. The trail is quite cold now and I can sense by his quote he is all
too typical. Everyone feels safe when nothing has happened to them. it is only after you have been targeted do your eyes open to what is really going on here. I’ll pose a simple question to you both. Why isn’t there a crime section in the local newspaper and why wasn’t my incident reported
for the community to witness? I feel quite certain had the Mayors son been attacked the perpetrators would have been found in short shrift.
I am not sure what Baja Man’s MOST angry about; is it how the City reacted/the police – BS/ the actual crime, or the “This is not how it is done in the US” aspect of his ordeal?
I too live in Rosarito and YES i have been a victim of the Police extortion and I most definitely have been short changed when ordering food and drinks and local dive bars. My ex- maid’s son drank and stole some of my tequila along with my cuban cigars…
I have never been beaten or mugged and that event must be traumatizing beyond belief. I’m sorry for that.
You mention you live here? You must be here for a reason? Maybe it’s the low cost of living, the beach, the people, the surf, the cheap drugs?
I don’t know but you have a vested reason for being here…
Not sure if this is the right place to ask the Mayor a question but I do think that his dual title as the Owner of the Rosarito Hotel and Mayor of the city of Rosartio might create some conflict of interest in the way he reports the actual number of crimes happening in the city.
Maybe the mayor could provide Acearley with reported crime data which could be used to create a google map link with the reported crimes by zonas and a link on the Cities website?
I do agree with Baja Man that the City must take a more balanced approached to the way the news is reported or at least allow for some negativity to be recorded and reported or at least mentioned on the most popular Rosarito Websites.
But
I also agree with Ron Raposa that for the most part the expats living here would claim Rosarito is a great city.
Saludos,
Luis
Baja Man: I can understand your frustrations, and I do encourage you to talk to Ron. He has expressed his willingness to work with you, and to be honest I am not sure that this blog is the most efficient way to detail your problems. I do agree with what you say that becoming a victim of a serious crime – anywhere – is likely to change one’s perspective of things.
Both you and Luis raise interesting points about providing more accurate and public crime data. That could provide a basis for greater accountability and follow-up on the part of the city. It seems like you both also have some concerns with a lack of information in some media outlets there.
I wish I could be of more help, but maybe there is a way to organize other like minded people in Rosarito to discuss these concerns and propose such a system?
“I wish I could be of more help, but maybe there is a way to organize other like minded people in Rosarito”…….. ” to be honest I am not sure that this blog is the most efficient way to detail your problems.”
Thank you for allowing this conversation to take place on your page. I posted similar thoughts on more than a dozen Rosarito related blogs and all but a handful were shut down by the blog moderators.
THERE IS WITHOUT QUESTION A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE.