USD Magazine Spring 2011

A dark underground parking lot is lined with row after endless

row of cars. Men and women flow in and out of the elevator,

followed by their ear-bud sporting, vest-clad bodyguards.

A couple of delivery boys carrying lattes and Chinese food catch a

ride just as the doors are closing.

I n c o m i n g M a y o r C A R L O S B U S T A M A N T E t a k e s t h e r e i n s i n T i j u a n a

On the 18th floor of Tijuana’s iconic Grand Hotel — nicknamed “The

Towers” by locals — the doors open. To the north, windows reveal a

panoramic view of the border city. To the south, unusual October

rains have yielded an emerald carpet of green grass at the Tijuana

Country Club. At the end of a long gray corridor lies a solid wooden

door with an intercom on the wall. Waiting to be buzzed in, it feels a

bit like trying to gain an audience with an inaccessible Wizard of Oz.

B Y M A R I A N A M A R T Í N E Z E S T É N S

P h o t o g r a p h y b y L U I S G A R C I A

19

SPRING 2011