¿Se habla español? The profitability of teaching Spanish to foreign visitors has prompted many entrepreneurs to start their own specialized language schools, reports the Daily la República.

There is no data on the exact number of language schools operating within Costa Rica, but those who operate the schools admit that teaching languages is a very competitive field, where new schools seem to pop-up on an almost daily basis.

The added incentive of visiting Costa Rica has been one of the key factors attributable to the growth of Spanish-teaching schools. Many schools offer special package deals that include lessons, lodging and trips to many of the country’s tourist destinations.

Thorwald Westmas, founder of Instituto Latinoamericano de Idiomas (Ilisa), considers that foreign students benefit the country as a whole and not just the language schools they attend. Most of the visiting students stay with Costa Rican families, paying room and board while they are here. The visitors are tourists, and like all tourists, they spend money, stimulating the local economy.

At the same time, schools focusing on teaching English and French to Costa Ricans have also grown at an exponential rate. Ticos, understanding the potential advantages of mastering a second language, have flocked to these schools in great numbers.

Mexican bread company Grupo Bimbo has acquired Breddy, one of its main competitors in the bread production industry in both Mexico and Costa Rica, the daily La República reported recently.

The two Mexican competitors have long dominated the Tico market with their sliced bread, buns and frozen, ready-to-bake bread dough.

Grupo Maseca Gruma, the Mexican owner of Breddy, announced it would close its bread-making operations in both nations, deciding to focus primarily on the production and sale of corn-based products. Proceeds from the sale will be used to pay company debts.

According to the report, Bimbo will take advantage of the acquisition to expand its popular frozen bread business to Mexico using most of the machinery that had, up until now, been used by Breddy.

"Frozen Bread" requires about 10 minutes in the oven to prepare. It is shipped frozen to different "hot spots" (primarily supermarket bakeries) where the baking process is concluded and the bread is sold warm and fresh.

A study carried out by the Costa Rican Chamber of Industries in 1996 concluded that 35 percent of the local bread market was made up of sliced bread, hot-dog and hamburger buns. Eighty percent of the revenues generated by the sales of these three types of bread belonged to the two Mexican firms mentioned. The report also mentioned that the price of sliced-bread had been defined primarily by these two companies.

The development of new hotels and a 37 percent increase in home building compared to the previous year made 2001 a successful year for the Costa Rican construction sector, which grew 41 percent over 2000, the daily La República reported recently.

Housing, commerce and industry where the three main areas of construction during 2001, although figures also include remodeling and expansion of existing structures.

The boom in residential construction, primarily in San José and its neighboring cities of Alajuela and Heredia, was eclipsed in rural areas by tourism development.

In the northwest province of Guanacaste, development of hotels at the northern Papagayo Resort, lead the region’s construction totals.

Jaime Molina of the Construction Chamber is optimistic about 2002 will "at least be as good as the year before," citing four plans for intended by not yet confirmed new foreign investment that will involve construction.