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Culture Minister Manuel Obregón in concert
Manuel Obregón on piano, July 15 at 12:10 p.m., Juan Santamaría Museum, Alajuela, http://www.museojuansantamaria.go.cr.

Cine y Fútbol La pelota en pantalla
Free soccer-themed film festival, “One Day in Europe,” by Hannes Stöhr, July 15,; “Die Elf Teufel,” by Zoltan Korda, July 22; “Football under Cover,” by Ayat Najafi and David Assmann, July 29, all at 6 p.m., Sala Gómez Miralles, Centro de Cine, Av. 9, Ca. 11, behind INS.

2nd Improvisational Theater Festival
Workshops by improv groups from C.R., Spain, July 15-25, Taller Nacional de Teatro and José Figueres Ferrer Culture House, Barrio Escalante.

The Costa Rican economy is still growing but, according to the Central Bank's Monthly Index of Economic Activity (IMAE), it appears to be slowing down.

The IMAE, which is calculated by collecting data and surveys from various economic sectors and around 800 national businesses, reported that the economy grew 3.7 percent in May in comparison to the same month in 2009. That's the slowest growth since October 2009, when the index rose just 2.1 percent.

Since November, activity had risen at least 4 percent, peaking at 6.1 percent in February. The index reported growth at 4.6 percent in April.

Of the sectors measured, agriculture, hotels, transportation and the services industry all grew. Services increased more than 7 percent.

The construction industry reported the biggest losses in the month, as production fell 7.15 percent from April.

Spain may be bringing home the World Cup gold trophy this week, but Costa Rica's bringing home something of its own from Spain.

Thanks to an application sent to the court in Santiago de Compostela, Spain in 2008, the Central American country is recovering a pre-Columbian pot and a stone sculpture that have been held in Madrid's Museo de América.

The artifacts are part of the “Colección Patterson,” which is composed of 1,500 pieces of pre-Columbian gold, jade and ceramic from a handful of Latin American countries. The items belonged to Costa Rican Leonardo Patterson, who resides in Germany and is accused in Spain of illegally trafficking the artifacts. He is believed to have 498 Costa Rican pre-Columbian artifacts in total.

Foreign Minister René Castro congratulated the actors in the recovery process, saying that “if a people do not care for and respect their history, they are certainly a citizenry without dreams and without future.”

Costa Rica has also submitted requests to repatriate items from Denmark (four pieces), Switzerland (8 pieces) and Italy (18 pieces). In June, Costa Rica achieved repatriation of 24 items, which are being held in the Costa Rican Embassy in Washington, D.C., awaiting transfer to Costa Rica.

The two Patterson pieces are now in the custody of the National Museum.

Costa Rica's Caribbean-bound Route 32 Braulio Carrillo highway will remain open Thursday, contrary to earlier reports, the Public Works and Transport Ministry (MOPT) said Wednesday.

Authorities had announced Monday the roadway would be closed Wednesday and Thursday morning between kilometers 20 and 28 so that the National Geological Institute could perform studies.

The geological studies have been postponed and the highway will be open all day on Thursday. A new date for the studies has not been announced.

MOPT also announced on Wednesday that 15 additional transit police will patrol the new Caldera highway the coming weekend, when many motorists will be returning from vacation. The officers will be located between Caldera, a port on the central Pacific coast, and Escazú, a suburb southwest of San José.

After next week, the police will continue to monitor that road on Saturdays and Sundays for possible landslides and determine if it is necessary to close certain sections of the highway. The inspectors will be paying close attention to the stretch between Atenas, a coffee town in the Central Valley west of San José, and Orotina, a town just inland from the Central Pacific coast.