Vibrant town square brings life to heart of city
Expats helped to transform UNESCO World Heritage site of San Miguel de Allende
SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE, MEXICO— Town squares are usually a place we pass through while on vacation — a picturesque spot adjacent to city hall or the cathedral, full of souvenir vendors or dodgy characters, mostly avoided by locals.
That description doesn’t fit the tidy, well-peopled square at the centre of San Miguel de Allende at any time of day and it’s the key to the charm of this lovely city that lies a four-hour drive northwest of Mexico City.
The city and its square — Jardin Allende, Jardin Principal or simply El Jardin — were located on the silver road that ran from Mexico City to New Mexico. San Miguel de Allende began life as a mining town, built on the slopes of an extinct volcano, so you’re always either walking uphill or downhill.
The beautiful mansions on the streets around the square are mostly from its boom town era, decorated with ornate windows and balconies and huge carved wooden doors.
Early on a weekday morning, a class from one of the city’s art schools is sitting on stools and sketching the Parish Church of San Miguel, at the top of the square.
After silver and textiles made the town rich, San Miguel de Allende declined during the 19th century. The long economic lull preserved the town’s architecture and made it into the sort of picturesque place that artists began colonizing — first Mexicans, such as painter David Siqueiros, and then Americans who came here to study on the G.I. Bill after the Second World War.
They came to places like the Escuela de Bellas Artes just around the corner from El Jardin — now known as Centro Cultural Ignacio Ramirez. It’s where Siqueiros’ great unfinished mural fills up a huge room in this one-time convent and where arts festivals take place throughout the year. On the weekend I was there, New York blues outfit People Vs. Lar- sen played in a lovely theatre upstairs with beautiful acoustics.
Not surprisingly, San Miguel recently became a UNESCO World Heritage city.
Later in the morning, the square fills up with the sound of drums as the students from a nearby school’s marching band practise in the shadow of the big church.
The souvenir shops on the edges of El Jardin are opening now, but the city’s colourful residents are already on display — a man in a long black duster coat with a huge hat and a guitar case; a pair of elegant older women, one of them in an outfit printed with the Star Warslogo; a tall man in a flowing, gauzy green gown.
San Miguel de Allende is full of expats who have come here to escape the winters or take up permanent residence. They’ve been part of the city’s transformation, buffing up its bohemian reputation and helping projects succeed, such as the transformation of Fabrica La Aurora, a once-thriving textile plant that Rosemary Garay and her late husband Francisco — whose family ran the factory for generations — turned into an artist’s centre more than a decade ago.
Just a stroll downhill from El Jardin, Fabrica La Aurora is spread over several huge buildings full of shops, galleries and artists’ studios, with cafés and a restaurant that make spending much of a day here worthwhile.
When the sun starts to go down, the mariachi bands come to the square, staking out corners and playing requests. It’s a bawdy tradition that thrives on audience involvement. I’m taking pictures of one group of mariachis singing a song that’s apparently about someone’s mother. When the singer comes to a verse about a gringo, he points at me whenever he sings the word and the audience bursts into laughter.
Along with the expats and tourists, Mexicans have rediscovered San Miguel de Allende and as the weekend draws near, the city fills up with wedding parties from the capitol. The town has become the hot place for nuptials, with the churches booked solid and the nighttime square booming with fireworks. It’s full of brides, grooms, families and friends parading behind a donkey loaded with flowers and gifts, strolling mariachis and a pair of dancing “mojigangas” — towering puppets that represent the bride and groom.
Outside my hotel the next day, one of these wedding parties drives past — the bride and groom in a shiny vintage Mercedes-Benz struggling up the hilly street and out of town. She waves at me as they drive past, and I wonder, not for the first time, at how pleasant it would be to live here. Rick McGinnis was hosted by the San Miguel de Allende Tourism Board, which didn’t review or approve this story.