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 Travel & Outdoors | June 2005 
Searching for the Spirit of San Miguel de Allende
 Barbara Kastelein - The Herald Mexico
| | The flashing colors, pounding hooves and roaring crowds make an afternoon at the bullring an unforgettable experience. |
San Miguel de Allende is primarily known for two things in Mexico, being part of La Cuna de Independencia (the birthplace of the nation's independence) in the colonial heartland of the country, and of being a well-preserved, picturesque town with a large foreign community, primarily retired and semi-retired people from the rest of North America.
As a young-ish European when I moved to Mexico 10 years ago, this latter reputation did not lend the town much appeal. Based in Mexico City, I had Cuernavaca a historic magnet for foreigners down the road already. Occasionally however, I was lured by reports of top international quality jazz and classical music festivals. It seemed the community there was organized and serious.
It still took me a decade to see it for myself and for those who might be as stubborn as I was, my first observation is that it has little in common with Cuernavaca. Most importantly for visitors of whatever nationality, it is both walkable and safe.
SAFE AND SOUND
Bernadette Cahill, who lives in Arizona, decided to visit the 16th century town in 2003 after a resident of the Hyatt Classic Residence, where she works, described to her the "cobblestone streets, no traffic lights and no neon signs at all." On her return she recommended a visit to her local community through a local newsletter: "San Miguel is a very green city, with trees, flowers, botanical gardens, and is surrounded by hills. Locals are accustomed to tourists and are eager to help them with their Spanish. San Miguel is a very safe city with a low crime rate. Women traveling alone in Mexico will find San Miguel de Allende to be a comfortable, non-threatening environment."
It is rare to be able to praise a tourist destination as comfortable for women traveling on their own, having a pleasant, green environment and a highly valued sense of welcome.
Furthermore, San Miguel a National Historic Monument and one of the Tourism Ministry's "Pueblos Mágicos" is accessible and friendly without being artificially chummy. While there is a wealthy community in the hills that some foreign inhabitants nickname "millionaire row," it is not a town where everything attractive lies behind high walls. The local characters wander about on foot, talk with everybody, a far cry from the tense world of armored cars and bodyguards.
A sign that this population of about 140,000 is less fraught and rigid with class divisions than other Mexican cities is the way people, foreigners and Mexicans, are always yelling greetings to each other over the street and on first-name terms with locals with little in the body language or eye contact to betray whether someone is a waiter, a pharmacist on the corner, a sculptor, or a maestro at the Bellas Artes Institute.
It's not all lovey-dovey integration of course. I heard tautlipped, disapproving descriptions of gringa señoras who send their maids to English lessons rather than make the required efforts themselves with Spanish. A flamboyant wedding reception held (by out-oftowners, but not foreigners) in the bullring, with wooden floors put in for the occasion had everyone gossiping while I was there.
Anyone can arrive in San Miguel and stick their head in at PMC Tours (Hidalgo 18, tel: (415) 152-0121, open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.) and start talking in Spanish or English and there will be generous people full of suggestions, ideas and contacts for outsiders.
The pleasant climate adds to its success as a retirement community. Many residents and holidaymakers from states such as Texas are fleeing rather than seeking the sun, and San Miguel is definitely not too hot.
CHARITIES ABOUND
One feature of San Miguel de Allende and its foreign retirement community that is soon apparent to even the casual visitor is the "Americans and Canadians all doing good works for the children," as another tourist from Arizona commented.
"This is a town of multi-pursuits and spectacular work with the community," says designer Patrice Wynne from California, who has been a resident for five years. "Here you see people with prestigious, big lives, with big companies, driving 'Feed the Hungry' trucks, for example."
KEEPING BUSY
"People are here because there's something to keep them busy," notes local author Joseph Harmes, "It's been estimated there might be 100 or more charities, most dependent on gringos. There are places to go every night for music and dancing. There's a pretty good film schedule most days of the week. There are places with lectures. Lots and lots of classes."
Currently, an opera society is starting up, the San Miguel Authors' Sala is well established, and there are endless fundraisers, many orphanages, assistance for the elderly, ecological work and sweater drives in the winters (which tend to get cold with houses being hard to heat).
Despite some recent changes that have not been for the good of the town, such as the boom in real estate prices, which has meant that even foreigners find housing costs excessive, many notice that the town is marked by the milk of human kindness.
Renowned Canadian painter, Leonard Brooks, moved here in 1947 when there was only one doctor, one taxi, and no cars. Even though Brooks, who is known as the longest memory in San Miguel, notes, "It is getting a bit too much … We've all sort of dirtied our own nest by bringing people here." He is immensely fond of his home at the age of 92.
"They are marvelous here with old people. There is no place that I know of where people are so caring," he says.
The elderly community moreover is one that sparkles with character, with tales of the "remarkable old girls" who are "gonna die with their boots on!" Brooks reminisces about movies made here, such as "Brave Bulls" with Cantinflas, and fondly recalls Robert Mitchum who "was drunk all the time absolutely boiled!" One of the landmarks of these days is the classic bar La Cucaracha, one of the most famous drinking holes in the country, voted one of the top bars in the world by Rolling Stone magazine.
"There is true good will here, even though it's hard for a foreigner to penetrate the Mexican way of life, unless you marry and have to have the language," says Wynne.
This is what Texan tour guide Philip Sheridan did, an avid promoter of no-nonsense information, and armed with some city hall statistics that surprise many residents. For example the population of the international community with an immigration status other than the tourist visa is as high as 24,000: "Seven thousand U.S. citizens live here, 7,000 come and go, 5,000 Canadian (half live, half come and go); and 5,000 Europeans (half live half come and go)," Sheridan said.
Humor is the way Philip and his wife negotiate the endless choppy waters of cultural difference.
"She jokes with me, 'You know what, you're the only gringo I like,' so I tell her: 'Well you're the only Mexican I like!' " While San Miguel is a welcoming town with lots to do, repeated visits are needed to get a real feel for the variety on offer such as its art and design community and its exquisite surroundings and history.
Barbara Kastelein writes a weekly column on travel for The Herald. sirio@data.net.mx |
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