Although a few weeks ago it was announced that Mexico fell three places in the top 10 list of the most visited countries in the world, it seems that has not affected the economy in the city, because national tourism is growing. A few days ago, a profile of visitors to San Miguel de Allende was presented, based on results obtained in 2012 that will help in designing marketing strategies for cities in Guanajuato, including San Miguel. Currently, weekends see the most tourists in San Miguel, and in just one weekend between six and eight weddings take place in the municipality.

In May, the International Association of Tourism announced that Mexico lost three positions in the list of the countries most visited by foreigners, losing 1.28 percent of visitors compared to 2011, falling from 23.4 million tourists to 23.1 million. Mexico was in 10th place, which had been occupied by Malaysia, after Austria and Hong Kong. The first position belongs to France, and the second to the US.

According to Javier Salas, president of the Asociación de Hoteles y Establecimientos de Hospedaje de San Miguel de Allende (Association of Hotels and Establishments for Lodging in San Miguel de Allende), in the past, 50 percent of visitors were from other countries and 50 percent were Mexicans, but currently 30 percent of the tourists in the city are foreigners. “National tourism is increasing while international tourism declines,” he said.

On June 5, Claudia Ávalos Betancourt, director of analysis from the Secretariat of Touristic Development (SEDETUR), visited San Miguel and presented the San Miguel Visitors Profile. This study was conducted in 2012 by an agency hired by the SEDETUR. The random sample was made up of 825 interviews conducted with tourists or visitors in the city, and has a 5 percent error rate. The interviews were performed in front of the Parroquia, outside the Ángela Peralta Theater, Atotonilco, El Chorro, Juárez Park and in front of Casa del Mayorazgo. Those interviewed were men and women over 18 years old not residing or working in the city who stayed at least three hours. According to Ávalos, because the internet is the most widely used medium by tourists for planning vacations, they are planning to start a mailing campaign to attract tourists from those states that do not visit San Miguel, such as Nuevo León, Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Puebla. In San Miguel, 61 percent of those questioned answered that they planned their trip by internet, and for that reason they will propose a campaign for positioning the official page of the municipality online, reinforced by other social media.

The information also indicates that in 2011 San Miguel received 933,395 tourists, who spent individually an average of 3,229 pesos, with a total gross revenue of 3.014 billion pesos.

Weddings in San Miguel

The SEDETUR states that they will work with the federal, state and local government to promote San Miguel as an international wedding destination, as well as a place for unique experiences, including honeymoons. Beatriz Súcar, president of the Association of Venues and Events Planners, told Atención that wedding tourism is increasing and currently they are having from six to eight weddings per weekend.

“San Miguel is fashionable for weddings,” noted Súcar, who also said that the religious ceremonies are mostly held in the Church of San Francisco, Las Monjas and the Parroquia. The weddings, she said, include on average 250 to 300 people with a cost, per person and just for the wedding, of 1,500 pesos. Súcar commented that they do not have a register of how much money they spend on beauty services, flowers, food, lodging, fun or transportation. According to the president of the association, those who come to get married in San Miguel are mostly from San Luis Potosí, Querétaro and from the Distrito Federal, and currently they are having more weddings of people from Nuevo León, Coahuila, Tamaulipas and Chihuahua. From within the state, brides and grooms from Celaya and Celaya have elected San Miguel as their wedding destination. Just a few are from other countries, and the wedding is usually held here when one member of the couple is Mexican.

Súcar noted that currently San Miguel is experiencing its best period as a wedding destination, and she is hoping that it lasts for a long time. In addition, she said that places such as Cuernavaca, Acapulco and Cancún are losing some weddings because the couples are choosing San Miguel instead, and this is because of the quality of the event planning and the tranquility, beauty and safety in this municipality.

Lodging industry

Salas commented that in terms of tourism interest in San Miguel is growing. “We are experiencing good times,” he said, adding that nowadays the weekends, after Holy Week, have been high season in the city, because in the past during this month the owners of restaurants, bars and even hotels used to close for remodeling and that has not happened. The establishments are still open and the hotels have registered a high occupation. Salas said that along with the Tourism Council they will work on some strategies for attracting more international visitors to the city.

Mayor Mauricio Trejo said that San Miguel is its best moment and commented that the tourism sector has been revitalized, as well as the real estate sector, and the wedding planners, he said, “have recorded the highest numbers in their history.”

Statistical information

Origin of visitors to San Miguel in 20121 and 2011 (SEDETUR)

Origin                2012      2011

International        5%        8%

National               71%      61%

State                     24%      31%

Of the international tourists, 59 percent come from the US and 8 percent from Canada, Chile, Colombia and Spain. National tourists come from the Distrito Federal, Querétaro, Estado de México, and San Luis Potosí, as shown below:

State                               Tourists

Distrito Federal                 28%

Querétaro                          19%

Estado de México               7%

San Luis Potosí                   7%

Percentage of revenue from tourism in the city:

Expenses, %                     2012             2011

Lodging                              29                27

Food and beverages            23                27

Souvenirs                            10                10

Tickets for events                 6                  6

Transportation                       3                  2

Entertainment                      12                 10

Arts and crafts                     10                   9

Other expenses                      7                   9

The streets of San Miguel de Allende will be filled with color, shrieks of joy and terror and candies tossed by the more than 5,000 people who will dance in the annual Locos Parade honoring San Pascual Bailón and San Antonio.

Fairies, spirits, animals, superheroes, characters from the movies and from national and international public life will gather this year to participate in an act of faith in honor of San Antonio and San Pascual Bailón. The participants, called “los locos” (the crazies), wear showy costumes and dance to the rhythm of a wide variety of music. The locos throw candies to onlookers who enjoy the parade sitting or standing on the sidewalks. Although now many people participate in the parade just for fun, this tradition has its origins in a religious observation.

In the past, San Miguel was surrounded by orchards that were irrigated with water from the springs. During the conquest, the Franciscan friars from the temple of the Tercera Orden (Third Order) used to offer a mass for the orchard workers, asking San Pascual Bailón (patron saint of cooks) for a prosperous year and good harvests, and in the afternoon the orchards were blessed. The friars taught the orchard workers to dance in honor of San Pascual Bailón. The tradition dates from the 19th century.

In the beginning, the orchard workers danced dressed as scarecrows, but as the crowds of observers grew and space became tight for dancing, the workers started bringing raccoons, skunks or opossums to scare the people and make room their festivities, and for that reason the attendees started calling them “los locos.”

The parade will start from Ancha de San Antonio and pass through calles Zacateros, Canal, Hernández Macías, Insurgentes, Pepe Llanos, Mesones, Núñez, San Francisco and Plaza Principal. The authorities from the Civil Protection Department recommend bringing water to the parade and carrying an umbrella. The forecasted temperature is 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit).

Jaime Martínez Tapia Sánchez was removed from the Oficialía Mayor Administrativa (Office of General Administration), which now is occupied by Alejandro Castro Raya, and Luis Francisco López Chávez was appointed municipal comptroller without the approval of the city councilors from his own political party.

In a meeting held on Wednesday, June 5, the city council approved the removal of Jaime Martínez Tapia, Oficial Mayor Administrativo (General Administrator), following a proposal by Mayor Mauricio Trejo based on Articles 76 and 77, Parts 17 and 23 of the Organic Law for the State and its Municipalities, which in general cover the rights that mayors have to appoint the directors of their cabinets. Trejo’s proposal was approved with nine votes.

Trejo said that Martínez Tapia was replaced because the mayor intends to conduct a major audit of the municipal land register and he believes that Martínez Tapia is the right person for that job because he is dedicated, organized and committed. Trejo said that they will find out what happened with municipal properties that had been registered but suddenly “disappeared” from the register.

On February 9, the municipal comptroller, José García Beltrán, was also removed from his post by the city council; in that meeting the city council agreed that at the next session the largest minority in the council (PAN, National Action Party) had to propose three candidates for municipal comptroller, but the PAN party did not present any proposals. For that reason, at the last meeting, the city council decided to dismiss the right of the PAN party to present a proposal, and mayor Trejo proposed the election of Luis Francisco López Chávez as municipal comptroller, who is a member of PAN. Even though he is a member of their party, the PAN city councilors voted against his appointment, noting that López Chávez did not fulfill all the requirements to be municipal comptroller because he did not present an official letter from the state Electoral Institute stating that he was not a candidate in the 2012 elections and has not been president of a political party.

Fernando García Chávez, coordinator of the PAN city councilors, commented that they did not present the proposal in time because he has been busy trying to restore his reputation, because every time he denounces an act of corruption by the local administration he is attacked by a local TV station.

The Casa Hogar Mexiquito received 2,000 books, which will help the students do research and improve their grades in school.

The Santuario Hogar Mexiquito was founded in 1978 by Franciscan friar Guadalupe Mojica with the aim of providing love and protection to abandoned boys. Nowadays the house shelters 27 boys from 2 to 14 years of age; some of them attend kindergarten and the rest primary or secondary school. Mother Teófila Jaime Sabines (Madre Teo) said that the donation of this library will help the children get into the habit of reading and learn to find information from other sources besides the internet.

The books were donated by Casa Santa Hipólita, a nonprofit organization begun 23 years ago in Mexico City with the goal of supporting children staying in orphanages such as Casa Hogar Mexiquito with books and scholarships. Doña Aide Jiménez de Taylor mentioned that they found out about this casa hogar through the Mexican Confederation of Orphanages, which includes more than 300 orphanages. Currently, the organization also provides scholarships to some children from Mexiquito ranging from 210 pesos to 1,200 pesos.

The library donated by Santa Hipólita includes more than 2,000 textbooks, novels and some magazines. The hall is also equipped with a television and a computer donated by Hans Schwerdt from Cim Concept. Schwerdt said that his father started supporting social causes a long time ago, as he does now, and currently some of his employees are also supporting casas hogares.

The library has been named after Helen Schwerdt, Hans’s mother, who also supports some children in orphanages.

As many of you foodies might already know, the Café Santa Ana, the restaurant/coffee shop at La Biblioteca, has been reinvented with vibrant new dishes created by young cooks who are gastronomy students at the local university UTSMA.

The new menu is based on nutritious and balanced dishes that are also full of flavor. Aside from the established menu with favorite classics such as tortilla soup and sandwiches, now the café features a daily special of three courses: soup or salad, a main course, dessert and a beverage. These are fresh and healthy choices, some of which are completely vegetarian and fat-free.

The freshest thing that has been incorporated into the menu is a selection of salads. These salads are available as an extra side dish or for take-out.

Light and cool, they are an excellent choice for your summertime lunch. Four salads are currently on offer: California (chicken), Gertrude (lentil), Tutti Colori (rice) and Emma (potatoes). Chef Ana Laura (head of the café) shared with Atención the recipe for the Emma salad. Bon appétit!

Salad Emma
(4 servings)
 
Ingredients
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of chives, finely chopped
½ cup bacon, chopped
1 kilo (about 2 pounds) potatoes
4 cups of chicken broth
5 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon salt

Recipe:
First, boil the potatoes. When they’re done, let them cool then peel and slice them (not too thin). Then, soak the potatoes in the chicken broth, the salt and the vinegar for 30 minutes. While they rest, fry the bacon then chop it. Mix together the potatoes, bacon, onion and chives.

The so-called mal de ojo (evil eye), empacho (indigestion), and any kind of pain can be healed by a group of women from seven rural communities, who owing to their knowledge of herbs have often mistakenly been called witches.

In 2012, 27 rural communities were acknowledged as indigenous communities by the CDI (National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Communities). These communities have been grouped into microregions, one of them being La Cuadrilla, which is made up of seven communities: Lindero de la Petaca, Guerrero, Salto, Capilla Blanca, Bordo Colorado Los Barrones and La Cuadrilla. These communities have in common the use of herbs for healing. La Cuadrilla is the oldest community, founded in 1700, and currently has 487 inhabitants (82 of them are Otomí speakers). Their main activities consist of making products based on medicinal herbs, witchcraft, production of arts and crafts and midwifery.

Making miracles

Doña Catalina Ramírez Quintero has done embroidery for more than 15 years, having learned the craft from her sister. One of her most successful pieces is called “the miracle,” a piece of fabric on which she designs, draws and later embroiders saints, body parts and even stories. Doña Catalina said she started this activity because her husband was an alcoholic and she had nine children to support and feed (a couple of twins among them). Ramírez said that when she began designing the miracles, she started with a real story. She had a 12-year-old son who suffered from epilepsy; one day, he asked her permission to swim in the river, where he drowned. According to Catalina, she designed her first miracle depicting her son being dragged by the current with a legend stating “this true story occurred in 1989.” That piece sold well. The pieces are called “milagros” because people ask for them from Catalina when they need a miracle from a saint. The people go to Catalina’s house and ask her to design a miracle with our Lady of Guadalupe, San Martín or other saints, and depending on the person’s illness she can draw an arm, a foot, or other affected body part. The requester also tells Catalina the text to be embroidered; it could be something like “I thank you, Holy Cross, for healing my arm.”

She also knits shawls but said that they are very complicated and tiring. She can finish one in a month, she said, or in two weeks if it has been requested in advance. The price is 120 pesos, which is a very low, she commented. Sometimes her comadre buys her shawls, at the same price, and resells them at 200 pesos. She is hoping to have more profits from her work and has trained 10 more women from the community to make those clothes in order to be prepared if someday they have a major order.

Healing massages

Mostly in rural areas, a baby’s fontanelle (“soft spot”) is called a mollera, and it can become sunken when the baby is dehydrated. Mothers in the communities believe that the mollera is sunken because it fell down and for that reason the baby does not want to eat. The baby is taken to old women such as Teodora López, a 92-year-old lady, who learned from her mother how to lift up the mollera. For curing the babies, Teodora turns them upside down and tap them on the bottoms of their feet, and later she pulls their hair. Doña Teodora also introduces a tomato in the baby’s mouth and pushes it up so the mollera can be restored in its place. She says that young people are not interested in learning this ancient cure.

Lucía López Rodríguez was born in La Cuadrilla and later moved to Mexico City, but now she is back in this community. Her grandmother is from Xilotepec, an indigenous community in Querétaro. According to Lucía, when babies are teething they can get empacho from their own drool, and sometimes when their parents feed them chicharrón (fried pork skin) or chewing gum these foods clog their intestines and impede elimination. For curing them (in three daily sessions), Lucía massages the babies’ stomachs, and later their backs until their backbones pop. She uses a pomade called pampuerco, which is sold in bóticas (pharmacies). Lucía learned to do this from her grandmother because her baby frequently had indigestion; her grandmother told her, “You should learn to do this, Lucía, because I will not live forever.”

Witchcraft or spirituality?

Lucía López also commented that often her son was sick from the evil eye (the evil eye, bad energies transmitted to children from older people, causes a baby to vomit and have fevers and diarrhea), and to cure him she had to pay 20 pesos to a healer. So, she learned to do it herself. To heal a baby she passes stems of basil and an egg over the child’s body while she prays. She said that she used to cure older people but her energy was so wasted at the end that she now only does this with children.

In a ritual in which she prays and directs incense to the four points of the compass, Alicia Ramírez has cured members of her family, such as her daughter, who had widespread pain and did not want to go to a doctor. So, she asked Alicia to cure her. Alicia asked her for sticks of pirul (Peruvian pepper tree) and red and white flowers. To heal her, she prayed before an altar, passing the incense, sticks and flowers over her daughter’s body. “When I was on my way to put the flowers and sticks in the trash can, my daughter told me: “Mother, is that for real? Because now I am feeling good.” “My grandfather used to tell me that it is not good to believe, but also it is not good to doubt,” said doña Alicia.

Alicia is the captain of a pre-Hispanic dance group, and every year on September 14, before starting the celebrations for San Miguel Arcángel, she asks God and some saints for permission to hold the festivities, and for that reason people say that she and all the members of the dance group are witches. She said that what she does is not witchcraft because she is communicating with God, and not with evil, as others do—which caused her daughter’s illness.

Herbalists

La Cuadrilla is located next to a hill where all kind of medicinal plants grow, known by the inhabitants as tatalencho, San Antonio, vara blanca, and sangregado, among others. In 2011, María Dolores attended a training course taught by an herbalist, offered by the CDI, where she learned how to prepare healing pomades and soaps. Later, she trained other women from the seven communities. The same commission trained the women to organize, so she decided to form a cooperative to sell their medicinal products. They added some others that they knew how to make, such as candies based on pumpkin or tamarind and water flavored with chía seeds, everything made from raw materials from the area.

The cooperative is made up of almost 50 women, and they have the aim of selling their products not only in the nearby communities and San Miguel and Celaya but also in other states. The organization is called “United Women from El Salto.”  Some of the members commented that they know that in San Miguel many fairs are held, but they cannot participate because the spaces are very expensive and they do not have money yet for financing the cost. They have been in touch with local, state and even federal authorities to get support.

Adriana Ramírez is a 30-year-old woman responsible for procuring much support from the CDI for the seven rural communities. Through her efforts almost five kilometers of streets  leading from the road to Querétaro to La Cuadrilla, which connects with other communities, were paved with cobblestones. Last year she got 75 sheep for three communities (25 each) and some pigs for others. She also got resources for a beauty salon for people from Guerrero, as well as a stationery shop.

Ramírez, who is the president of the association of women from El Salto, makes a little bit of money from sales of medicinal products and from her work as a beauty technician. She also receives financial support from her sister who lives in the US, but it is never enough, she said.  To contact Adriana, call 415-153-2673.

Throughout June, the San Miguel Gourmet festival will take place, continuing in the tradition of events that have already been held this month, the Lamb and Mezcal Festival and the elegant dinner Cinco Chefs, Cinco Tiempos, Cinco Horas (Five Chefs, Five Times, Five Hours) at Casa de Aves. However, the month has just started, and there is still more to come from this festival. Traditional sanmiguelense cuisine will be on offer on June 7 and 8 at Cañada de la Virgen at a tasting of traditional pre-Hispanic food. The event will be chaired by Benedicta Alejo, from Michoacán, an old-style cook who prepared food at the Vatican for Pope Benedict after the recognition of Mexican food by UNESCO as a World Heritage cuisine.

Los Sabores de San Miguel event will be held in Parque Juárez from June 14 to 16. This relaxed and fun event will feature a wide variety of dishes, from sophisticated to traditional street food, for only 20 pesos each. It will be a great chance for all-day family fun.

On June 22 there will be tastings of local products that have earned international and national awards and citations for their high quality.

This food festival will conclude at the Rosewood hotel, which will host an Iron Chef culinary competition with chefs from five different properties owned by the hotel chain. The chefs will buy the ingredients at local stores, markets and farms and cook in front of a live audience, who will vote on the winner, on June 28.

For more information, venues, dates and costs, please visit www.sanmiguelgourmet.com.

Fifteen of the 400 complaints that have been filed at the state Human Rights Office have come from residents of San Miguel de Allende. Of those 15 complaints, 11 arose from an alleged incident of police abuse of two young men on March 19.

On May 31, Mayor Mauricio Trejo signed an agreement of collaboration with the Guanajuato Humans Rights attorney, Gustavo Rodríguez Junquera. This agreement was signed in order to train the traffic and security officers of San Miguel de Allende to respect the human rights of the inhabitants and visitors in the city. Trejo noted that security is one of the priorities of his administration, but also they have now a priority of decreasing the number of recommendations received from the Humans Rights Office. Trejo commented that the violation of human rights is very fine line and for that reason they will work along with the state human rights office so police officers respect people’s rights. Trejo asked for trust, support and respect from sanmiguelenses toward the municipal authorities.

Rodríguez Junquera said that among those recommendations are those related to the case of police abuse against two law students in March this year, which was filmed and broadcast multiple times in the national media.

The problem started when police officers pulled over the two students, who were supposedly driving and drinking alcoholic beverages. The young men did not obey and drove to the parking lot of a nearby commercial center. Once there, the students did not get out of the car and were threatened by the police officers, who sprayed chemicals into the car and pulled the victims out. The students were arrested and paid a fine of 600 pesos each. The Human Rights Office recommended the local government censure the policemen for violating the students’ human rights and for the excessive use of force, injuries, threats and for spraying the chemical substance inside the car. The document also suggested refunding the fines paid by the students and having medical personnel in the municipal jail as well to avoid these kinds of cases in the future. A case of two foreign women who also denounced police officers for abuse of power is still under investigation, according to Rodríguez Junquera.

The human rights attorney in the state highlighted that the citizens should not feel intimidated by the authorities and that currently the municipality has been accepting all the suggestions made by his department, which are issued following examination of evidence in these cases. He concluded by saying that the Humans Rights Office is not against the persecution of felonies, but that “it must be done by respecting the human rights of everybody.”

A group of high school students concerned about the pollution of water and the environment in general have launched a project to produce biodiesel from cooking oil.

Biodiesel is not just a cleaner fuel; it is produced with renewable and alternative resources. This fuel is currently being produced by countries such as the US, Argentina, Germany and France, among others, and in 2010 alone 20 billion liters were produced. For producing environmentally friendly biodiesel recycled sunflower and soy oils or recycled oils from restaurants and homes are used; the students based their project on the latter source of oil.

Alfredo Lozano Ortega, an 18-year-old student, said that the idea of producing biodiesel came from a science project that he presented in his school. The project is called “Supercapturador” and it consists of collecting used oil and turning it into biodiesel. Lozano noted that if oil is thrown down the drain one liter could pollute 1,000 liters of water and damage the environment. The coordinator of the project also noted that the oil erodes the soil and is one of the main causes of urban infestations of rats and cockroaches, because of the food particles still present in the oil.

The students’ project is being supported by schools such as Instituto Bilingüe Milenio, José Vasconcelos and Instituto Tecnológico SSC, where there will be permanent collection centers; the aim is to involve every school in the city. Currently Lozano Ortega and his team are collecting oil from restaurants such as Mama Mía, Cumpanio and La Alborada, among others, as well as from the Hotel Real de Minas. They had a meeting with the CANIRAC (Association of Restaurants) and the enrolled restaurants will get involved in the program. Lozano said that they will start producing the fuel once they have enough oil, and they are already trying to get or construct the necessary equipment. The goal is to collect 5,000 liters of oil in the short term (2,000 from restaurants and hotels and 3,000 from houses). The quantity of biodiesel produced will depend on the cleanliness of the oil.

Ecofrigo is a socially responsible company with headquarters in Celaya; they recycle electrical appliances and air conditioners, and the company also safely disposes of Freon, with permits from the SEMARNAT (Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources). Ecofrigo is supporting the students’ program by providing them a space with the permits for storage in the meantime, as well as with vehicles for collecting the oil. The Municipal Institute for San Miguel’s Youth will start a campaign for recycling oil.

For more information about the project contact Alfredo Lozano at lozanoa94@gmail.com.