Category Archives: San Miguel de Allende

San Miguel de Allende

Beyond the Surface

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By Darlene Olivia McElroy—

As a working artist, I have always created mixed-media paintings and assemblages. About 10 years ago, I decided to combine the two—and shazam! Dimensional collage became an integral part of my work. Dimensional objects bring that sweet magic of the unexpected to a collage or painting, allowing me to take the narrative further.

At first, I was a hunter-gatherer of found objects—vintage millinery flowers, broken jewelry, and other curiosities. Over time, this process evolved into making my own molds and casting objects. My obsession with materials and dreamlike imagery, and the mindset of a mad artist-scientist have all contributed to capturing what I see as the healing spirit of humanity.

Trained and employed as a painter and illustrator, I have also spent years as a teacher, author, lecturer, and exhibition juror. After living in France, I returned to the United States and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I come from a long line of New Mexico artists and musicians, and both my soul and my work have been deeply shaped by the summers I spent on my family’s ranch there. In Santa Fe, the rich tapestry of Hispanic life filled my days and nights with color, texture, and story. My paternal grandfather, an artist on Santa Catalina Island, also played an important role in shaping my path, introducing me early on to art as both a lifestyle and a narrative language.

During this time, I leaned into my natural curiosity and the pure joy of exploring what paint can do. I have written five art technique books for North Light Books (now Penguin Random House), which have been translated into Spanish, French, Chinese, and other languages. These books explore a range of methods, including image transfers, surface techniques, alternative surfaces, and mixed-media clay. They are designed as resources for both working artists and teachers.

I continue to explore new materials, surfaces, and techniques, sharing what I learn online and through my monthly classes at Galeria San Francisco, located in the Fábrica La Aurora in San Miguel de Allende.

San Miguel first drew me into its creative orbit over 40 years ago. Being invited to show my work at Galeria San Francisco—and finding so many longtime Santa Fe friends living here—made the decision easy. I now live here full-time with my supportive husband, a crazy cat, and two slightly neurotic dogs.

My paintings are represented in galleries in the United States and Mexico and are held in corporate, civic, and educational institutions, as well as private collections around the world.

I invite you to visit Galeria San Francisco to see more of my work, or explore online at DarleneOliviaMcElroy.com

 

San Miguel de Allende

From Bordeaux to the Bajío: The French Roots of Querétaro Wine

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By Jane Bauer—

About an hour from San Miguel de Allende, the vineyards of Querétaro stretch across a high, dry plateau that doesn’t immediately read as wine country. There are no rolling green hills or centuries-old estates. Instead, the landscape is open, sun-exposed, and shaped by a very different set of conditions. And yet, this region has become one of the most important wine-producing areas in Mexico, with a foundation that traces directly back to France.

Much of Mexico’s modern wine industry is built on French grape varieties. In Querétaro, that means Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah, among others. These grapes were introduced as winemakers looked to established European models—particularly French—for structure, consistency, and quality. Over time, they became standard across many regions in Mexico, including this one.

What’s interesting is how those grapes perform here. Querétaro sits at a higher altitude than many people expect, often above 1,800 meters. The days are warm and dry, with strong sun, but the nights cool down significantly. That shift in temperature slows the ripening process and helps preserve acidity in the grapes. It’s one of the key factors that gives wines from this region their balance.

The soils also play a role. In parts of Querétaro, they are mineral-rich and well-draining, which forces the vines to work a little harder. That stress can translate into more concentrated flavors in the fruit. It’s not an easy environment, but it’s one that can produce very precise results when managed well.

One of the defining features of Querétaro’s wine scene is its focus on sparkling wine. The region has become known for wines made using the traditional method—the same process used in Champagne, where a second fermentation takes place in the bottle. This method is labor-intensive and requires careful control, but it produces wines with fine bubbles and a clean, structured profile.

The climate in Querétaro supports this style. The preserved acidity in the grapes makes them particularly well-suited for sparkling production. Over the past couple of decades, several wineries have focused on refining this approach, and the region now has a reputation for it. It’s not an attempt to recreate Champagne, but it clearly draws from the same technical foundation.

That said, the wines here are not French in identity. The influence is there in the grapes and the methods, but the outcome reflects local conditions. The intensity of the sun, the dryness of the air, and the elevation all shape the final product. There’s also a different mindset at play. Many Mexican winemakers are less constrained by tradition, which allows for experimentation alongside more classical styles.
You’ll see that in the range of wines being produced. Alongside structured reds and sparkling wines, there are blends, rosés, and small-batch projects that don’t always follow a strict model. Some producers are working with international consultants; others are entirely self-taught. It’s a mix of approaches, and that variety is part of what defines the region right now.

For visitors, Querétaro is relatively easy to navigate. There are established wine routes with clusters of wineries, tasting rooms, and restaurants open to the public. The infrastructure is there, but it hasn’t tipped into overdevelopment. Many of the wineries are still small to mid-sized operations, and it’s common to find yourself speaking directly with the people involved in the production.

A typical visit might include a tasting, a walk through the vineyard, and a meal on-site. Some places are more polished than others, but the overall experience tends to feel accessible. You can visit multiple wineries in a day without it becoming overly structured or commercial.

For those based in San Miguel de Allende, the region feels close—both geographically and culturally. It fits into the same broader landscape of central Mexico, where outside influences have been absorbed and reinterpreted over time. Just as San Miguel reflects layers of history and migration, the wine in Querétaro reflects a similar process.

French grapes, introduced through a long history of exchange, are now rooted in Mexican soil. The techniques may come from elsewhere, but the results are shaped here. It’s not about replication. It’s about adaptation.

And that’s what makes Querétaro worth paying attention to.

Huatulco, San Miguel de Allende

Imported Empires: Stories of the French Intervention in Mexico

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By Carole Reedy—

Everyone loves a story, and a novel set in a historical period can be a compelling way to learn about an era. While some nonfiction history books can seem dry and tedious, a well-researched and well-written novel can satisfy our desire for historical facts and figures.

This month I’ve chosen both fiction and nonfiction books that tell stories about the time when the European monarchs Maximilian and Carlota ruled Mexico. It is my hope that these books will deepen your understanding of their short reign (1864-1867).

North of the Mexican border, the American Civil War was raging while Mexican conservative exiles and clergy convinced Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon), after considerable political infighting, to place Maximilian of Austria on the throne of Mexico. Along with his wife, Carlota of Belgium, he would become emperor of a politically unstable nation already struggling with internal conflict. It was not the career path either Maximilian or Carlota anticipated.

While much of their story seems improbable, it truly makes for a tantalizing tale.

Looking back, it is easy to think, “How naïve.” Yet history reminds us that political power plays often lead to poor decisions. This is a story of ambition, political intrigue, and, ultimately, tragedy.

How did all this come about? Simply put: “The intervention was triggered by President Benito Juárez’s suspension of foreign debt payments, leading to a tripartite agreement between France, Spain, and Britain in 1861, though France ultimately pursued the deeper, imperialistic intervention.”

The Mexican Empire, as well as the reign of Maximilian and Carlota, came to an end with the execution of Maximilian by firing squad in 1867. He was only 35. Carlota had been suffering from depression to the point of “going mad,” but she lived to the ripe old age of 86, dying of pneumonia caused by a bout of influenza.

Maximilian’s last words are said to be, “I forgive everyone and ask everyone to forgive me. May my blood which is about to be shed, be for the good of the country. Viva Mexico! Viva la Independencia!”

The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire by C.M. Mayo

Author C. M. Mayo is an important voice in contemporary historical fiction. She has translated some of the finest Spanish-speaking writers of our time. In addition to Last Prince, she has written From Mexico to Miramar or Across the Lake of Oblivion: A Nonfiction Novela about a Fairytale: A Visit to the Emperor of Mexico’s Italian Castle. The intriguing title is enough to justify a reading.

Avid readers as well as visitors to this magic land will surely enjoy Mayo’s Mexico: A Traveler’s Literary Companion, which highlights the best of Mexico’s creative contributors who write about various aspects of Mexican life.

In addition to being a novelist, editor, and translator, Mayo is a poet, educated at the University of Chicago. Library Journal named Last Prince of the Mexican Empire one of the best books of 2009, just one of the many accolades the novel received.

The language of The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire is lyrical, highlighted by the shifting points of view of the cast of characters from an overworked kitchen maid to the Austrian archduke.

Blending the cultural and political aspects of the Empire combine here to make a compelling story. The added element of a young boy who childless Maximilian and Carlota want to adopt adds a human element. You’ll be introduced to many historical figures woven into this compelling narrative.

Maximilian in Mexico: A Woman’s Reminiscences of the French Intervention 1862-1867 by Sarah Yorke Stevenson

Sarah Yorke Stevenson (1847-1921) was an archeologist, Egyptologist, and suffragette who helped found the Penn Museum. In this meticulously researched book, she gives us one of the few published first-hand accounts of the time.

In her own words she says of her book, “By offering these pages to the public, my aim is not to write a historical sketch of the reign of Maximilian of Austria, nor is it to give a description of the political crisis that Mexico went through during that period. My only desire is to provide the reader with a point of view whose value lies in the fact that it is that of an eyewitness who was more than an ordinary spectator of a series of events that became one of the most dramatic episodes of modern times.”

What a find! I came across this while researching. Appears to be a gem that may give us a different interpretation of the era, motives, and personalities of the players.

With Maximilian in Mexico. From the Note-book of a Mexican Officer by Maximilian baron von Alvensleben

This reprint of an 1867 account offers a rare perspective from the viewpoint of a Mexican soldier who witnessed the collapse of the empire. Though less known than other works, it provides an intriguing firsthand glimpse into the turbulent final days of Maximilian’s rule.

This is available for just 150 pesos on Kindle, considerably more in hard cover or paperback editions.

The Crown of Mexico: Maximilian and his Empress Carlota by Joan Haslip

This highly acclaimed novel is rich in detail about the politics of both Europe and Mexico in the 1800s. It also takes us back to Maximilian’s upbringing and is sympathetic in tone to Carlota.

Each novel or history we read provides us with new facts and insightful perspectives into the personalities of Maximilian and Carlota. This is what many of us love about novels. They take us closer to the motives of the people involved. There are psychological and sociological factors that straight history often doesn’t—or can’t–reveal.

Maximilian was naïve and easily spurred on by his ambitious wife. He stayed on to the detriment of them both.

Phantom Crown by Bertita Harding

Yet another highly regarded novel that was written in 1934 and subtitled The Story of Maximilian and Carlota of Mexico. It is exactly that, a tragic and pathetic tale of this historic epoch. Carlota and Maximilian are surrounded by a populace that detested them at worst and pitied them at best. The country is torn apart, with liberal leader Benito Juárez in the north. (Benito Juárez was the constitutional president of Mexico. After the suspension of payments on the foreign debt in 1861 and subsequent French invasion, his government became a “roaming republic,” resisting from the north of the country). Napoleon’s ambition is unbridled. There was not much going in their favor.

One reader summed up succinctly all that we look for in a novel. “Wonderful history lesson, very informative, paints a wonderful picture of the times. It is a great read.”

So many issues, so many countries, personalities, conflicts, and ambitions. ‘Tis the way of the world. Next month we will highlight notable novels published this year. You will most likely find your favorite authors among them.

 

 

 

Huatulco, San Miguel de Allende

A Little Bit of France in Mexico

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By Alicia Flores—

Being Mexican is not just one thing. Mexican culture has been shaped by several influences, and one of the most fascinating is France. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, especially under Porfirio Díaz, French culture became associated with elegance, progress, and modernity. That influence can still be seen today in architecture, in food, and entire communities.

And if you know where to look, you can experience a little piece of France without ever leaving Mexico.

One of the most refined examples is Quinta Gameros in the northern state of Chuihuahua. This mansion was commissioned in 1907 by Manuel Gameros, a wealthy mining engineer who wanted a residence that reflected status and European sophistication. Designed by Colombian architect Julio Corredor Latorre, the house is one of the best examples of Art Nouveau architecture in Mexico. Its carved wood interiors, stained glass, and ornamental ironwork reflect the influence of French decorative arts that were fashionable at the time.

Construction began during the height of the Porfiriato, but history intervened. The Mexican Revolution forced Gameros to leave the country before he could truly enjoy the home. Over the years, the building has served multiple purposes, including as a federal building and later as part of the University of Chihuahua. Today, it houses a museum, where visitors can admire not only the architecture but also period furniture that helps recreate the atmosphere of early twentieth-century elite life in Mexico.

With the Torre Eiffel de Gómez Palacio, located in Durango, the French connection takes on a more symbolic form. This replica of the Eiffel Tower was installed in the early 2000s as part of a broader effort by local authorities to revitalize the city’s public spaces and create a recognizable landmark. Gómez Palacio has long been an industrial and railway hub, and the decision to build the tower reflects both civic pride and a desire to connect with a global icon of engineering and modernity.

Although it is not connected to Gustave Eiffel himself, the structure captures something powerful: the way the Eiffel Tower has become a universal symbol of innovation, romance, and aspiration. For residents, it represents more than a replica—it is a point of gathering, a visual landmark, and a reminder that global culture can be reinterpreted in local ways.

For a deeper and more immersive experience, the town of San Rafael , along with nearby Jicaltepec, offers a living legacy of French immigration in the state of Veracruz. Jicaltepec was established in 1833 as an agricultural colony by French settlers, who were drawn to the fertile lands nourished by the Nautla River. Many of these immigrants came from regions such as the Alps and eastern France, bringing with them farming techniques, baking traditions, and a strong connection to the land. They established agricultural communities, cultivating crops such as vanilla, citrus, and bananas.

Over time, the settlements of Jicaltepec and San Rafael grew into a unique cultural enclave where French and Mexican traditions blended. Even today, this heritage is visible in the local food. The region is known for its bakeries, as well as artisanal cheeses and dairy products influenced by French techniques, adapted to the tropical climate and local ingredients. Walking through the area, you can feel a quieter, more rural rhythm shaped by agriculture, tradition, and a history that connects Veracruz to Europe in a very tangible way.

These places remind us that Mexico’s identity is multi-faceted. French influence arrived during a time of ambition and transformation, leaving behind not only buildings but also traditions, flavors, and ideas that continue to evolve.

To travel through Mexico with this perspective is to see beyond expectations. It is to notice the details, the curve of an iron railing, the elegance of a façade, the taste of freshly baked bread—and to recognize that even here, far from France, its presence still lingers in quiet and surprising ways.

San Miguel de Allende

The Sweetest Adventure: Exploring the Best Bakeries in San Miguel

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By Michael Solof—

San Miguel de Allende is a haven for food lovers, especially those with a sweet tooth. As you wander the streets, the air is often filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread and pastries. It can make you stop in your tracks and search for the source of those incredible smells.

But have you ever wondered about the origins of these delicious treats? The city’s bakery culture is steeped in history and shaped by a strong French influence.

A Brief History of Bakeries: From France to San Miguel
Modern pastry traditions owe much to French baking from the 19th century. French bakers revolutionized the craft, introducing techniques that produced flaky pastries, crusty breads, and delicate desserts that quickly spread around the world.

As these methods reached Mexico, local bakers adapted them using regional ingredients such as cinnamon, chocolate, and corn. The result was a unique culinary fusion that combined European technique with Mexican flavor.

Over time, bakeries became more than places to buy bread. They evolved into community gathering spots where locals and visitors meet for coffee, conversation, and something sweet. Today, many establishments celebrate both Mexican holidays and European traditions, reflecting the rich cultural blend that defines San Miguel’s food scene.

My Six Favorite Bakeries in San Miguel
It was a tough choice, but these six stand out as personal favorites.

1. La Colmena Panadería (The Blue Door Bakery)
Relox 21
Open 7 days a week, hours vary

Founded in 1901, La Colmena is one of the oldest bakeries in the city. Known for traditional Mexican favorites such as conchas and pan de muerto, it has preserved its charm and authenticity for more than a century.

Warm and welcoming, La Colmena is a favorite meeting place for locals seeking a perfect pairing of coffee and something sweet. Its rustic setting reflects the long culinary heritage of the neighborhood.

2. Panadería La Antigua
Umarán 36
8am–10pm, Closed Wednesdays

At Panadería La Antigua traditional baking methods are the focus. Established in the late 1990s, it specializes in artisan breads made with local ingredients and time-honored recipes.

Its reputation for quality attracts both residents and visitors. In addition to sourdoughs and baguettes, the shop offers regional specialties, and its tortillas are among the most popular items. The space frequently features local artwork and community gatherings.

3. San Sebastián Panadería
Calzada de la Aurora 24
9am–10pm, Closed Sundays

A neighborhood favorite since the early 2000s, San Sebastián offers a wide range of baked goods based on family recipes passed down through generations.

From classic pastries to cakes and cookies, the selection changes with the seasons. The welcoming atmosphere and personal service make it a popular destination for birthdays, celebrations, and everyday indulgence.

4. Panadería El Maple
Salida a Celaya 53
8am–7:30pm, closed Sundays

Since opening in 2010, El Maple has built a reputation for creativity in the kitchen. Traditional Mexican recipes meet contemporary twists in items like chocolate croissants filled with locally sourced ingredients.

The bakery emphasizes sustainability, often purchasing ingredients from nearby farms and hosting workshops that teach baking with seasonal produce. Its modern style attracts a younger crowd eager for inventive flavors.

5. Bakery Sucré
Colegio Militar 3
8am–3pm

Sucré focuses on French-inspired pastries while incorporating local ingredients. Macarons, éclairs, and tarts share the display case with desserts flavored with coconut, mango, and other regional touches.

Known for its elegant presentation, Sucré has become a favorite destination for celebrations and special occasions. The refined interior reflects its French inspiration, creating a lovely setting for enjoying coffee and a pastry.

6. Marulier Luciérnaga
Two locations – Plaza Luciérnaga, Lib. José Manuel Zavala 165, and Ancha de San Antonio 121
8am–10pm

One of the newer additions to the local bakery scene, Marulier focuses on organic, gluten-free, and vegan offerings. Its gluten-free brownies and organic breads have quickly gained a loyal following.

Workshops and classes encourage customers to explore healthier approaches to baking and cooking. Bright interiors and eco-friendly practices make both locations welcoming spaces for the community.

How to Best Enjoy These Bakeries
Together, these establishments form an important part of San Miguel’s culinary landscape. They blend Mexican tradition with European technique while serving as gathering places for the community.

My favorite way to experience them? A bakery crawl.

Exploring several bakeries in one afternoon is a delicious adventure. Each stop offers new flavors, stories, and specialties. Whether you’re savoring a flaky croissant or enjoying a slice of tres leches cake, every bite reflects the rich cultural influences that shape the city’s food scene.

So grab some friends, lace up comfortable shoes, and set out on a sweet exploration of San Miguel. With so many tempting options along the way, you might just wish for a second—or even a third—stomach.
Happy munching!

Michael Solof leads SMA Adventure Hound, a group that takes locals and newcomers to brunches and dinners at different restaurants every week. He also offers classes in the Art of Smartphone Photography. You can contact him via WhatsApp +1-443-310-9214 for more info and to reserve.

Huatulco, San Miguel de Allende

The Emperor’s Ghost in the Mural: The French Connection to Mexican Muralism

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By Randy Jackson—

On June 19, 1867, on a hill outside Querétaro called the Hill of the Bells, Emperor Maximilian, appointed by Napoleon III to rule a country that had never wanted him, faced a firing squad. His execution reverberated through Mexican and European history. Yet how that moment was understood was shaped not by those who witnessed it, but by those who painted it. In Europe, that response was immediate. In Mexico, it would take decades, passing through a classroom, before it found its voice on the great public walls of the Revolution.

In Paris, Édouard Manet’s series of paintings on the execution, collectively known as The Execution of Emperor Maximilian, demonstrated the power of art to shape historical memory. Painted from written accounts, they portrayed the event as a condemnation of Napoleon III’s imperial folly and were subsequently banned. In Mexico, the effects were slower and paradoxical. The execution did not silence Maximilian’s court painter; it freed him to walk into a classroom and change the course of Mexican art.
When Maximilian’s court collapsed, his retinue fled to the coast. One man, however, walked in the opposite direction, not toward a ship, but toward a classroom in the Mexican National Academy of Fine Arts.

Santiago Rebull
That man was Santiago Rebull, the official court painter to Emperor Maximilian, appointed to use art as an instrument of imperial legitimacy, to make a foreign emperor look like he belonged.

Rebull was born in 1829 to a Catalan father and a Mexican mother. His talent was recognized early. He won first place at the Academy of San Carlos in 1851 with his painting La Muerte de Abel. That victory earned him a scholarship to study in Rome, where he spent seven years, and what he learned there would shape Mexican art, passing through his hands to the students who would later paint the Revolution.

In Rome, at a Catholic arts school, he learned the techniques and principles of the Nazarene Movement. The Nazarenes believed art should serve a moral or religious purpose, and their major project was to revive the medieval art of fresco painting. It was a tradition built for walls, designed to tell stories to anyone who stood before them.

Rebull returned to Mexico in 1859 and, within two years, had risen to Director of the Academy of San Carlos. In 1865, he painted the official portrait of Emperor Maximilian – Retrato de Maximiliano. The Emperor was so pleased that he appointed Rebull as court painter and awarded him the Order of Guadalupe, the Empire’s highest honour.

Within two years, the firing squad on the Hill of the Bells ended that empire. Rebull returned to the classroom carrying everything Europe — and the Empire — had taught him.

The Protégé: Rivera at San Carlos
Diego Rivera was born in Guanajuato in 1886, nineteen years after the firing squad on the Hill of the Bells. When he arrived at the National Academy of Fine Arts at San Carlos as a student at the age of ten, Santiago Rebull was still teaching there.

As director of the Academy and as an instructor who took personal interest in the young Rivera’s progress, Rebull brought his influence to bear beyond technique. He transmitted the Nazarene conviction that scale gave art its purpose. Frescoes were consequential, not just because of their size, but because their ambitions were monumental. Art was meant to instruct, to elevate, to speak to anyone who stood before it. Not for palace staterooms, but for the public walls.

As important as Rebull was to the painting style Rivera came to create, there were two other notable instructors at the Fine Arts Academy of San Carlos.

Félix Parra was a trailblazer in depicting Mexico’s pre-Hispanic past with the dignity usually reserved for emperors. Parra’s painting, Episodes of the Conquest, depicted the brutality of the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs. For a young Rivera, it was likely the first time he saw Mexican history treated as something proud and worthy of monumental art.

The other notable instructor was José María Velasco, arguably the greatest landscape painter in Mexican history. With paintings like The Valley of Mexico from the Hill of Santa Isabel, Velasco taught Rivera how to organize a massive, sprawling horizon into a coherent, balanced composition. It was a skill that would serve Rivera well when his canvas became walls and mountains and valleys were replaced by the epic history of Mexico.

By the time Rivera left the Academy at the age of twenty, he had spent half his life under the tutelage of these old masters. He had become a formidable talent recognized by these men, significant artists in their own right. Rebull famously remarked of his student: “He draws as well as I do, and he has a better sense of colour.”
But his education was not finished. Like Rebull before him, Rivera left for Europe on a Mexican government scholarship, spending years in Spain, France and Italy. What he found there, the Cubists of Paris, the great fresco cycles of the Italian Renaissance, only deepened what Rebull had taught him.

The art that would come to define Mexican national identity, defiant, indigenous, and revolutionary, returned home with Diego Rivera. Mexico gained something unexpected from the defeat of the French-appointed emperor. Hidden in plain sight on those great public walls, in the very conviction that art belonged to the people who stood before it, was the ghost of a court painter who had once made a foreign emperor look like he belonged.

Randy Jackson blends local reporting from the perspective of a seasonal Huatulco resident with explorations of life and change in Huatulco, Oaxaca and Mexico.

San Miguel de Allende

Between Names: Yásnaya Aguilar on Being Mixe and the ‘Latino’ Moment

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By Estefanía Camacho—

Latin American pride is rooted in a colonial and undeniably hierarchical category. This is how ayuujk (mixe) writer, linguist, and activist Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil (1981) described it in an interview during the San Miguel Writers’ Conference & Literary Festival in February 2026.

“If we were to arbitrarily mark the history of our peoples with the domestication of maize 10,000 years ago, we would have spent 10,000 years being Zapotec, Mixe, or Nahua, and of those 10,000 years, 500 as Indians and 200 as Indigenous. So where does ‘Latino’ come from?” questions Yásnaya, with her long, straight black hair, wearing black-framed glasses with a small cat-ear-like detail at the top.

She explains that “Latino” is a label that originated in France in the 19th century, coined to distinguish between two types of colonization in this part of the continent: Anglo-Saxon America and Latin America.

“’Latina’ has to do with the fact that we were oppressed (…) it is a category produced by a colonialist process. Therefore, there are peoples who have not been fully Latinized,” she explains, referring to the different Indigenous populations across the territory, who continue to keep languages alive outside Spanish and their own roots.

“Latino” in Spanish—not to be confused with how it is used in the United States—is a category that has not only regained relevance but has also gained strength in response to racist actions, especially in that country, primarily against Spanish-speaking migrants or racially profiled Americans.

Yásnaya, translator too, also understands the nuance of “Latino” as a “weapon of resistance,” but she asks that it should not be used as a folklorizing essentialization of something that comes from a violent process such as colonization, and that it remains as an external label.

The category of “Latino” and that of “Indigenous”
Yásnaya says that when she travels to other regions, she is invariably categorized as Latina, regardless of the fact that she is ayuujk and—if anything—identifies as Indigenous.

“In Europe I was Mexican, in Mexico I am Oaxacan, in Oaxaca I am Mixe, in the sierra I am usually from Ayutla. At some point I am Indigenous, but that was something I was told or intuited through contrast before the name even arrived. During an extraterrestrial attack, I will surely be an Earthling, and I will be so with passion,” she wrote in her first book “Ää: manifiestos sobre la diversidad lingüística” (Almadía, 2023).

She has frequently pointed out in her research and columns that patriarchal, colonial, and capitalist systems seek to turn “the other” as a mechanism into a homogeneous, monolithic entity in order to oppress them.

Just as with the category “Latina,” the same happens in Mexico when the category “Indigenous” is adopted as a whole, without mentioning the 68 Indigenous peoples who live in the country, including Afro-Mexicans, who represent at least 10% of the total population.
“Indigenous is a category created by a system of oppression; it is not an essence of our peoples. It is a political moment in our history. We were not always Indigenous,” Yásnaya said. “In the end, in the future, hopefully we can be Mixe without being Indigenous. Because that has already happened. That would mean there is no longer oppression,” the writer proposes.

She explained during her keynote lecture at the literary conference that in Mexico there are 11 Indo-American language families within the 68 groupings of languages, and these in turn belong to 365 distinct linguistic systems, according to the National Catalog of Indigenous Languages. “What generalization can be made about such diversity? None. What exists is a diversity of traditions and poetic mechanisms,” she added.

Now everyone wants to be Latino?
“Now everyone wants to be Latino, but they lack flavor,” sang the world’s most famous musician, Bad Bunny, in his song “El Apagón” during the halftime show of the 2026 Super Bowl.

The surge in pride around the “Latino” category was especially visible during this event in the United States, but it was also observed across much of the world. The Puerto Rican singer went on a global tour in 2025, although he skipped performing in the US out of concern that anti-immigrant raids could be organized at his concerts. The Super Bowl was the only performance he gave there, and the performance was loaded with symbolism, alluding to an independent Puerto Rico and America as a continent and not merely as the “country.”

However, Yásnaya questioned the emotional weight and sense of pride attached to the label “latino” in the days following the event: “That America that continues to resist the effects of colonization is not even America; it is Abya Yala,” she wrote a few days after the Super Bowl in her El País column titled “¿América Latina o América latinizada?. Xëëmo’oy”

There is still resistance to European colonization from the territory, just as there is today from communities resisting other processes driven by contemporary imperialism.

Spanish, its defense, and shifting contexts
In a context where speaking Spanish can be a risk in a country like the United States, or where it was fiercely defended once it was announced that Bad Bunny would headline the Super Bowl halftime show, Yásnaya explains that it is not a hegemonic language.
“I had always seen Spanish as an enemy because it is erasing my language, right? The first time I went to Los Angeles and spoke with migrant communities, I realized that their experiences were the same as mine in school and with discrimination. So Spanish is not always hegemonic; in reality, we cannot see it only as English versus Spanish and Spanish versus Indigenous languages. There are many layers of complexity,” she said.

During the interview, she also mentioned that as a linguist, she is aware that due to structural asymmetry, she cannot have something as basic as a Mixe dictionary. “Something that is so basic for another language,” she says, “you can go to a bookstore and buy books in Spanish and buy a dictionary where the words are in Spanish and the definitions are also in Spanish. I cannot have a dictionary in Mixe where the definitions are in Mixe. At best, they are bilingual.”
However, she does not see it as far off that a Mixe dictionary with definitions in Mixe could exist.

Defending diversity and multidiversity
“In short, I would not have learned about myself, about what I speak of, through the lens, the eyes, the language of others,” she also wrote in her 2023 book.

Yásnaya has been an activist for linguistic rights, Indigenous autonomy, and the revitalization of indigenous languages, while also consistently advocating against climate change and for the defense of land and resources.

She also writes about celebrating otherness and plurality, as she believes that at this moment in history there are too many “ideological political monocultures” threatening the world, as she warned during the conference.

“Let us remember that monolingual utopias, or futures designed in a monolingual way, are characteristic of the far right.”

Estefanía Camacho is a freelance Mexican journalist working across media and digital magazines. She is a specialist in gender, SMEs, economics, and business.

Huatulco, San Miguel de Allende

Editor’s Letter

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By Jane Bauer—

“Peace cannot exist without justice, justice cannot exist without fairness, fairness cannot exist without development, development cannot exist without democracy, democracy cannot exist without respect for the identity and worth of cultures and peoples.”
–Rigoberta Menchú Tum (Guatemalan
Indigenous Rights Activist, 1990 UNESCO Prize for Peace Education, 1992 Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Mexico is often misunderstood. For many outsiders, the country exists as a kind of postcard: bright colors, mariachis on every corner, sombreros, tequila, and fiesta. The image has become so exaggerated that it borders on parody. Mexico is reduced to a handful of clichés that flatten the depth and diversity of the country. The reality is much more layered.

One of the things that has struck me most during my years living here is how strongly people identify simply as Mexican. In Canada or the United States, identity is often expressed through hyphenated heritage; Italian-American, Chinese-Canadian, Irish-American. Cultural roots remain visible and frequently celebrated.

In Mexico, those histories are often quieter, woven into the fabric of everyday life rather than worn on the surface. The result is a national identity that feels cohesive, but it can also obscure just how many different cultures have helped shape the country.

Like many countries, Mexico wrestles with questions of identity, belonging, and prejudice. Conversations around gentrification, migration, and “foreigners” have become increasingly heated in recent years. At the same time, Mexico itself has been shaped by centuries of migration.

Indigenous civilizations laid the foundations of this culture long before the arrival of Europeans. Spanish colonization profoundly altered the landscape. Later came immigrants from France, Lebanon, Germany, China, and beyond. Each group left its mark—sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically. We see these influences in architecture, food, language, music, fashion, and even urban planning.

This month, The Eye explores one of those threads: the French connection. From pastry techniques that transformed Mexican bakeries to artistic exchange, architecture, and politics, the relationship runs deeper than many people realize. Recognizing these influences does not diminish Mexico’s Indigenous heritage. One of the country’s greatest strengths is that Indigenous traditions are visible in daily life in ways that are rare in the rest of North America.

But culture is never static. It evolves, absorbs, adapts, and reinvents itself. Mexican culture, as we know it today, is the result of centuries of exchange layered together into something entirely its own. That complexity is not a weakness. It is one of Mexico’s greatest strengths.

Thanks for reading and see you next month!

 

Huatulco, San Miguel de Allende

A Banner Year for the Novel and Its Master Storytellers

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Since the theme of The Eye this month is healthcare, herein lies a literary path for positive mental health! This is turning out to be a banner year for lovers of the novel. Many of us thought 2025 was a bit bereft of books by creative minds that produce beautiful stories. Now it appears they were being saved for 2026.

Fire up your Kindles and be sure your library card is up to date! Here is a handful of bright gems hailing from around the globe. There will be more to follow in upcoming months, with June appearing to be the biggest month for publication.

Land by Maggie O’Farrell
For me, this is the most exciting selection of the year. If this is your first foray into O’Farrell’s novels, you have many satisfying hours ahead. I’ve been hooked on her books for the past 20 years, ever since I first read The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox in 2006.

O’Farrell may be best known for her recent best-selling novel Hamnet, which has been made into a blockbuster movie and nominated for several Academy Awards. O’Farrell was also one of the screenwriters.

Regardless of the film’s success, I found the book much more emotionally satisfying (as happens most of the time for me). Two hours in the theater simply can’t compare to the hours spent in the silent contemplation of the reading process.

Land, due out in June, takes place in Ireland before and after the dreaded 1842-1852 Great Famine, also known as the Irish Potato Famine. It is a story of survival in a land of a million deaths. Another million fled the country. Publication June 2, 2026.

Contrapposto by Dave Eggers
It’s been a while since we’ve had news of a new Dave Eggers novel. He rose to fame in the literary world with A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and has since repeatedly proved himself a formidable writer, with a substantial litany of the finest novels of our time including What Is the What, You Shall Know Our Velocity, and The Circle. Eggers has also been published in The New Yorker and Esquire magazines.

Eggers is so much more than a writer. He is also the founder of several literary and philanthropic ventures, including the literary journal Timothy McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, the literacy project 826 Valencia, and the human rights non-profit Voice of Witness. Additionally, he founded ScholarMatch, a program that connects donors with students needing funds for college tuition.

In this latest novel, about art and its world, we follow the two principal characters, Cricket and Olympia, for 65 years. Publisher Penguin describes it as “a wild and beautiful examination of the rules and market forces of the art world.” But it’s also about the power of friendship.

Eggers is a classically trained artist whose work has been exhibited throughout the world. This novel has been percolating in his mind for the past 20 years. Publication date: June 9. 2026.

John of John by Douglas Stuart
At the start of the Covid epidemic in 2020, Douglas Stuart’s debut novel Shuggie Bain seized our attention, as did his fairytale personal story.

Shuggie is a young boy in 1980s Glasgow, desperately trying to save his alcoholic mother while dealing with his own identity. The knowledge of the author’s personal struggle and ultimate success gave us joy and hope during difficult pandemic times.

In 2022 Stuart published his second novel, Young Mungo, that also received critical acclaim.

Now, Stuart’s third novel, John of John, promises more excellent craftsmanship in a gripping story of a young man returning home.

Award-winning author Colm Toibin raves about this newest from Stuart, saying “it has the emotional reach and empathy of his earlier books, but this book is special; it has an urgency, an immediacy, a brilliant sense of place, the drama of a fierce emotion repressed, hidden, and volcanically exposed.”

Ann Patchett, another venerated writer, also is enraptured: “Reading John of John is like moving to the Isle of Harris and settling into the family farm. The novel is so immersive, so all-encompassing, that I felt as if I were living in it. Douglas Stuart has written something brilliant and exceptional.”

I needn’t read further previews to know that I’ll be the first in line on publication day May 15, 2026.

The News from Dublin by Colm Toibin
Speaking of Colm Toibin, he graces us with a new series of short stories this year. These 11 selections take you across continents and eras. The Miami Herald calls Toibin an “achingly beautiful writer…with infinite compassion.”

If you’re among the many readers familiar with Brooklyn and its sequel Long Island, you may enjoy a change of pace in Toibin’s non-fiction. Travelers and European history fans may enjoy Homage to Barcelona, a book that celebrates one of the great cities of the world, from the vibrant architecture and expansion to the lives of Gaudi, Miró, Picasso, Casals, and Dalí.
Many of you may, like me, be interested in the separation of Catalan, as well a glimpse into Franco and the Civil War.

Toibin’s selection of both fiction and nonfiction will complete your library.

Now I Surrender by Alvaro Enrigue
The luminous re-creator of Montezuma and the Spanish Conquest in his novel You Dreamed of Empires took both sides of US/Mexican border by surprise. It was lauded by the most prestigious reviewers. The Washington Post called it “An alternate history of Mexican conquest, with a Tarantino-ready twist.”

Riding on this success, Enrigue takes on the American/Mexican Wild West in Now I Surrender. It’s an expansive novel of past and present using myth and history to tell the story through imagined characters such as Geronimo and the Apaches.

Publication date: March 3, available in Spanish and English.

Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead
Fans, including yours truly, of Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle and Crook Manifesto are enthusiastically awaiting this third and final novel of the trilogy.

Returning are furniture dealer Ray Carney and his old friend and partner in crime, Pepper, who is a bit of a sociopath. It has now been 20 years since the death of Ray’s cousin Freddie. Ray is feeling a responsibility for Freddie’s son and needs to weigh the risks of rescuing him from the violent forces of the city versus maintaining the safety and security of his own family.

Most readers are familiar with Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize (for fiction) winning The Underground Railroad. The novel also won the National Book Award. Many readers feel this trilogy deserves equal praise.

Whistler by Ann Patchett
“It’s Friday and if you haven’t read this it’s new to you,” says Ann Patchett, introducing her Friday chats on Facebook. Every week she offers several minutes out of her busy literary schedule to discuss the books she’s reading.

You may know Patchett as the owner of the famous Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee, with a branch at the Nashville Airport. In addition, she keeps an online magazine. At a site called Musing, you’ll find Ann Patchett’s blog, staff-picked reading lists, exclusive author interviews, shop dog diaries, and more. No matter where you live you can subscribe.

We know Patchett as a reliable storyteller. She has written extraordinary novels loved by a wide range of readers. My personal favorite is Bel Canto, and I’m not alone in my assessment: the New York Times Book Review named it one of the most important books of the 21st century. It also won the PEN/Faulkner Prize and the Orange Prize. “The Shining Path meets the opera star” could be the subtitle.

Now to her new book, Whistler. It concerns a subject we all ponder from time to time: the decisions we’ve made and the ones that have been made for us. Two main characters reunite to formulate and develop the plot and philosophical rendering. Pre-publication reviews are raves. Due out on June 2, 2026.

With so many wondrous novels arriving this year, we dedicate this and future columns to keeping you in the loop.