The Cathedral of Puebla, the city with the most churches in Mexico
The inhabitants of the city of Puebla have always carried the bad reputation of being the most unpleasant of Mexico . This (unfair, in our opinion) reputation is so widespread that sometimes the native of the city is pejoratively called with the ominous acronym of PiPoPe . Or what is the same: “punche poblano pendejo”. In a country where friendliness is an asset that should have at least a triple-A rating from Standard & Poor's, if one indulges in the whims of regional animosity, it's not hard to imagine Poblano as one of those moody Parisians. that they look at you badly because you don't walk fast enough in the metro transfer at Chatelet station.
During this week, Puebla is rebelling with more force than ever against this sanbenito asserting itself as a tourist destination and host of the first order . The rematch takes place while the city hosts the 38th edition of the Mexican tourist market , a state convention (in the style of Fitur) where Mexico is making clear its status as emerging power, tourism and gastronomic.
The mole poblano, the culinary star of the city
Located just two hours from Mexico City, Puebla It is one of the first colonial towns that were founded in Mexico and the first city that was not built on a pre-Hispanic settlement. Conceived by and for Spaniards, the idea was to house the first conquerors with Iberian homesickness. The appearance and character of the city (the fourth largest in Mexico) will be familiar to anyone who has been to places as remote as Toledo , which shares with Puebla the possession of a somewhat dark cathedral.
People come here mainly to eat well. If this city likes to boast about something, in addition to its security in troubled times for the country, it is to have one of the most established gastronomic traditions . In addition to the cemitas (his particular interpretation of the typical Mexican cake) or the chiles en nogada , the undisputed star of the house is the mole poblano . This motley recipe with an inventory of ingredients including chocolate, chicken or more than four species of chili, which breaks hearts wherever it goes.
The House of Alfeñique de Puebla
Puebla disputes with neighboring Cholula one of those pompous titles that so many of us journalists like: "the city with the most churches in Mexico" . Anyone who spends a couple of afternoons walking around here will also notice that, in addition to the charming domes and chapels that one bumps into on every corner, the number of volkswagen beetle (or "vochos") is also staggeringly tall. The German company, based in the city for decades, is one of the engines of its economic development and has left an imprint that, at least in terms of color, at times seems to match the religious one.
Close behind is a no less numerous concentration of cafes, small museums, houses with facades of intricate ceramics from Talavera , bookstores, cultural centers and hotels with a growing trend towards boutification, such as La Purificadora , with one of the coolest swimming pools we have seen in recent times, or the Mesón Sacristía de la Compañía , with its pink patio full of statues and charmingly confused and heterogeneous ornaments.
Popocatépetl (active) and Iztaccíhuatl (inactive) are the two charismatic volcanoes that dot any panoramic postcard of the city. With luck, on clear days, you can see the snow-covered summit of "el Popo", as it is affectionately called, fuming from its crater. Then, even the most imperturbable poblano escapes a furtive glance, as if from the side, and even an update of admiration contained in Facebook or Instagram. A literary note that can help understand the importance of the personality of the volcano : at the foot of this same mass, on the side of the city of Cuernavaca It was where he lost his mind based on mezcal Geoffrey Firmin in Malcolm Lowry's famous novel _ Under the Volcano ._
The cool pool of the boutique hotel La Purificadora
As she takes advantage of her host status and shines more than ever in a week of spotlights and confetti, Puebla tries to position itself at the forefront of colonial cities which, based on cultural offerings and colored buildings with whitewashed windows and its Baroque and Churrigueresque churches, want to become a real alternative to a tourist offer cornered by the most box office states of the country : those that offer a more exuberant nature (Chiapas, Oaxaca, etc.) and the coastal ones, particularly in the Caribbean area (with Quintana Roo in the lead).
In this 'dream team' of inner cities there are also others such as Queretaro, Zacatecas, San Miguel de Allende or Morelia . The Tianguis Turístico de México, a fair that was traditionally held in Acapulco, moved last year to Puerto Vallarta and, in this edition, it is held for the first time in 38 years of history in a destination that is not one of “sun and beach”. Some people from Puebla, aware of the reputation that precedes them, come to this fair the opportunity to reformulate once and for all the meaning that they have always given to the term PiPoPe: "Perfect Poblana Piece".
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Popocatépetl emitting smoke and ash from its crater
Talavera pottery from Puebla