Mexico means “the navel of the lake of the moon” in the Nahuatl language.
The beautiful founding myth of the Aztec (or Mexica) civilization refers to the fact that their earth was the axis of the universe, a powerful magnet around which the world rotated.
And right in the center of that navel they built the current Mexico City, the majestic capital built on lakes and canals.
Almost a thousand years later, almost dry, overpopulated, with earthquakes and pollution, despite everything it maintains a magnetism and attractiveness like few other metropolises.
Above all, as a result of the pandemic.
What began as a getaway to a destination with hardly any restrictions for many foreigners with money and the possibility of working remotely, has ended up becoming a massive landing.
During the last four years, the number of so-called digital nomads in the country has tripled, the one that has received the most in all of Latin America, according to an analysis by the firm Restart.
Most of them, of American origin and destined for the capital.
The proximity of the southern neighbor, a always temperate climate, affordable prices paying in dollars, lush green spaces and a formidable cultural offer have once again elevated Mexico City as one of the navels of the world.
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Valencia is burning
The Roma neighborhood, one of the neighborhoods where the city's transformation is most noticeable, has always smelled of street tacos, smog and drainage water, especially during the dry season, before the summer rains begin.
Currently, that smell is mixed with the essences of a French-New York perfumery with small bottles of cologne that sell for up to $600.
The Le Labo store is at number 138 Colima Street, one of the epicenters of gentrification, where sourdough loaves, specialty coffee shops, vinyl and natural wine stores have multiplied... Roma dressed beige and thousands of foreigners arrived.
It's not that they didn't come before, Mexico has always been touristy, but its capital used to be the stopover for areas like Cancun.
Now it's destiny.
Passersby play in the fountains of the Monument to the Revolution.Hector Guerrero (EL PAÍS)
Foreigners—and also upper-class Mexicans—are often called “güeros,” an adjective that means blonde or white-skinned.
Alejandro Hernández, director of Arquine
magazine
, a reference in architecture and urban planning in Latin America, says: “Yes, I notice more foreign neighbors because I live in La Condesa.”
That is another of the fashionable areas, close to Rome.
The güeros usually form a concentric circle that also includes Juárez, San Rafael or Escandón.
These neighborhoods fill the pages of tourist guides, almost on the margins of another city of more than nine million people who, many, live day to day, suffer from hellish traffic and the rise in rents and life in general.
A ranking published last January by
The Economist
placed the Mexican capital above cities like Milan or Washington in terms of the cost of living - specifically, the sixteenth most expensive city in the world - precisely because of the wave of foreigners. rich.
According to Hernández, it would be more correct to call gentrification “gentrification,” because only the highest class can live in certain areas of the city.
He speaks clearly about a phenomenon that is not new, but that has become more pronounced: “Those who complain about gentrification were once gentrifiers.”
The arrival of digital nomads was initially promoted by the city government itself, which in 2022 signed an agreement with Airbnb.
Given the proliferation of tourist accommodation, the Government put the brakes on a year later.
The city's potential in the real estate sector is gigantic and goes beyond the handful of fashionable neighborhoods that preserve fabulous
art deco
houses .
View of the central lake of the first section of the Chapultepec Forest on February 18, 2024. The Chapultepec forest is the largest lung of the metropolitan area of the Valley of Mexico, it has been located in the center of the city and functions as a recreational park and cultural and artistic projects.
Hector Guerrero (EL PAÍS)
Architecture enthusiasts can get their fill at the MAM Sculpture Garden, a circuit south of the city that houses large sculptures amidst volcanic stones.
You can also visit many of the colorful and ascetic houses of Luis Barragán (the only Mexican Pritzker architecture winner) or impressive brutalist buildings such as the Rufino Tamayo Museum, nestled in the Chapultepec Forest.
This urban park is a giant twice the size of New York's Central Park and is being remodeled to also convert it into a large cultural space, which already has the only colonial castle on the continent.
It is the green jewel of the city.
Back in Rome, chef Lucho Martínez has just opened one of the neighborhood's latest sensations: the Ultramarinos Demar restaurant, inspired by the seafood restaurants of the 1950s.
Metal bars, pink terrazzo walls and glass tableware, along with a menu dedicated to succulent seafood.
Martínez has been cooking for 20 years, and his style reflects today's Mexico: “We don't just make moles, we have many ingredients and flavors to offer.”
He fulfills this phrase in the dressing for his clams: soy, ginger and chiltepin vinaigrette, a chili that is as small as it is spicy.
Visitors at the Torre Latino viewpoint, in Mexico City.Hector Guerrero (EL PAÍS)
Mexican gastronomy is vast and sophisticated.
Mexico City condenses the seasoning of other regions and of migrants who for decades came to this navel to enrich its culinary offering.
A whole range of options, in all price ranges.
From the street huitlacoche quesadillas (a tasty fungus embedded in corn) to the al pastor tacos, the famous guava roll from Panadería Rosetta (Colima, 179), the Chinese buffets (portrayed by Roberto Bolaño), the Spanish cantinas and even the
lobster roll
from Ultramarinos Demar, which some say surpasses the one eaten in the basement of Manhattan's Chelsea Market.
The prestige of Mexican haute cuisine is reflected in the latest ranking of The World's 50 Best Restaurants: two restaurants in the city are among the top 13 (Quintonil and Pujol) and Elena Reygadas, the founder of Rosetta —also on Colima Street— , has been distinguished as the best chef in the world.
Mexican chef Lucho Martínez in the kitchen of his restaurant, on February 21, in Mexico City.
Hector Guerrero (EL PAÍS)
Food is one of the biggest draws, but the richness of Mexican culture is materialized in many forms and traditions.
Perla Valtierra is an industrial designer who has made a ceramic vase something functional and beautiful at the same time.
“I make objects with traditional techniques and local materials,” she says.
After an international journey, she set up her workshop four years ago and it is an example of new proposals inspired by the country's long artisanal tradition.
“Mexico is cool, there are more and more people, more options and more energy, and that generates new conversations,” concludes Valtierra.
Creative effervescence
Perla Valtierra in her gallery in Mexico City.Hector Guerrero (EL PAÍS)
The architecture-art-urbanism combo is powerful.
In Atlampa, a neighborhood with an industrial character, the Casa Wabi Foundation recently built a complex with exhibition rooms, an art workshop and offices, designed by Alberto Kalach.
A concrete and brick building with metal stairs that echoes the works inside.
“The architectural project is a watershed, we want more people to come to unknown areas,” explains the director of the foundation, Carla Sodi.
Casa Wabi supports the emerging art movement: “We want to create opportunities for artists to come from anywhere in the world.
“Mexico has the ideal climate, and our warmth generates communities, and that is vital for art,” she adds.
Throughout the 20th century the city attracted waves of creators.
Luis Buñuel, Leonora Carrington and Francis Alÿs are some of those who, in another era, made this city their home to develop successful careers.
This continues to happen.
The capital is the headquarters of Zona Maco, the largest contemporary art fair in Latin America.
And even before the city changed its name in 2016, there was a slogan that ran through the
art
galleries : “The DF is the new Berlin.”
View of the permanent work of the Bosco Sodi studio in the Sabino 336 building in Mexico City on February 16, 2024. The building built and designed by architect Alberto Kalach houses the Casa Wabi foundation and the Bosco Sodi contemporary art studio , with offices and a permanent exhibition of sculpture and plastic arts.
Hector Guerrero (EL PAÍS)
For Alicia Gutiérrez, Director of Memberships at Soho House Latin America, the Mexican capital “was a natural choice for its cultural history, its unique design and architecture, its dynamic culinary scene, and much more.”
The headquarters, in the Juárez neighborhood, is a Porfirian mansion that was never open to the public, and neither is it now.
A beautiful place that can only be enjoyed by members of the exclusive club, founded in London in 1995. It took almost 30 years for the company to build its 42nd headquarters in Latin America. Its objective: “To bring together creatives in search of inspiration,” it says Gutiérrez, and as a rule they choose imposing spaces.
The Mexican house is no exception.
The property, remodeled by the Sordo Madaleno architecture studio, preserves its French essence, which is why elements such as two-color pool umbrellas, carpeted lounges and elegant chandeliers stand out.
The arrival of Soho House is another example of the city's effervescence.
The headquarters of Soho House Mexico, in the Juárez neighborhood.MAUREEN M.EVANS
There are elitist cities, huge, polluted, beautiful, violent, historical, dirty, modern, diverse, musical, melancholic, popular... Mexico City is that and more, it is a monster that from a plane seems infinite and at ground level it is surreal.
The writer Juan Villoro has called this effect “horizontal vertigo.”
It is so unique that it shakes from time to time to remind its residents and visitors that it is more alive than ever.
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