Ten facts about San Miguel de Allende you should know

1. In recent years, San Miguel de Allende has transformed from a sleepy and slightly down-at-the-heels Colonial hill town without a traffic signal into a fiesta-crazy magnet for international gastronomes.
2. This beautiful townis strategically located about 150 miles north of Mexico City was named for both the monk who founded it, Juan de San Miguel, and General Ignacio Allende, a hero in Mexico’s War of Independence.
3. World Heritage: Thanks in part to its colonial Spanish architecture, San Miguel is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a magnet for weekenders and expats.
4. Expat community: Emerging-plus It’s beyond ‘emerging’ but expats are not taking over. Because of the large number of expats and tourists, many people speak some English. An English language newspaper, Attención, provides a calendar of events, and a website, SanMiguelEvents, lists the week’s art openings, concerts, workshops, lectures, and festivals.
5. Taxes According to this site, an expat doing business online/by phone with a foreign company and paid in non-Mexican currency is not taxed on that income. American Social Security benefits and pensions are not taxable in Mexico.
6. Discounts INAPAM, Mexico’s discount card for seniors 60-plus (must be resident of Mexico) is honored by many establishments – retail, travel, dining, cultural – and also by some municipal water and gas authorities. Discounts range from 10 to 50 percent.
7. Climate Temperate: The lows seldom fall much below 60 F, and the highs are in the 70s and 80s. July and August can be rainy.
8. Civil rights There’s a history of serious abuses – killings, disappearances and torture – by security forces fighting organized crime and drug trafficking (primarily in the north). Corruption is rampant in the police force. Sexual crimes, and hate crimes against LGBT people, often are not prosecuted.
9. Best places to stay If you want to check out San Miguel,  we give you five good tips: Casaluna, Posada Corazon, Antigua Capilla, and La Mansion del Bosque.
10. Transporation To move around San Miguel, you do not have to drive necessarily, you can just take a taxi everywhere or walk which people do a lot here.

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