San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato (April 14, 2020).- San Miguel, a colonial city that has won awards for being “The Most Beautiful”, “The Best to Visit” and which last year received more than 50 thousand visitors at Easter, today looks empty.
Its garden, where visitors sit to contemplate the immensity of the parish of San Miguel de Arcángel and listen to the music of the mariachi that never stops, today is taped and cordoned off to prevent the benches from being used and to prevent people to walk around its kiosk. Everyone should be protected at home from the coronavirus pandemic.
The city that lives on tourism today suffers from its absence, because without tourists, vendors don’t earn from selling, there is no one who buys arts & crafts, no one wants a mariachi song and there are no customers at bars and restaurants (which are all closed by the way).
Of the 300 restaurants that exist in the city of San Miguel de Allende, some decided to close “until further notice” and those who still operate, just offer take out and delivery, in order to avoid COVID-19 contagions.
Jorge Olalde, president of the Association of Hoteliers of San Miguel de Allende, says that last year, in the 135 hotels in San Miguel, 9 out of 10 rooms were occupied; and today the hotel ocuppation is 2%.
San Miguel Times Newsroom