Photo: clicksdemexico /Shutterstock
Mexico’s Most Famous Skeleton Started as a Political Joke
As skeletons dance through streets festooned with cempasúchil (marigolds), one figure always stands out: La Catrina, the elegantly dressed skeleton in the feathered hat. Despite comparisons to Mictēcacihuātl, the Aztec Lady of the Dead, she isn’t an ancient goddess.
She got her start more than a century ago in a satirical print poking fun at Mexicans who tried a little too hard to look European. Today she’s the face of the holiday, from parade floats to folk art.
Where to Catch the Día de los Muertos Celebrations
Mexico City: The Grand Parade heads down Paseo de la Reforma to the Zócalo on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 2:00 PM. Can’t make it Saturday? The giant alebrijes, wildly painted folk-art creatures, line Reforma through Nov. 8.
San Miguel de Allende: The Desfile de Muertos y Catrinas parade caps the La Calaca Festival on Nov. 2.
Capula, Michoacán: The town that makes La Catrina ceramics hosts the Feria de la Catrina in the weeks before Day of the Dead.
T R A I N
7 California Weekend Train Trips to Take This Fall
Photo: Oak City Drone/Shutterstock
Skip the airport. Amtrak’s California routes get you to Santa Barbara, Berkeley, and the gateway to Yosemite with more legroom, no middle seats, and no TSA line.
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T R A V E L
Everyone Lands in Salvador a Tourist, but Not Everyone Feels Like One
Photos: Carlos Omar Gardinet
Salvador, Brazil, has a way of making first-timers feel like they’ve been here before. Afro-Brazilian culture runs through everything, from capoeira rodas in town squares to acarajé, black-eyed pea fritters fried in dendê oil.
S P I R I T S
If You Enjoy Tequila and Mezcal on Your Trips to Mexico, You Need to Get Familiar With Sotol
Tequila and mezcal get all the attention, but sotol comes from the desert spoon, a wild plant (not agave) that grows across northern Mexico and the Southwest. It’s earthy, intense, and usually unaged, and there’s a simmering cross-border fight over who even gets to call their bottle “sotol.”
S T A Y S
This Hotel Highlights Mexico City's Art Deco Past, Redesigned for Right Now
In Mexico City’s leafy Condesa, a 1947 Art Deco apartment building is now Hotel San Fernando, a 19-room boutique stay that kept its original green encaustic tile and stained glass. Add work by Mexican artists and a rooftop where you can eat chilaquiles above the treetops, steps from Parque México.
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The Matador Editorial Team
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