According to reporting by El Financiero newspaper, the Economy Ministry has shut down offices in Switzerland and the United States. (Twitter @SE_mx)
All 32 federal entities have the opportunity to benefit from the nearshoring phenomenon, Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro said Monday.
The Economy Ministry (SE) said in a statement that Buenrostro and other federal officials met with the economic development ministers of Mexico’s entities (including 31 states and federal entity of Mexico City) in order to “share joint strategies to take advantage of the relocation of new industries.”
The federal economy minister, the statement said, “emphasized the commitment” of the SE to “facilitate and accompany investment projects via a ventanilla única for investors.”
The ventanilla única is a streamlined system that allows foreign investors to complete all bureaucratic procedures on a single website.
Buenrostro told the economic development ministers that “due to its geopolitical position,” Mexico is well-placed to attract foreign investment.
“All [32 entities] are potential candidates to receive investment,” she said.
The economy minister told state officials that companies across five sectors — semiconductors, automotive, electricity and electronics, medical and pharmaceutical devices and agro-industry — are especially well-suited to relocating to Mexico.
Buenrostro, the SE statement added, “called on the state ministers to draw up a work plan for the next two years.”
“Among the points it must contain is a diagnosis of the productive vocation of each entity,” the ministry said.
The SE said in December that Buenrostro and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo would collaborate to put together a “joint presentation” to the private sector in early 2023 in order to “disseminate the opportunities and economic and fiscal benefits that both countries offer for the relocation of companies.”
Nowports' founders, from left to right, Alfonso de los Ríos and Maxamiliano Casal. (Photo: courtesy)
Nowports, an automated digital freight forwarder based in Monterrey, has opened its first branch in the United States.
Founded in 2018 by Mexican Alfonso de los Ríos and Uruguayan Maximiliano Casal, the company has arrived in Miami, Florida, looking to expand in North America before making the jump to Europe, Players of Life magazine reported.
“Miami is the Latin American hub. It was a no-brainer for us to open an office in Miami in order to support our customer base,” said Alan Bebchik, country manager of the new Nowports headquarters in the United States. He added that the growth in shipping to the US East Coast – and the port of Miami specifically – also made the city an attractive place for their branch.
Nowports board of directors at the Mastercard Gala Endeavor in December, where they won Entrepreneurs of the Year. (Photo: courtesy)
Nowports got its first big boost in 2018 when it was accepted into Y Combinator, the Silicon Valley accelerator, where they secured an investment of US $5.3 million dollars. Later in 2019, Nowports closed a $150 million Series C round with investors that included SoftBank, Tiger Global, Foundation Capitall and Monashees. In 2022, it officially became a “unicorn” when it announced its valuation had climbed to US $1.1 billion after an investment round led by SoftBank’s Latin America Fund.
The company, which currently operates in seven countries in Latin America (Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay, Peru, Brazil and Panama), set up shop in Wynwood and 12 of its 950 employees are based there with plans to double its local headcount by May, reported Refresh Miami.
“We believe that transforming the supply chain in emerging markets can boost their economic growth,” said Alfonso de los Ríos, Nowports’ 23-year-old co-founder and CEO. “The opening of our office in Miami is a step in that direction. We are going to see a more intertwined commercial relationship between the US and Latin America in the next few years. Digitization of supply chains will be a crucial aspect of this new era.”
Nowports has also developed Nowports Capital, a fintech company that provides inventory credit solutions and an internal insurance company for their freight forwarding customers.
The company has received several recognitions, named as one of the 10 most innovative companies in Latin America in 2022 and the founders as “Entrepreneurs of the Year” by Endeavor México.
Fire officials in Tijuana said they didn't expect the fire, which began Saturday, to be put out completely until later this week. (Photo: Tijuana Fire Department)
A large fire that started Saturday in a factory near the Mexico-United States border in Tijuana was still burning on Monday and was not expected to be fully extinguished until later this week.
A fire broke out at approximately 5:30 a.m. Saturday at the Cartonera de Otay cardboard recycling plant in an industrial area of the northern border city. The cause of the blaze was unclear but followed some kind of explosion at the plant, according to social media users.
Workers were evacuated, and surrounding streets were cordoned off. No injuries were reported. The fire is now under control, Tijuana Fire Department officials said on its Facebook page, but it will take days to put out.
More than 100 firefighters and other emergency personnel responded to the blaze, according to fire department officials, but they couldn’t stop it from spreading to other factories and warehouses.
The newspaper El Heraldo de México reported Monday that the fire was still burning more than 50 hours after it began.
Tijuana fire chief Rafael Carillo said that firefighters have been working hard to control the blaze and reduce risks to citizens. He predicted that it will be fully extinguished in the coming days.
A Twitter user who said he was landing at Tijuana International Airport posted images of the plume of smoke over the city.
Carillo said in a television interview that assets of seven companies were damaged by the fire, which he described as the largest in the area in 15 years. He warned citizens to avoid breathing in the smoke emanating from the blaze due to its toxicity.
Cardboard and plastic are among the materials that have fueled the fire.
Thick plumes of smoke crossed the border into neighboring San Diego county on Saturday. The United States National Weather Service (NWS) shared a satellite image on social media that showed the areas affected by the smoke.
Firefighters, who have been working nonstop since Saturday to control and extinguish the fire, received sandwiches and beverages from volunteers organized by the city of Tijuana. (Photos: Tijuana Fire Department)
“A smoke plume near the international border is spreading smoke aloft over #SoCal,” or southern California, NWS San Diego said on Twitter.
A video posted by an airline passenger flying into Tijuana airport showed a large cloud of thick black smoke rising from the blaze and spreading across the sky near the Mexico-U.S. border.
Both airlines reported ferrying at least 20 million passengers in 2022. (Photo: Mislik/Shutterstock)
Low-cost Mexican airlines Volaris and VivaAerobus have reportedhistoric figures for 2022.
Volaris, which according to specialized media in the aviation industry is now the largest airline in Mexico, reported transporting more than 30 million travelers last year, surpassing its 2021 figure of 24.3 million passengers.
In 2022, the budget airline added 30 new flights to and from the Mexico City metropolitan area’s newest airport — Felipe Angeles International a decision that, along with resuming flights at Toluca International Airport in México state, allowed Volaris to offer 1 million more seats on flights in Mexico, according to airline officials.
Volaris CEO Enrique Beltranena said that “passenger traffic in December was solid, and booking curves remain resilient. We continue to estimate that passenger growth will be in line with our anticipated capacity growth.”
Viva Aerobús also offered new routes in 2022 — from Bajío International Airport (BJX) in Silao, Guanajuato, and the Los Cabos International Airport in Baja California Sur — and offered 24 routes in the summer season. It, too, reported record-breaking passenger numbers.
The airline reported more than 2 million passengers in December alone. It also said that 2022 was the first year in which it transported 20 million passengers.
Viva Aerobús CEO Juan Carlos Zuazua said that they “saw strong demand in December as well as healthy levels of passenger traffic” across all their markets. Between 2019 and 2022, and despite the COVID-19 crisis, VivaAerobus’ traffic grew by 72.2%, he said.
One other reason Viva Aerobus and Volaris likely picked up more passengers in 2021 and 2022 was due to the closure of low-cost airline Interjet, which stopped serving customers in December 2020.
An elderly man plays the trumpet for spare change in Mexico City's center. (Photo: Tercero Díaz/Cuartoscuro)
The recorded cry of “tamales oaxaqueños, tamales calientitos” and the ringing bell of a garbage collector are among the sounds featured in an online audiovisual story that explores the cacophony of noise on Mexico City’s streets.
Hear the voice of Elias Zavaleta, whose recording of himself hawking tamales ended up becoming the sound of Oaxacan-style tamale vendors in the capital.
“In Mexico City, many notes in the city’s soundscape come from itinerant merchants,” observes the story by United States visual journalist Aaron Reiss and Mexican academic and photojournalist Oscar Molina Palestina. “… Each type of merchant calls out to potential customers with a unique, identifying noise or cry. … Each of their sounds give another layer of meaning to the din of this beautiful metropolis.”
While scrolling through the interactive story, readers — virtually transformed into Mexico City residents – encounter a range of noisemakers typical of the capital, including a knife sharpener and his pan flute, a garbage collector and his bell and a vendor and his audio recording that touts hot tamales from Oaxaca.
The music of the capital’s iconic organ grinders is also featured in the story as is the well-known recording of the ubiquitous collector of unwanted domestic items: “se compran colchones, refrigeradores, estufas…“
The unique sounds of Mexico City “can delight, annoy and inspire,” acknowledges The Pudding story, noting that the junk metal recording “has been remixed for many, many, many, songs and transformed into a battle cry for feminist activists.”
It also says that “the soundscape of the city is not fixed” as “it changes as the city does.”
“… Old sounds fade and new sounds arrive as the city and its current inhabitants generate a unique sonic landscape,” Reiss and Molina write.
Their story – enhanced with vibrant illustrations by Diego Parés – comes recommended for anyone interested in Mexico City generally, and its aural idiosyncrasies in particular.
Residents and anyone who has visited the city will likely find sounds with which you’re familiar — and which you may well love or loathe.
"Colchones, tambores, refrigeradores" se escucha en Qatar 🔊🤭
The familiar recording of a woman’s voice announcing that she accepts junk and scrap metal is so iconic that one Mexican soccer fan brought it with him to the World Cup in Qatar.
The fiancés José Melesio Gutiérrez Padilla and Daniela Márquez Pichardo. (Facebook)
A dual Mexico-United States citizen has been formally identified as one of four people whose remains were found in a rural area of Zacatecas last week, near the Jalisco border.
The Zacatecas Attorney General’s Office (FGJEZ) confirmed Tuesday that the remains of José Melesio Gutiérrez Padilla were among those found in Tepetongo, a municipality in southwestern Zacatecas that borders Jalisco.
Gutiérrez, a 36-year-old architect who lived in Ohio but was originally from León, Guanajuato, disappeared on Dec. 25 along with his fiancée Daniela Márquez Pichardo, her sister Viviana Márquez Pichardo and Irma Paola Vargas Montoya, a cousin of the two women. The remains of the three women were found along with those of Gutiérrez.
The four victims disappeared on Christmas Day as they were returning to Colotlán, Jalisco — where the three women lived — from Jerez, Zacatecas, a tourism-oriented “magical town” where they spent time at a bar.
The pickup truck in which they were traveling was later located in Tepetongo on Jan. 16. It had bullet holes in it, indicating that they came under fire while traveling through the municipality.
DNA testing of family members of Gutiérrez and an analysis of his remains allowed the FGJEZ to confirm the victim’s identity. The other remains were previously identified as belonging to the Márquez sisters and Vargas.
Gutiérrez’s family members underwent DNA testing in Guanajuato because they were too afraid to travel to Zacatecas.
“Out of fear of everything that’s happening, [we didn’t go to Zacatecas],” said Enrique Gutiérrez, José’s father.
He said that his son lived in the United States from the age of 12 and had a successful life.
“It’s not fair that good people doing good things go through this,” Gutiérrez said.
Brandie Gutiérrez, José’s sister, told Cincinnati television station WCPO that her brother completed a master’s degree in architecture at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and had been working at the firm Champlin Architecture in downtown Cincinnati.
She said that her brother and Daniela Márquez had been engaged since last Valentine’s Day and planned to get married in September 2023.
Daniela was an interior designer, her sister was a fashion designer and their cousin was a makeup artist, according to news website La Silla Rota. Funerals for the three women were held on Jan. 22.
President López Obrador discusses the García Luna trial at his Jan. 24 daily press conference. (Andrea Murcia Monsivais / Cuartoscuro.com)
Former security minister Genaro García Luna is currently on trial in the United States, but he also faces charges in Mexico and federal authorities are attempting to secure his extradition.
The Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) said Sunday that it has two warrants for the arrest of García Luna, security minister during the 2006-12 government led by former president Felipe Calderón.
Issued by federal judges, the warrants are for “crimes committed in Mexico” that are unrelated to the charges the ex-official faces in the United States, the FGR said in a statement.
In a trial that began in a federal court in New York last Monday, García Luna is being accused of drug trafficking, accepting multimillion-dollar bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel and intimidating journalists and potential witnesses.
While Calderón was president in Mexico, the United States government allowed people to buy guns illegally in the U.S. and smuggle them into Mexico so that the weapons could be tracked and law enforcement officials could locate and arrest crime bosses.
Handguns, AK-47s, .50 caliber rifles and other weapons displayed at a press conference on arrests and weapon seizures by Operation Fast and Furious. While some weapons were found, others were never recovered. (Rebekah Zemansky via Shutterstock)
However, the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lost track of most of the weapons, some of which were used in fatal shootings of both Mexican and U.S. citizens.
The FGR said in its statement that “the weapons that Mexican authorities … allowed to illegally enter [Mexico] have caused a large number of deaths and irreparable damage to justice.”
It said that the second warrant for the arrest of García Luna relates to a case involving privatized federal prisons, for which a massive amount of funding was authorized during the Calderón government.
The FGR said that García Luna’s involvement in the case “was fundamental in creating immense financial damage” to public coffers.
The federal government has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. to attempt to recover US $700 million that he allegedly accumulated as a result of his broader corrupt activity.
The FGR also said there are two additional ongoing investigations in Mexico against the former official, who headed up the now-defunct Federal Investigation Agency before becoming security minister.
Garcá Luna speaks with then-president Felipe Calderón. Archive / Cuartoscuro.com
It noted that it has applied for a third warrant for García Luna’s arrest, but that request — related to alleged improper use of powers and criminal association — is still being processed.
The FGR added that proceedings aimed at securing his extradition are continuing “within the framework of the corresponding legal limitations.”
García Luna’s New York trial is expected to last more than two months, with scores of witnesses ready to testify. The 54-year-old former security chief was arrested in Dallas, Texas, in December 2019.
President López Obrador claimed in 2020 that Mexico was a narco-state during the administration of Calderón given the accusations faced by García Luna.
Technical crews pulling the damaged train cars from the Metro tunnels following the Jan. 7 crash. (Daniel Augusto / Cuartoscuro.com)
The driver of a train involved in a fatal accident on the Mexico City Metro in early January has been arrested on homicide charges, authorities said Friday.
Two trains traveling in the same direction on Line 3 of the subway system collided Jan. 7 between the Potrero and La Raza stations north of the historic center. A woman was killed in the crash and more than 100 other passengers were injured.
Ulises Lara, spokesperson for the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office (FGJ), said that the accident was caused by the negligent driving of Carlos Alfredo “N” and “intentional” damage to electrical cables at the Potrero station.
Authorities allege the arrested train driver ignored the low-speed protocol in place between the two Line 3 Metro stations. (Fiscalía CDMX Twitter)
A low-speed protocol was implemented between the Potrero and La Raza stations after signaling problems were detected the day before the accident, but the aforesaid train driver didn’t respect it, according to Lara.
The driver didn’t attempt to stop the train before it collided with the rear of another train on the same line, he added.
He was arrested on charges of homicide and causing injuries to passengers, the FGR spokesperson said.
Lara also said that the “intentional burning and cutting” of “communications, signaling and automatic pilotage” cables at the Poterero station was a factor in the crash.
He said that “fire and tools” were used to damage the cables and that “the crime of sabotage” may have been committed.
The Mexico City government has claimed that sabotage has caused a range of recent “atypical” incidents on the Metro system, including the Jan. 7 crash and the uncoupling of two cars on the same train on Jan. 15.
Lara said that the FGJ will continue investigating to identify those responsible for the unusual incidents.
The president addressed everything from energy sovereignty to the case of an imprisoned Peruvian shaman at the morning press conferences this week. (Gob MX)
President López Obrador inspected progress on the construction of the Maya Train railroad from the vantage point of an aircraft last Sunday, but come Monday morning he was back on the ground in Mexico City to begin another week of daybreak dialogue with reporters.
Monday
Early in his press conference, AMLO offered his condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of an army colonel who was killed, and a captain who was wounded, in an ambush last Saturday in Michoacán that was allegedly perpetrated by members of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG.
Campeche governor Layda Sansores at the morning press conference on Monday (Gob MX)
Campeche Governor Layda Sansores was on hand to offer a perhaps overstated assessment of southeastern Mexico’s Maya Train railroad project and López Obrador’s role in bringing it to fruition.
“The Mayans would say; ‘It’s a colossal project that only the strength, will and passion of one man makes possible.” … The 21st century will always stand out as the century of the Maya Train,” she said.
“Thank you Andrés Manuel López Obrador, noble man, son of corn, son of the southeast. Thank you because you’re giving the most magnificent project to my hometown [of Campeche].”
“We have to keep investing, we’re going to get to self-sufficiency, that’s the aim for gasoline and diesel, but we have to keep investing,” he said.
López Obrador said that his government has increased production at all of Mexico’s state-owned refineries, but needs to lift output even more.
“Today I have a meeting with the directors of the six refineries [in Mexico and] … that at Deer Park [in Texas]. We have a program, we’re investing, … [we’re ] modernizing plants,” he said.
“There has been a lot of speculation and a very miserable attitude regarding this issue,” López Obrador said before noting that the 83-year-old had had surgery on his spine.
“He’s at home, he’s fine, he’s recovering and even working, and we wish him a quick recovery,” he said.
Tuesday
The trial in the United States of Genaro García Luna – which started Monday – was once again on the mind of López Obrador, a staunch adversary of the former security minister’s erstwhile boss – ex-president Felipe Calderón.
AMLO discussing the García Luna trial at Tuesday press conference (Gob MX)
“According to the accusations the United States government is making, he protected one of the cartels or organized crime groups at the same time he was in charge of public security,” he said.
However, no “irrefutable” evidence had so far been presented at the trial, AMLO said.
“We’re doing quite well, I would say we’re close to recovering the bodies, because work has been going on,” he said.
López Obrador also found time to reiterate his support for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is in prison in the United Kingdom and fighting extradition to the United States on espionage charges.
“Assange is not a spy, but rather a journalist and what he did was reveal information, the same information that The New York Times and other media outlets revealed,” said AMLO, who has raised Assange’s case with United States President Joe Biden.
“Why aren’t those media outlets being tried?” he asked.
Wednesday
Government spokeswoman Ana García Vilchis was back at the National Palace to present her recurring “Who’s who in the lies of the week” segment.
She pointed out that the newspaper El País recently published an article in English (a translation of a Spanish-language story) that said that López Obrador “is seeking to rewrite the constitution to allow for a re-election bid.”
“Of course, … it’s false, the president of Mexico never said such a thing, but [the article] was widely disseminated, lending credence to this discourse, which is a spiel of the opposition in Mexico and some media outlets of the international press,” García said.
The claim in the article, she added, wasn’t in the original story. “In the English version … they inserted a complete lie,” García said.
Cancún taxi drivers at an October protest against Uber. (Taxistas Cancún)
In response to a reporter’s question about taxi drivers’ attacks on Uber drivers in Quintana Roo, AMLO expressed confidence that Governor Mara Lezama would resolve the issue.
“They’re seeking a solution to the matter. … That’s what … [the governor] told us yesterday,” López Obrador said, adding that he didn’t believe the dispute would escalate.
The president later announced a large event in Mexico City’s central square on March 18 to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the nationalization of Mexico’s oil industry.
“Everybody’s invited. We have to defend our sovereignty, we have to defend the [Mexican] oil industry, we have to defend the electricity industry,” he said.
“And we’re also going to invite singers, those that the people like. It will be a party because we rescued Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission.”
One person who appears unlikely to get a personal invitation from the president is well-known journalist Pedro Ferriz de Con, who made a curious claim about AMLO in a Twitter post late last year.
López Obrador read the tweet out at his Wednesday presser, noting that Ferriz de Con asserted that it’s an “open secret” that he practices “witchcraft, Santería, black magic and death rituals to reach and accumulate power.”
“I’ve been in rituals,” the president admitted. “They give me a cleansing me wherever I go and I’m proud of that because it’s part of our culture, our traditions, our customs. It’s deep Mexico,” he said.
Thursday
Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez took the stage after a “zero impunity” report from her new deputy Luis Rodríguez Bucío and spoke about a case involving a Peruvian shaman who was detained at Mexico City Airport last September because he was carrying ayahuasca, a psychoactive plant-based brew that is legal in his native Peru.
“His name is Lauro Hinostroza García. … He’s an indigenous Quechua man … who has practiced traditional Peruvian medicine since the age of 10. … And he has a doctorate in medical anthropology from UNAM,” she said.
Rodríguez said her ministry is seeking Hinostroza’s release from preventative prison due to his age and health problems.
Peruvian citizen Lauro Hinostroza, who was detained at Mexico City International Airport in September 2022 (Lauro Hinostroza Facebook)
“The family tells us that his rights were violated from the time of his arrest because he didn’t have access to an interpreter of his mother tongue,” she added.
López Obrador later revealed his own concerns about Mexico’s justice system, saying he lacked confidence in most Supreme Court justices.
“The majority come from the old regime and don’t dare to carry out a thorough reform of the judicial power,” he said.
“… What prevails, what reigns is that only those who can’t buy innocence are punished,” AMLO charged.
Earlier in his presser, the president was confronted by the son of deceased Veracruz journalist Moisés Sánchez, who was murdered in early 2015.
Jorge Sánchez denounced the impunity in the case and called on López Obrador to meet with him and other people who have lost family members to violence.
“I know that you have a busy schedule but I believe it’s necessary for you to know … what we’ve been through,” he said.
That remark rankled AMLO, who offered a blunt reply to the slain journalist’s son.
“I always receive [people with grievances], I’m attending to [them] every day. … Every day I dedicate myself to ensuring justice is served, that’s my job,” he said.
“… But you come out with this about El Chapo’s mom, that’s what [businessman and government critic] Claudio X. González says, right? Or [journalists] Ciro Gómez Leyva or Joaquín López-Dóriga or [Carlos] Loret de Mola, all those who are financed by foreign governments, the so-called non-governmental organizations … that receive money from abroad because they’re against us.”
Friday
In response to the first question of the day, AMLO confirmed that the government would help Pemex pay off almost US $10 billion in debt this year.
“We’ve been supporting Pemex and we’re going to continue doing it because it’s about rescuing the most important public company in our country. … We won’t leave Pemex without support,” he said.
López Obrador later linked high inflation – just below 8% in the first half of January – to a lack of support for Mexico’s farming sector during previous “neoliberal” governments.”
The inflation rate for foodstuffs is high “because we still have to import food,” he said.
“… The countryside was abandoned during the entire neoliberal period and [that’s why] we’re not self-sufficient [for food], … we have to buy corn,” AMLO said.
“We’re now practically producing in Mexico all the beans we consume because we’re boosting production. We’re helping corn producers and bean producers – we also used to import a lot of beans. And we’re still importing a lot of rice … because the production of rice was completely abandoned and that’s the way it was for other foods.”
Despite the ongoing dependence on food imports, the president predicted that inflation would soon begin to ease.
“[A reduction] will be seen in the next INEGI data,” he said, referring to the inflation numbers published periodically by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography.
After his communications chief presented the results of a survey that showed he was still the second most popular leader among a group of 22, AMLO turned his focus to his imminent trip to Michoacán.
AMLO visits an IMSS-Bienestar hospital facility in Michoacán on Friday (Gob MX)
“In Michoacán today, we’re going to launch the health program to improve the entire public health system,” he said.
López Obrador – who pledged in early 2019 that Mexico would have a health care system comparable to those in Canada, the United Kingdom and Denmark in two years – also said that the government’s network of wellbeing banks would be reviewed at meetings he was scheduled to attend while visiting the state.
“The Banco del Bienestar … [will eventually have] around 3,000 branches, it will be the bank with the most branches in the country and it will disperse close to 600 billion pesos [in welfare payments per year],” said AMLO, who has made monetary support for Mexico’s most disadvantaged people a central feature of his administration.
The quinceaños, a girl's 15-year-old party, (Photos: Alejandro Linares)
This month, my sister, niece and I had the honor of being invited to the quinceañera party of my husband Alex’s godchild, Valeria. I already knew that it is a rather elaborate rite of passage for girls in Mexico, and I did a little research before going, but I still found the experience both moving and, shall we say, peculiar.
At its core, it is the coming-of-age for teen girls. Nothing weird about this as many cultures have something similar for teens, like bar/bat mitzvahs and high school proms. The closest event to it north-of-the-border is the Sweet 16 party, which I understand from my U.S.-based sister, is making something of a comeback there.
Arrival at the parish church in San Martín Texmelucan, Puebla. At times, quinceañeras can feel like lavish weddings. (Photo: Issacvp/Creative Commons)
Quinceañera literally means “of 15 years.” In this case, it refers to a girl who turns 15 years old.
The term for the celebration used to be la fiesta de quinceaños (the party for turning 15) and the girl was known as the quinceañera, but with exportation of the tradition to the U.S., where the term quinceañera got conflated into both the girl and her party, the double usage has migrated back to Mexico, and it’s not uncommon to hear the party referred to as a quinceañera here as well.
Although the ritual has claims of pre-Hispanic influence, the celebration likely dates back no further than the 19th century, probably based on European debutante balls.
The original purpose was the same as the debutante tradition: to present an upper-class girl ready for marriage to her society and find her the best match possible.
In the quinceañera’s earlier history, the traditional included a Catholic mass, where the girl announced her virginity and piety, as well as the the ball, where she demonstrated her physical and social fitness to become a wife and mother.
Changes in women’s roles since the 20th century have certainly had an effect, but the main elements remain the same. The mass is now held to give thanks that the girl has reached this milestone, no sexual declarations needed.
Recreation of a 19th-century quinceañera dress. (Photo: Petra’s Dresses)
These days, the girl still dresses in a very formal gown and is accompanied by several young men in matching formal attire called chambelanes. It still contains many of the elements of a wedding: a rented hall, a cake, a banquet, limousines, photographers, flowers.
The rituals during the night include the dancing of a waltz by the girl and her father and, depending on the family and/or region, with other male family members and/or with one of the chambelanes.
The father also gives a heartfelt speech and leads a toast to the new woman in society.
There is one other important dance, or more accurately show. The girl changes the gown for a modern, often revealing, outfit to perform a dance number with her chambelanes, something they practice for weeks in advance. The celebrant is the star of the show, and she returns to the gown afterwards.
The gifting of a doll (or some kind of toy) is an important rite as well. Depending on the family and region, the celebrant gives one away to a younger girl or receives a special one as a “last toy” before adulthood.
Valeria’s quinceañera ball had all of the main elements, but there were some unique twists: The main one was that the family opted for a package deal with the dance hall, which included just about everything except alcohol, the dress and the mass (which she opted out of).
It meant her chambelanes were not her young male relatives and friends, which is traditional, but professional dancers, and she starred in several “shows” in both her ball gown as well as other outfits.
Traditionally, the group of young men who serve as the quinceañera’s courtiers, or chambelenes, is made up of the girl’s relatives and friends. But a newer trend is for event halls to sell a package that includes the services of professional dancers to fill that role. (Photo: Alejandro Linares García)
But, you might ask, isn’t it all expensive? Absolutely, especially when you consider the girl’s future wedding. In 2019, the El Peso de Dinero website estimated that quinceañera events cost on average 137,000 pesos (about US $7,000), although that figure can be significantly higher.
Cost and modern values have put pressure on the tradition, since a good marriage no longer has the same economic importance to the young woman and her family. Traditionally, the cost of this event is borne by parents and godparents, but this is difficult for most families.
My husband and Valeria’s godfather Alejandro gladly contributed, saying, “I am like a second father to her, and part of her next step in life.”
Modern adaptations can include scaling the event down and the integration of modern trends.
Gown colors and styles now vary widely, and invitations are now videos shared through email and WhatsApp. Valeria’s “shows” had outfits and moves to imitate the sexuality of popular music videos, something I was (somewhat) prepared to see her do — although to me, she will always be a baby.
I had a much harder time with the dancer in a stormtrooper costume gyrating next to her like a stripper.
That said, my sister, niece, husband and I all teared up more than once during the night, as we and others had chances to show Valeria just how special she is.
One significant change to the quinceañera rite of passage in the 20th century was the extension of its popularity to the lower classes in Mexico, with just about all families now marking the occasion somehow. Many poorer families use a system of padrinos and madrinas to help them afford it — not literal godparents but volunteers who offer to pay for some aspect of the event.
Valeria with the writer, left, and her husband, right who is the quinceañera’s godfather. (Photo: Alejandro Linares García)
As my sister Joanne and I have known Valeria for years, we happily volunteered to be the madrinas of the alcohol, even though it was a new concept for us.
OK, full disclosure: it was Joanne’s idea.
Alex, as her true godfather, bought the formal gown, but since the rest was a package, the other contributions were done in cash rather than through purchases.
The migration of quinceañeras to all the social classes has actually made them passé with girls of Mexico’s upper classes, with many of them now opting for expensive concert tickets, trips and even practical items such as an education fund, which shows that such girls think of their future selves as something other than marriage material, and likely more as individuals than members of a family.
For economically lower-classes, family ties still remain the most important social safety net, and traditional quinceañeras remain an important way to reinforce such ties. Add to this that for many 15-year old girls, becoming “princesses” for a night, surrounded by admiring friends and family, is highly attractive.
Valeria and her family value the quinceañera precisely for these reasons, with Valeria telling me, “The traditional quinceañera is a beautiful and unique experience, and it is very important to share it with those I love since I get only one chance to do it.”
Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico 18 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture in particular its handcrafts and art. She is the author of Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta (Schiffer 2019). Her culture column appears regularly on Mexico News Daily.
