Do you live in a magical neighborhood?

Watch me pull a rabbit out of a hat

“Any sufficiently advanced technology neighborhood is indistinguishable from magic.” — Arthur C. Clarke (sort of)

If you’ve spent any time in Mexico, or read a lot about Mexico, or watched hours upon hours of YouTube videos about Mexico (and who am I kidding - that’s exactly what you’ve done because it’s 2024) - then you probably know about Mexico’s pueblos mágicos. Which is a good thing, because I’m not going to write about them today. Except merely to say that the pueblos mágicos program was implemented by Mexico’s government as a means to advertise and encourage tourism to cities and towns in Mexico that might not otherwise be on travelers’ radars. In order for a town to be designated a pueblo mágico, it must exhibit certain cultural or historical qualities that would make it an interesting place to visit. From the government of Mexico’s website (translated):

A Magical Town is a place with symbols and legends, towns with history that in many cases have been the scene of transcendental events for our country. They are places that show the national identity in each of their corners, with a magic that emanates from their attractions; visiting them is an opportunity to discover the charm of Mexico.

Launched in 2001, the program has been more or less a success: it has brought in more tourist dollars, especially to locales where those dollars would not have necessarily gone absent this program; and it has fostered more cultural awareness and local pride. As of this writing, 177 cities and towns have been designated pueblos mágicos, and each of Mexico’s 31 states is represented.

So yeah, that’s me not writing very much about pueblos mágicos - those things which this article isn’t about. Because Mexico has moved on, and apparently magical towns just aren’t going to cut it on their own anymore.

TIL: Barrios Mágicos 🤔

I missed the memo, but back in 2022 Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism (a post I hope to occupy later this year 🤞), Miguel Torruco Marqués, announced Mexico’s new Magical Neighborhoods program. I mean, if an entire town can be magical, then why not a cul-de-sac? A privada? A rooftop, where the German shepherds are barking?

OK, in all (or some) seriousness, the barrio mágico designation isn’t intended for privadas, but instead “urban areas that are fully identified and delimited in polygons”. It’s a geometry thing.

To be fair, part of the impetus driving the Barrios Mágicos initiative is the fact that state capitals (and Mexico City) - as well as cities that are designated UNESCO World Heritage sites - are not eligible for the pueblos mágicos designation. And, damnit, these places were feeling left out. Barrios Mágicos thus gives these cities the opportunity to show off their own cultural, historical, gastronomical specialness, in a polygonal sense. According to the Barrios Magicos website, the barrios mágicos are:

... sites that, as part of a municipality, city or metropolitan area, medium or large, facilitate the integration of products; that add service chains; that are representative of the city; that have infrastructure and connectivity; and that can be linked to other tourist destinations, through routes or thematic circuits...

The last part means tourists can drive to them; and, ideally, can plan routes that incorporate numerous magical neighborhoods to drive to.

The past in polygons

In actuality, the barrios mágicos movement began way back in 2011, before pandemic tourism was even a twinkle in the Secretary of Tourism’s eye. It was started by Mexico City’s then Secretary of Tourism, Alejandro Rojas Díaz Durán, with the barrio of Santa María Magdalena Atlitic being the OG of the magical neighborhood universe. This current iteration, then, is a remix of CDMX’s original - if not well advertised - idea. It makes sense then that CDMX has far and away the most barrios mágicos in Mexico - 21 at last count (including the usual suspects: Roma, Condesa, Coyoacán).

The total count of barrios mágicos in Mexico is seemingly difficult to come by - there doesn’t appear to be a running list on Mexico’s government websites. ChatGPT enumerates 29 (including the CDMX 20), but we all know that ChatGPT is a pathological liar. Wikipedia seems to only be aware of Mexico City’s barrios mágicos program. They apparently missed the memo too. To make things even more confusing, it isn’t clear if the national list of barrios mágicos is a superset of the original CDMX barrios mágicos, or if it is an entirely different list altogether. This site suggests the latter, as it lists 29 barrios in total, with only 1 being in CDMX.

So who knows? If you’re in Mexico, you may be living right smack dab in the middle of a magical neighborhood without even realizing it¹. Go out and smell the fairy dust.

1. Jalatlaco, Oaxaca is a barrio mágico. I did live there, but back before it was declared magical. Just my luck.