A century ago, Tehuacán was the most fashionable vacation destination in Mexico. There the wealthy and the celebrated would congregate to soak in the hot springs, imbibe the mineral waters and hope to cure all that ailed them.
Not having heard much about Tehuacán recently, I ventured across the mountains a few weeks ago to see how things fare. Quite well, at least from a tourist point of view. Provincial life is at its best in Tehuacán, and while prices are not quite the same as in 1907, they nonetheless remain remarkably reasonable. Gone, to be sure, are the grand spa hotels like the Peñafiel, Riego, and Garcia Crespo, replaced by less palatial but more intimate, comfortable inns. Surprisingly, however, none of the newer places advertise themselves as spas.
The term “spa” derives from the Belgian town of Spa, famous for its hot springs and mineral waters. England has its Bath, France its bains, Germany its bads, elegant retreats where royals and aristocrats would hie to ease their aches and pains. But fashions change, and there they hie no more. Spas continue to flourish in eastern Europe as holdovers from the Marxist era, but they more resemble hospitals than vacation retreats.
Moctezuma I sought solace in the springs at Tehuacán. In its day, the waters attracted presidents from Venustiano Carranza to Adolfo López Mateos, but by the late 1970s aging customers had begun to expire while younger generations preferred the beaches, where hot springs and sparkling waters have no place in what are called spas today.
Maquiladoras, assembly plants which cut and sewed jeans for retailers like Gap and Guess, replaced the spas of Tehuacán. Nearby Puebla, after all, manufactures great quantities of denim, so raw material was available. Also, according to some, the famous mineral water, said to have flowed from the glacial snows atop the Pico de Orizaba, was said to give jeans that fashionable “stone-washed” look. With the spa hotels closed, labor for the maquilas was available in abundance.
Critics have claimed that the maquilas mistreated employees and paid starvation wages. One young man who has lived his life in Tehuacán insists this is not so. “My friends dropped out of school,” he recalls. “Everybody wanted a job at the maquilas. People were earning more money than they ever dreamed possible.”
That may have been the problem. In recent years, many maquilas have moved to Central and South America, where wages truly are low and governmental regulations non-existent.
Now Tehuacán wants its tourists back. Charm, not mineral water, is the current allure. Food in the village restaurants is surprisingly tasty and prices, like those at hotels, enticing. I stayed at the Villa Blanca, which, while not in the historic center, does have a swimming pool. The seafood buffet is excellent at Sharkeys by the Puerto de Liverpool in the new commercial center. In town, Luis Alvarado Sàenz, a talented young chef, has opened a place he calls “México en tu boca”.
The central plaza, shaded by ancient laurels, rivals the Oaxaca Zocalo minus APPO. To one side stands the Moorish-inspired Municipal Palace, two stories high, once the tallest building in town. Murals beneath the portals tell the story of Tehuacán, with written explanations painted under the arches.
Remarkable is the Mineralogy Museum, which actually manages to make minerals fascinating. It sounds dull, but should not be missed. Nor should the Museum of the Valley, which is where you learn that Mexico indeed began in Tehuacán. Corn was first cultivated in Tehuacán. ¿Where Mexico be without corn? People have lived in the valley for some 10,000 years, perhaps longer. Before people there were dinosaurs, and there are places where you can see their footprints. Prior to the dinosaurs, the sea covered these lands, and you can view fossils if you want to be convinced.
Ecotourism is the big new attraction in Tehuacán. A veritable forest of giant cactus, a lake of fossils more than one hundred million years old, dinosaur tracks, a salt mine and an onyx quarry are among the sights to see just beyond the outskirts of town. The vast biosphere reserve – 490,000 hectares, which is bigger than the state of Tlaxcala and dwarfs the Federal District – is home to nearly 350 species of birds, plus rattlesnakes, scorpions and spiders, but you probably really do want to see any of those. In all, the biosphere is the residence of 3,000 species of plants and animals, including 900 species of cactus.
Best way to explore the biosphere reserve is with a guide, preferably one who has his own vehicle. On my own recent excursion, we suffered a punctured tire, but happily it was not my tire. Call ahead. Probably the hotel where you will be staying can make arrangements for a guide, or the Tehuacán municipal tourism office can.
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