LIVING COLOUR

Mexico's San Miguel de Allende is home to a bold young crowd of talent that's thriving off the city's brightly-hued heritage

- MARY HOLLAND

Along the cobbled streets of San Miguel de Allende, vibrant colours seep from every corner; from homes painted in bright shades of blue and red, and doorways framed with marigolds, to La Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel, a 17th-century church with a dusty pink neo-Gothic façade created in 1880 by self-taught architect Zeferino Gutiérrez. Bright hues can be found in less obvious places, too: a sunny yellow courtyard tucked behind old wooden doors or, hidden deep inside a former convent, a geometric mural by Mexican painter David Alfaro Siqueiros. Even the sky seems a richer shade of blue.

‘It wasn’t always this colourful,’ says Daniel Valero, founder of local design studio Mestiz. ‘San Miguel has been through different phases, from being a prominent city, before independence, to a ghost town,’ he says of the historic settlement, located in the country’s central highlands, about a four-hour drive north of Mexico City. Valero, who moved here from the capital five years ago, is one of the many creatives injecting new life here. ‘Recently, there has been a wave of young designers and artists refreshing things,’ says Laura Kirar, a US- and Mérida-based designer who opened hotel and design store Mesón Hidalgo in a 17thcentury building in the town centre. ‘There’s something magical about the city that draws creative people.’