OnTheBall Travels (Estado de Querétaro)
Mexico! Again. This place is tough to pronounce after a few tequilas!
Check out the other Mexican Articles below
I wanted to do a short commentary on this central Mexican state called Querétaro. All you hear about when it comes to Mexico are Cancun resorts, celebs in Los Cabos and crime at the border… but did you know there’s 34 states in Mexico? Lots of them offer lots of interesting prospects and safety. Weirdly enough, the city right next to Querétaro’s capital, Celaya, is one of the most dangerous cities in all of Mexico (thats really saying something) and driving through it I had the feeling of “lets not get off the bus here…”, 20 minutes East into Querétaro is a wildly different feeling.
Querétaro is one of those states that that has attracted some ‘seasoned gringos’ fluent in Spanish for being one of the most safe (definitely true), economically sound (one of the fastest growing states) and still preserving prices that a American or Canadian would consider “cheap”.
Querétaro has attracted many foreign corporations to set up there and the locals are moving on in for these higher paying jobs. Evidence of this can be seen by going “up the hill” from the main city of Santiago de Querétaro to find either massive malls, a series of restaurants and huge gated apartment complexes [being built]. This is one of the few states that Mexicans are immigrating into for employment.
Opinion
We stayed in one of these new apartment complexes which was a beautiful penthouse. As far as we could tell, the occupancy of the building was at best half full. It was amazing, but a little too quarantined and “15-minute-city” for my liking. In fact, of the three states in Mexico who are adopting an actual 15-minute city, Querétaro is one of them.
But, upon travelling throughout the state, the supply is certainly growing and the demand is chasing it, even if it has yet to really come into its own.
At night you could see most of these apartments have their lights off (thinking this is due to less available renters rather than problems). Newer Querétaro apartments may be too pricey for many young families to set out owning and catering to more foreign buyers or real estate companies.
Great Things
- The state is known to be one of the safest in Mexico; it felt safe wherever we went–>outside of the city becomes a lot safer
- Great local wines
- Lake Bernal is a beautiful holiday place that many Mexicans seek out. Lots of expansion to tourism available in this region
- Some of the best restaurants I’ve eaten at for some reason were in this state.
- Far more “Spanish” than other areas of Mexico. The influences, architecture, names and history are noteworthy.
Dystopia
One aspect I did not like however is that they noticeably went far more Covid Nazi than other states over the last few years. Lots of “you cant shop here if…”. Also, I’ve noticed that Querétaro was far more technologically advanced than other states. 95% of people would say this is a good thing but the thought of your cell phone, face scan or finger touch necessary for anyone to access food and shelter slightly spooks me. Combine that with “our overlords said you need…” and it goes against the trend that Mexico is a great place to be during world crises.
We have also noticed a great deal of Venezuelans begging, protesting or trying to garner some attention in parks and the street. This has been the only time I’ve seen migrants stop in Mexico.
[AFTER writing this… I was correct. Look who decided would be a good place to advertise a 15-minute-slave city…]Mexican’s answer to “where do you want to go to live?” is always Querétaro
Closing
Apologies for this being a short one. Not too much was done in the state compared to other OnTheBall Travels. Queretaro is certainly one of the more advanced, emerging and safer states in Mexico. There’s a lot to say how lovely it is and a breathe of fresh air compared to the extreme crime in the rest of Central Mexico. Industry is moving there rapidly and constructions of condos are everywhere. There’s lots of interesting history in the city as well, lots of great restaurants and it felt quite tranquil overall.
At the same time, this is one of the few states where I’ve noticed a lot of the migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua heading to the United States stop by here. The largest takeaway was a feeling of modernity, but at the expense of lack of freedom–many of the benefits of Mexico felt largely erased here. Everything related to face scans, finger scans, codes to cell phones, mask wearing, vaccine for entry was present–it was very dystopian–there’s little reason to believe that the next set of challenges will go any differently.
Like I said, the place is great–but the reality is that there’s other places in Mexico that are great(er), especially if you’re aware of the conditions of the world (subscribe!). It could be an interesting play to invest in real estate to take advantage of the natives moving there for work–but as for living there yourself? I’d pass.
#StayOnTheBall
