The classic legend about a woman who laments having killed her children is popular throughout Latin America. In Chile she is called La Pucullén, in Colombia she is la Taurumama, and in Mexico she is known as La Llorona. Every corner of Mexico has a particular version of la Llorona, and in some of them she is a beautiful woman. But not here in San Miguel de Allende. The legend here has it that if you see her crying and attempt to comfort her, she will turn to show her face, and you will then that it is not a human face. 

 

For seven months, the director of the city’s Culture and Tradition, Paulina Cadena, along with the group Guardians of Culture met to listen and preserve the most representative legends of San Miguel. Twenty four were written down of which 12 have now been published.

 

They worked with Editorial Porrúa to publish the book Leyendas de San Miguel. The 74-page edition is now available in every library in the city. The book begins with a map indicating where each legend is located: Los Picachos, El Chorro, Casa del Inquisidor (the inquisitor’s house, etc.

 

According to the director, 6,500 copies of this first edition were printed and will be available in the publisher’s bookstores in Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Mexico City. Cadena said that they will not be available for sale, but only for display. The publisher will include a copy in a special package, when it is delivered with other books, according to the amount of the purchase. This will promote the city for at least six months.

 

In San Miguel, a few hundred that will be delivered to locals and residents. Through trivia, the Office of Culture and Traditions will give them an outlet via social networks. It will be available for sale at the Quijote Bookstore in Plaza La Luciérnaga and at La Librería on Correo, and Mesones.