Monday, November 3, 2014
Prince Charles in Mexico on Day of the Dead
Real del Monte (Mexico)
(AFP) - Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla began a four-day
trip to Mexico on Sunday, visiting a cemetery of English migrants on the
Latin American nation's Day of the Dead.
After a
five-day tour of Colombia, the royal couple landed in Mexico City and
immediately headed to the mountain town of Real del Monte in the central
state of Hidalgo.
Hundreds of people lined the cobblestone
streets, waving the Union Jack as the couple toured the town considered
the birthplace of British-Mexican relations.In 1825, miners from Cornwall sailed to Mexico to help revive the country's silver industry, settling in Real del Monte and bringing football and their southwest English region's pasty dish with them.
Charles and Camilla, who are also the duke and duchess of Cornwall, visited the town's English cemetery, home to nearly 300 tombs of Cornish miners and their descendants, some dating back to 1834.
They
lay a small wreath at a monument for John Vial, the only Mexican-Briton
known to have fought in World War I. He died at the Battle of the Somme
at age 22.
Their visit coincided with
Mexico's Day of the Dead, a two-day celebration in which people visit
cemeteries to honor their fallen relatives, bringing flowers and their
favorite foods in a centuries-old tradition mixing pre-Hispanic and
Catholic beliefs.
The prince
and duchess then visited the main square of this town of 14,000 people,
where they were shown an altar to the dead bedecked with marigolds and
food offerings.
Accompanied by Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Meade
and Hidalgo Governor Jose Francisco Olvera, they were later driven to
Real del Monte's Pasty Museum.- 'An English town' -
Mexicans have made pasties their own, calling them "pastes" and making them with local ingredients like beans or local "mole" sauce instead of potatoes or curry.
Townspeople said they were
proud to be visited by the heir to the British throne and voiced hope
it would boost the local economy, which relies on tourism.
"It
is a prestigious visit for our town," said Guillermo Rodriguez, 31,
whose family runs Real del Monte's oldest pasty restaurant, Pastes El
Billar.
"It's an English
town. The climate is similar with the fog and light rain. And there's
football of course. The English brought it," said Rodriguez.
His
great-grandmother worked for English immigrants and learned to make
pasties from them. The restaurant makes cornish potato pasties spiced up
with Mexican chiles.
Griselda Garcia Rodriguez, a 55-year-old retired doctor, waited for the couple's arrival at the town center.
"My great-grandfather was English," she said. "At home, we drank tea in the morning, afternoon and evening."
After Hidalgo, Prince Charles and the duchess will visit Mexico City on Monday to meet with President Enrique Pena Nieto.
They
will then tour the Edzna ruins, a Mayan archeological site in the
eastern state of Campeche, before heading to the industrial hub of
Monterrey in the north.
The
Latin American tour was made at the request of the British government,
following invitations from the presidents of Mexico and Colombia, to
boost relations with both nations.
It is the prince's fifth visit to Mexico since 1966.http://news.yahoo.com/prince-charles-visits-mexico-day-dead-205056317.html
0 comments:
Post a Comment