Guanajuato, Mexico: Spanish Spoken Here

Most Gringo tourists who are well traveled in Mexico are familiar with the costal cities. They are used to areas of Mexico where the locals working in the service and tourist industry cater to the tourist’s needs. You will find in the costal resorts, and strangely in San Miguel de Allende (also in the state of Guanajuato), that there is a vast population of Mexicans who are bilingual. Need, and nothing much more than that, has prompted the locals to learn English. These cities have evolved into having their economy dependent mostly upon the English only tourist.

I mentioned San Miguel de Allende that is also in central Mexico not too far from Guanajuato. It is a unique case. It is most certainly an anomaly. It really cannot be counted as a typical central Mexican town with exception to its architecture. Gringos now own and basically rule that city. It is interesting but untypical. They speak English there and you will have no trouble navigating the tourist scene.

However, in Guanajuato, Dolores Hidalgo, Queretaro, and other central Mexican cities, they are not bilingual. The economy of Guanajuato, unlike San Miguel de Allende, does not depend upon the monolingual’s money. Some would say, “Thank God” to that.

I have collected story after story, mostly personally witnessed by me, of Gringo tourists quite unaware that they need to speak Spanish in Guanajuato. We have seen some stand in our central plaza, El Jardin, and just scream like a banshee at waiters,

“I know you speak English and are pretending you don’t.”

These types even go back home and complain on online travel chat rooms that they had to carry their own luggage, walked up some stairs for lack of an elevator, had to try and speak Spanish, and they will go on to tell all their family and friends what an awful place Guanajuato was. All because they entered into the first stage of a coma over the fact that Spanish is spoken here.

All of this to say, if you are planning a trip to visit Guanajuato you’ve got to get it into your head that this will be nothing like Puerto Vallarta or San Miguel de Allende. Need has not motivated the locals in the service and tourist industry to learn English. Some are, most aren’t.

But please, I implore you, do not scream at the employees in the hotels and restaurants that you are sure they are conspiratorially plotting an evil scheme to torment you by not speaking English. I know these people While I’ve found a few who cannot stand Americans, this is too rare even to mention. The vast majority are not pretending they don’t speak English. Trust me when I say, they would love to be fluent in English. If they were they would not be working in the tourist industry waiting on you hand and foot.