Last night and today Mexico celebrates the biggest non-religious holiday of the year, the anniversary of the beginning of the revolutionary war for independence from Spain. In 1810, Padre Miguel Hidalgo issued the now famous "grito de Dolores" from the church in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato. His cry to arms has been shortened over the years and politicized a bit. Most of it is used though in every town and city, small or large, throughout the Republic on the night of the 15th of Sept at 11pm. Throughout the country, everyone joins together at that moment in three shouts of ¡Viva México! Then... let the fireworks begin!!
We were downtown in the central plaza last night for the Grito and it was spectacular. The huge colonial government building was lit with the governor and lots of dignitaries on the balcony overlooking the plaza, the Cathedral was lit and once the Grito was complete, the bells rang out in thunderous joy. In front of the Cathedral the
castillos were set up. We were jammed into the square with an enormous crowd that included mostly families with the fathers holding their children on their shoulders so they could see. After the fireworks there was a free concert by the famous singer, Pedro Fernández.
Here's the Cathedral with the
castillos before the ceremony. The
castillos are covered with fireworks and all of the parts move and spin and shoot into the sky. These were about 30' high.
My best pic of the Gobernadora during the singing of the national anthem.
Here goes the
castillo...
many of the sections are pictures or words
As the
castillo died down the doors of the Cathedral lit up with fireworks as well.
Then there were dozens and dozens of traditional fireworks exploding in the sky. We were under large trees, which was good because of the falling sparks, and the light of the fireworks was kind of neat through the branches.
This was my first
¡Grito! in Mérida, I've been in many other Mexican cities for this holiday but never here. It was spectacular and it was wonderful to be a part of the celebration. We were screaming along with the crowd and waving our flags and trying to sing. What I noticed that was a bit different is that every time there was a cry of ¡Viva México!, it was followed by a cry of ¡Viva Yucatán!. I've mentioned before that Yucatecos are only half hearted in their Mexican-ness and most would identify first as Yucateco and then as Mexican. Afterwards we walked over to a bar nearby and had drinks and food. I toasted the bartender with a ¡Viva México! and received a ¡Viva Yucatán! in reply. It's an interesting difference.
One thing that may interest Bullfrog, Padre Hidalgo was a Criollo or a Spaniard born in Mexico of Spanish parents. One of his historic cries was supposedly "Death to the Spaniards" or "Mueran los Gachupines" which was the impolite name of the Spanish born ruling class. Last night I heard several cries of "Abajo a los Gachupines" but not from the stage, from those in the crowd. He was not really calling for complete independence from Spain but for a more egalitarian government under the rule of the Spanish King. Still, his cry and his army was the beginning of a 10 year war that ended in independence, as such, he is considered the father of Mexican independence.
The final line of the
Grito de Dolores:¡Mexicanos! ¡Viva México! ¡Viva México! ¡Viva México!
