Parque del Mestizaje

What it is. A park in Colonia Rosas del Tepeyac, in Gustavo A. Madero, built around an idea rather than a landscape: it marks the mestizaje —the fusion of indigenous and European peoples from which modern Mexico came. Two fountains carry the theme: Los danzantes, the dancers, and Del Quijote, the Quixote fountain, one for each side of the inheritance.

The date is the story. It was inaugurated on 18 November 1978 by President José López Portillo together with the King and Queen of Spain, Juan Carlos I and Sofía —a diplomatic moment made into a park, at the foot of the hill where the Virgin of Guadalupe is said to have appeared. Whatever you make of the official reading of mestizaje, the park is a readable piece of how Mexico narrated itself at the end of the 1970s.

Practical notes. Open and free at any hour, with lawns, trees and play areas used by the surrounding colonias. It is a neighbourhood park, so go by day. Metro La Villa-Basílica and Deportivo 18 de Marzo on Line 6 are the nearest stations, and the Basilica of Guadalupe is a short walk away, which is how most visitors end up here.