Sábados de guayabera y tacón en La Ciudadela

What happens here on Saturdays. Around midday the couples start arriving at the Plaza de la Ciudadela — the men in suits, hats and guayaberas, the women in heels, with fans and patterned stockings. They come to dance danzón, and by the afternoon the esplanade is full.

What you are watching. Danzón arrived from Cuba through Veracruz at the end of the nineteenth century and became a Mexican institution. The style is upright, measured and deliberately restrained, with couples pausing during the musical interludes. Most of the dancers are older; younger ones come too, and the tradition passes down on this square rather than in a studio.

What else is on the same plaza. The Biblioteca de México José Vasconcelos, in a converted eighteenth-century tobacco factory with courtyards you can sit in, and the Ciudadela craft market, the most comprehensive place in the city to buy folk art from across the country.

Practical notes. Watching is free; classes cost a token amount per session. Metro Balderas, lines 1 and 3, and Juárez, line 3, both come out beside the plaza. Afternoon is the moment, and there is almost no shade.