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Mexico The San Blas pier to which Maná sang exists and is a tropical paradise
For 90 years it was considered the "cruelest and most inhumane" prison.
The 'Alcatraz de México' occupied one of the four islands that make up the Islas Marías archipelago, 120 kilometers off the coast of the state of Nayarit, in the Mexican Pacific.
At the time it was open, between 1905 and 2019, it housed some 45,000 prisoners.
For just over a month, the last prison island on the American continent has been receiving another type of visitor: tourists.
The country's president himself, López Obrador, inaugurated the tourist tours.
He was the one who decided in 2019 to close the prison forever, as explained to EL MUNDO
Juan Enrique Suárez
, head of the Nayarit Ministry of Tourism, during his recent visit to Madrid, on the occasion of Fitur.
"There was no need to maintain a prison on an island when in Mexico we have other modern prisons and it was an opportunity to take care of the natural reserve and offer a tourist product."
Designated
a Biosphere Reserve by Unesco, the
islands are an ecological treasure where different ecosystems come together, from mangroves to coral reefs, and where iguanas, yellow-headed parrots, crocodiles, turtles, sharks and boa constrictors live.
Yellow-headed parrot, an endangered species.SECR FILE.
FROM MARINA, MEXICO
To this "high security" paradise surrounded by sharks, the country's authorities transferred
repeat offenders
.
Although in Islas Marías there was a curious duality.
"On the one hand, it was a prison island where the most dangerous inmates did not leave their cells, but it was also a penal colony where others of a lesser degree could live with their family, wife and children, although no one could leave until the prisoner had completed His sentence".
A three day adventure
Visiting Islas Marías today is an adventure that lasts
three days
.
There are two
ferries:
one that leaves from Mazatlán, in the state of Sinaloa, which takes 4.5 hours, and the one that leaves from Nayarit, specifically from
San Blas
, whose journey takes about 2.5 hours.
Soon there will be a third from Boca de Chila.
"On the island, the traveler spends two nights. "The package includes full buffet-style food administered by the Secretary of the Navy and you have the opportunity to sleep in the cells of the prisoners that today have been modernized, are comfortable and have air conditioning ", details Suárez.
Murals in Puerto Balleto.SECR FILE.
FROM MARINA, MEXICO
On the island, a series of
walks have been created along trails
that lead the traveler to different viewpoints and places of interest, and that allow sightings of endemic fauna and flora.
The prison is also visited.
"Beyond the ecological value, it has
a cultural interest,"
underlines Suárez.
"It tells you the story of who was there, how they lived and under what conditions."
Indeed, the tourist will not be spared sinister and morbid details of the lives of the former inhabitants of the Marías Islands: from the famous writer
José Revueltas,
author of the
Walls of Water
written precisely as a result of his experience in the archipelago to which he went sent in 1932 for his political activism, to the much more sinister story of 'Toad', a man who committed 150 murders.
Thanks to a priest, he ended up repenting, although the rest of the inmates took justice into his own hands.
Today 'Toad' and priest lie in separate tombs, one next to the other.
Aerial view of the main island.SECR FILE.
FROM MARINA, MEXICO
Travelers also have the opportunity to visit the places where the prisoners worked.
The lime, salt and shrimp plant was "
one of the places most feared
by the former inmates of the prison, where the hours seemed like years and anyone who would have to work in these places was sure to leave with serious skin injuries," says the tour description.
You can also visit the Site Museum and other points in the Puerto Balleto neighborhood, as well as a
Mexican art workshop
where artisans explain to tourists how they make their products.
At the time of its closure, in 2019, there were just over 600 inmates in Islas Marías.
More than one who lived on the island-prison has returned as a tourist, a paradox that has been reported by the local media.
From this point of view, the new tourism project is "extraordinary" for Nayarit, according to the Secretary of Tourism.
An attraction that joins the
redevelopment of San Blas
, the historic port of arrival
for the Manila Galleon
.
"We have ruins, petroglyphs, churches from the year 1700 and Marismas Nacionales, a refuge for crocodiles and one of the places with the largest number of migratory birds in all of Latin America," summarizes Suárez...
All this and, for a month, the option of sleeping in the 'Alcatraz de México'.
PRACTICAL GUIDE
How to get.
From Spain there are direct flights Madrid-Guadalaja and Madrid-Puerto Vallarta, both about a three-hour drive from San Blas.
More information.
At www.visitaislasmarias.com
The ferries that link San Blas with the islands. SECR FILE.
FROM MARINA, MEXICO
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