A Bicentennial Celebration

By Natalie Taylor

You see it everywhere—on posters, on social media, and on buses that declare “200 años de logros”—“200 years: Accomplishments.” And you wonder what it refers to: What happened in 1826 that is being celebrated in 2026?

It is not the founding of the city; that happened nearly three centuries earlier. This is a different celebration: it commemorates the moment when the city formerly known as San Miguel el Grande became San Miguel de Allende. The addition to the name honors the native son and hero of the War of Independence, Ignacio Allende de Unzaga, who helped launch the rebellion and gave his life for the cause.

After its founding in 1542, San Miguel experienced tremendous growth and economic boom. By the late eighteenth century, the town of San Miguel el Grande had a population of more than 50,000 and supported a wide variety of industries, making a large segment of the population wealthy and providing employment for thousands.

But there were signs of growing dissatisfaction. There was profound inequality in the treatment of the Indigenous and African populations, who suffered from poverty, limited access to education, and few opportunities to improve their lives. They lived under a rigid caste system that dictated nearly every aspect of their existence. Yet it was the sons of Spaniards—known as criollos—who, despite being born to Spanish parents, occupied a lower position in the colonial hierarchy and eventually rose in protest. They were denied many of the privileges enjoyed by the peninsulares, Spaniards born in Spain. The criollos were, in effect, second-class citizens, and they resented it.

Many of the criollos who came of age in the early 1800s had absorbed the Enlightenment ideals of equality, individual liberty, and popular sovereignty. One of them, in particular, decided to take action. That man was Ignacio Allende, born in 1769 in the house that now serves as the city museum, just off the main square beside the Parroquia. Allende came from a wealthy and influential family, but as a criollo, his opportunities for advancement were limited.

He could rise only so far in the military and faced restrictions on holding public office. For a charismatic and ambitious young man, such limitations were difficult to accept.

In 1809, he began holding secret meetings with other criollos at the home of his older brother, Domingo. The historic house, located at the corner of Relox and Calle Principal facing the Jardín, still bears a plaque on its Relox side identifying what it became known as: Casa de los Conspiradores—the House of the Conspirators. While balls and soirées were held downstairs, the conspirators gathered in the mezzanine above, using the festive gatherings as cover while they discussed their plans and plotted revolution.

The conspiracy soon spread to Querétaro, where Josefa Ortiz, the wife of the Corregidor (governor), joined the plot. Known as La Corregidora, she would play an important role in the War of Independence, and today San Miguel has a street named in her honor. Ignacio Allende also invited Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the parish priest of nearby Dolores, to join the movement. Hidalgo soon became a very important participant in the movement.

The rebellion was scheduled to begin at the end of September 1810, but a traitor betrayed the insurgents. When Josefa learned that the plot had been discovered, she immediately tried to warn Allende. Her husband, however, wanted to keep her out of the affair and had her locked in her room in the governor’s mansion.

But Josefa was no shrinking violet. She pounded on the floor until the city jailer, Ignacio Pérez, came to investigate. Through the closed door, she instructed him to ride to San Miguel and deliver the note: “We have been betrayed.” Pérez mounted his horse and rode to San Miguel, arriving on the evening of September 15, 1810. But Allende was not there; he had gone to nearby Dolores to meet with the parish priest, Miguel Hidalgo.

When the warning reached Dolores, Hidalgo took charge. In the early hours of September 16, he ordered the church bells to be rung and called upon his parishioners to join the rebellion. His impassioned appeal became known as El Grito de Dolores—the Cry of Dolores, the rallying cry that launched México’s War of Independence.

Thus began the insurgency that would eventually lead to independence. But the war was arduous and lasted eleven years, ending in 1821 when New Spain, the viceregal town established by the Spanish conquistadors, became the independent nation of México. Sadly, neither Ignacio Allende nor Miguel Hidalgo lived to see the victory. In 1811, less than a year after the uprising began, both men were betrayed, captured, and executed by firing squad.

Five years after independence, in 1826, the city council decided to honor its fallen native son by adding his name to that of the city. From then on, it became known as San Miguel de Allende—“San Miguel of Allende,” commemorating the man who helped launch and lead the revolution that ultimately ended Spanish colonial rule and gave birth to an independent México. It is this very event that we are celebrating this year: the renaming of the city in honor of its most famous son, Ignacio Allende. Be prepared for a raucous celebration throughout the month of September, but especially on September 16, when the city will erupt in noisy, colorful fireworks to commemorate the day México’s War of Independence began.

¡Viva México! ¡Viva Allende!

Natalie Taylor is a bilingual published writer, editor, journalist, translator and a regular columnist at Atención News

www.natalietaylor.org