Av Madero Closed To Traffic

A weekend walk from the Palacio de Bellas Artes to the Zócalo in Mexico City has become easier as Av. Madero is has been closed to vehicles. The decision came somewhat out of the blue, although with the levels of traffic downtown it’s improbable that advance warning would have led  motorists to queue up for “one last drive” down the historical lane.

The closure – initially at weekends, and soon to be complete - fits rather nicely into the present habit of relating all things political to next year’s 200th anniversary of Mexico’s Independence and 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution -Francisco I. Madero having been a leading figure in the 1910-1917 Revolution.

It’s now possible to walk the length of the street without hopping on and off the curb to allow others to get past. Av. Madero passes a number of landmarks of the Centro Histórico. Starting out  from the Torre Latinamericana and the Sanborns de los Azulejos (patronized a century ago by the dictator Porfirio Díaz, and where the revolutionary troops of Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata are said to have had coffee), it emerges six blocks later on to the main square opposite the National Palace. The walk takes you past the Palacio de Iturbide, Iglesia de San Francisco and other churches, as well as countless stores and restaurants.