Buenos Aires is the most European of all Latin American cities. With its wide boulevards, leafy parks, grand buildings and varied culture and nightlife, the city is reminiscent of Paris or Barcelona. The Porteños (‘people of the port’), as the residents of Buenos Aires are called, seem more European too – but this is hardly surprising considering that most are descended from European, predominately Italian, immigrants who settled here in the 19th century. With them came a culture and a cuisine that still flavours the city and can be enjoyed in countless art galleries, theatres and museums, as well as fine restaurants. But the city has also spawned its own art forms, notably the tango, for which Buenos Aires is famous.
Buenos Aires is the third largest city in South America and comprises 47 barrios (neighbourhoods) in which nearly three million people live. Situated in the east of Argentina beside the Rio de la Plata and surrounded by seemingly neverending flat land known as the Pampas, the vast sprawling conurbation is a true 24-hour city – there is always something going on to occupy the senses. The downtown area is as noisy and congested as any other major city but the city is really a pleasant place to walk around, designed as it is along a grid system that is soon easy to master.
Nuestra Señora de Santa Maria del Buen Aire was founded by the Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza in 1536. It was named after the patron saint of sailors, who is said to be responsible for the good wind or buen aire. Provisions ran low and five years later settlement attempts were abandoned until Juan de Garay refounded the city in 1580. In 1776, Buenos Aires was pronounced the Capital of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata (River Plate region – a huge region that included what is now Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and parts of Chile and Brazil). The Criollos (Argentines of Spanish descent) merchants, having successfully expelled British invaders in 1806 and 1807, realised that they need not be dominated by the Spanish either, so, in 1810, they began to rebel against Spain. It was only after the Declaration of Independence in 1816 that the city became fully free of colonial hindrance.
Following the city’s federalisation in 1880, mass European immigration occurred as workers were brought in to service agriculture and the railways. Development ceased in the mid-20th century as the country’s economy declined – mostly as the result of lack of investment from war-torn Europe. Immigrants arrived from other parts of Argentina and were forced to reside in shanty towns (villas de emergencia) or villas miseria as was the more apt description. Buenos Aires only re-emerged from its economic woes in the 1990s when the currency was stabilised. Those with money spent it and new buildings, shopping malls and entertainment centres emerged creating a new way of life for the inhabitants.
However, the future is again uncertain, following the economic crisis that has plagued the country since December 2001. Devaluation has made life expensive for the Porteños and job losses have plunged many into poverty, evidenced by the families of cartoneros (cart people) who take to the city streets each evening to rummage through bins for materials to sell for recycling. But Buenos Aires has actually emerged relatively unscathed from the headline-grabbing riots that followed devaluation. And, in spite of their financial problems, the Porteños appear to be putting a brave face on the situation and getting on with life as best they can. There are still a great number of people who can afford the pleasures of their former lifestyle, even if it has been toned down slightly. Diners still patronise classy restaurants each evening, and the bars and cafés are bustling with people until the early hours on weekends.
For the visitor from abroad, there has never been a better time to visit Buenos Aires. Devaluation has made it an incredibly cheap city to explore and enjoy and the division of the wealth remains largely invisible to the visitor sightseeing and shopping by day and dancing and enjoying gastronomic delights at night. With several new museums and a continuous agenda of cultural attractions and events, there is much for the visitor to see and do. Buenos Aires has a mild climate and is a year-round destination, although the city can get very hot and humid during the summer months (Dec-Feb). The city can also be quiet during summer as many Porteños take their holidays at this time.
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