Buenos Aires is the most European of all Latin American cities. With its
magnificent architecture, 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 never ending 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 urban centre, but the city is really a pleasant place to walk around.
Following the economic crisis that has plagued the country since December 2001, devaluation made life expensive for the Porteños and job losses 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.
Buenos Aires has bounced back, however, and there are strong economic indicators and physical signs that the Argentine economy is on the mend. Despite any lingering financial worries, the Porteños continue to get on with life and enjoy life’s luxuries : many diners still patronise classy restaurants, the bars and cafés bustle with people and the city’s elite dance the night away in South America’s best clubs.
Stroll through the neighborhoods of Recoleta or Palermo, full of buildings with marble neoclassical facades on broad tree-lined boulevards, and you know exactly why it got that moniker. European immigrants to Buenos Aires, mostly from Spain and Italy, brought with them the warm ways of Mediterranean culture, wherein friends, family, and conversation were the most important things in life. Whiling away the night over a long meal was the norm, and locals had always packed into cafes, restaurants, and bars until the early morning hours. The peso crisis hit the locals all the harder because of this, making the lifestyle and good times that they cherished almost unattainable for a period of time.
In Buenos Aires, you’ll find a city quickly recovering from its former problems, with old cafes and restaurants not only full of patrons but competing with all of the new restaurants and cafes opening up at a breakneck pace all over town.
The crisis also had a remarkable effect on the country’s soul. Argentines as a whole are becoming more self-reflective, looking at themselves and the reasons why their country fell into so much trouble and trying to find answers. This has lead, ironically, to an incredible flourishing of all things Porteno, the word Buenos Aires locals use to describe both themselves and the culture of their city. Unable to import expensive foods from overseas anymore, Buenos Aires’s restaurants are concentrating instead on cooking with Argentine staples like Pampas grass-fed beef and using locally produced, organic ingredients as seasonings. What has developed is a spectacular array of Argentine-nouvelle cuisine of incredible quality and originality. Chefs can’t seem to produce it fast enough in the ever-expanding array of Buenos Aires’s restaurants, particularly in the trendy Palermo district on the city’s north side.
This new Argentine self-reliance and pride is not just limited to its restaurants. The same thing has happened with the country’s fashion. In the go-go 1990s, when the peso was pegged to the U.S. dollar, Argentines loaded up on European labels and made shopping trips to the malls of Miami for their clothing. Now, however, even the middle class cannot afford to do this anymore. Instead, with necessity as the mother of invention, young Argentine designers are opening up their own shops and boutiques in the Palermo Soho neighborhood, putting other Argentines to work sewing, selling, and modeling their designs. Women, especially, will find fantastic and utterly unique fashions in Buenos Aires that you won’t find anywhere else in the world, at prices that are unbelievable. And if you’re looking for leather goods, say no more. The greatest variety and quality in the world are available all over town.
Importantly, the most Porteno thing of all, the tango, has also witnessed an explosive growth. Up until the peso crisis, Argentines worried that the dance would die out as young people bopped instead to American hip-hop and European techno. But the peso crisis and the self-reflection it created helped bolster the art form’s popularity: New varieties of shows for tourists mean you can now see a different form of tango every night of your stay. And, more importantly to residents, the traditional, 1930s-style milongas (tango salons), have opened in spaces all over town. These are drawing not only the typical tango dancers but young Argentines, who have rediscovered their grandparents’ favorite dance, as well as young ex-pats from all over the world who are making Buenos Aires the world’s new hot city, the way Prague was at the end of the Cold War.
For the visitor from abroad, there has never been a better time to visit Buenos Aires. Devaluation has made it a cheap city to explore and enjoy and the division of wealth remains largely invisible to the tourists sightseeing and shopping by day and dancing and enjoying gastronomic delights at night. With a continuous agenda of
cultural attractions and events, there is much to see and do. The city is also home to an incomparable array of theaters and other traditional venues. Buenos Aires’s vast arrays of museums, many in beautiful neoclassical structures along broad tree-lined Avenida Libertador, are as exquisite as the treasures they hold inside. 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.
See also the
Time Out Guide, for more information on the city and things to do.
For more comprehensive information on Argentina, see
