Current Time in Salamanca, Mexico

Salamanca lies in the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico, in the wide and fertile plain known as the Bajío, at about seventeen hundred metres above sea level. The Lerma River, one of the most important watercourses in the country, flows past the city, and irrigated fields of sorghum, wheat, maize, barley and vegetables stretch in every direction. Low hills and the volcanic ranges of the central highlands rise on the horizon, and the climate is temperate and dry, with warm days and cool nights.

The municipality has a population of around two hundred and seventy thousand. Salamanca is one of the great industrial centres of central Mexico, dominated by a very large petroleum refinery that has operated since 1950 and by the associated petrochemical plants, a thermoelectric power station and fertiliser works. Agriculture remains important in the surrounding countryside, and the city also has metalworking, food processing and logistics businesses, benefiting from its position at the crossing of major highways in the industrial heart of the Bajío.

The area was inhabited by Chichimeca and Otomi peoples before the Spanish arrived, and the town was formally founded in 1603 as a Spanish agricultural settlement named after the university city in Castile. Rich soils and reliable water made it prosperous, and Augustinian friars established a convent that became the artistic jewel of the town. Salamanca lay on the routes between the silver mines of Guanajuato and Mexico City, and it saw fighting during the war of independence and the later civil conflicts. Its modern character was fixed in the mid-twentieth century, when the national oil company chose the site for a major refinery, transforming a quiet farming town into an industrial city within a generation.

The outstanding attraction is the church and former convent of San Agustín, which contains a series of magnificent baroque altarpieces carved in wood and covered in gold leaf. The Churrigueresque retablo of the Virgin of Bethlehem is considered one of the finest in Mexico, and the sacristy holds paintings and richly carved furniture. The sanctuary of the Señor del Hospital attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year, especially during its September festival, and the town also preserves colonial bridges, plazas and the old parish church. Within easy reach are the World Heritage cities of Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende, the pyramids of Plazuelas and the strawberry fields and thermal springs of the Bajío.

Local life follows the traditions of the region, with mariachi and banda music, charreria horsemanship, September independence celebrations and Day of the Dead observances. The food is classic central Mexican, with carnitas, enchiladas mineras, guacamayas, cajeta caramel from nearby Celaya and locally grown strawberries.

Federal highways and a railway line cross the city, buses run constantly to León, Querétaro and Mexico City, and the Bajío international airport is nearby. A campus of the University of Guanajuato and several technological institutes train engineers for local industry.

Salamanca is important as an energy and industrial centre and for its exceptional baroque religious art.