This scene was so jarring, I had to share it: a huge building site in the center of San Miguel de Allende. Our iconic seventeenth-century buildings: the Parroquoia, the tower of the San Francisco Church, and the dome of Las Monjas struggle to be seen through rising cranes, concrete pumps, and rebar.

Until now, most construction here has been low-tech. Men mix concrete in piles on the ground and haul it up ladders in five-gallon plastic buckets. They shape stones by hand with hammers. A large job might employ a hundred abañiles, few of whom own tools and none of whom possess safety gear.

By comparison, this work is being done in modern mechanized fashion by developer Bald Mountain de Mexico. Their operation is more like what I would expect to see in the States.

Called Rosewood San Miguel de Allende, the project will comprise a five-star hotel and high-end residences. One source claims house prices will start at $800,000. I haven’t heard what hotel tariffs will be, but I bet I’m safe estimating they’ll be somewhere north of $500 per night—well out of my price range.

Development projects like this have triggered protests. A group called Basta Ya a la Destrucción de San MIguel has mounted demonstrations.

Photo: Basta Ya

One thing is for sure: San Miguel has changed from the sleepy little village discovered after WWII by aspiring artists come to study under the G. I. bill. Today the well-heeled are visiting and moving in. We saw it happen in SoHo. We saw it happen in Sonoma. Like it or not, the trend is inexorable: artists discover a place, the wealthy follow, and the artists, priced out, have to move on.