Cost of Living in Guanajuato

Just spent almost two weeks here after a two week stay in SMA. This is a very pretty town, but 2 weeks is too long (3 days max if you just want to vacation). There are many many steps and hills, so walking is the best way to get around. I felt safe in the tourist areas, but with many narrow passageways, be careful if you are alone. There is a lot of dogs barking at all hours that echo due to this area being a valley. There is very little green space. Also, not sure if there was some recent protests, but we saw a lot of graffiti on historical sites and the staff works every day to scrub it off. I’m ok with protesting, but to vandalize historical builds is just sad. One positive, accommodations are cheaper than SMA and CDMX, however, food is more expensive than CDMX. Btw, the mummy museum, it’s more of a spectacle that is kinda sad and disrespectful, in my opinion. It could have been much better had it been educational. Finally, don’t be alarmed if you hear random cannon-like fires as they are just ritual procedures. It sounds like an invasion and it is mixed in with fireworks and firecrackers. They happen randomly at random times and days.

I have stayed in Cuidad de Guanajuato on two separate occasions in 2020 (February and December) for a total of about a week. Overall, I spent around a month in Guanajuato state in 2020. In that time I spent most of my time in El Tigre, Xoconostle, and Yuriria.

We really fell in love with Cuidad de Guanajuato. Having a major university in the city really changes the atmosphere and makes communicating a lot easier than in the rural areas like El Tigre. I was able to get by on my “two year old child” Spanish just fine most of the time. My favorite experiences was Los Callejoneadas, musicians from the university dressed in period costumes singing and playing acoustic instruments and generally having a ball. Mexicans in Guanajuato are unafraid to paint with color! The buildings of the city are alive with vibrant color! The city also has winding tunnels and narrow passageways leaving from place to place which adds a sense of adventure. I will certainly be back to this amazing magical Mexican city.

Guanajuato is not LGBTQ unfriendly except for rural areas few nomads would be interested in going to. Women who are bi or lesbian openly hold hands and show affection; not so for gay or bi men, but no harassment. In fact, in a nearby city, they are about to have a major fet life type of party. As for rentals, we tried to find a decent property there, and many low priced options are available, but most are a hella long walk to get to anything. So, it’s walkable in the sense you can walk to _________, it’s just going to be around 20 to 40 minutes to get there. Rentals: Few decent rentals, none up to European or North American standards. In Guanajuato itself, the super affordable properties you see hawked on YouTube by Vloggers are usually in less desirable areas (hella long walks) and are of poor quality. If you want long term rentals, you will probably be subject to the Aval/Fiador/Polizia Juridical scam. Supposedly, this is to protect both landlord and tenant like an insurance policy. In reality, it is a scam against landlords, and tenants alike: the tenant pays for lawyers to write up the rental contract (because no one can figure out how to fill in blanks?) and part of the payment is to “secure” the annual rental amount by a pre-paid legal mechanism to sue the tenant for unpaid rent. Since the number one reason for tenant default is change in circumstances leading to inability to pay, this is a worthless remedy. This scam has existed so long, with realtors being a part of the problem, that most the Mexican people are so used to the scam that they think it is necessary to rent property on an annual, non-AirBnB basis. As a lawyer, I have studied this scam extensively and suggest you avoid the Fiador scam at all costs. Put a pin in the map with Guanajuato in the center and draw a 30 mile radius around it and you will find LOTS of properties for sale or rent. The Fiador scam is responsible for much of this. It is a ridiculous barrier to rental property considering it is a worthless scam in the first place. TIP: if you have a rental dispute, it will cost you less than $200 to file suit in the US, they have twenty (20) days to answer in most jurisdictions, and while they are screaming their heads off at each other about how “there is no jurisdiction”, your response is “tell it to the judge”: most civil defense lawyers will charge a deposit of around $10,000.00 USD to even fight your case. If they fail to respond, you move for a default judgment and take it across the border. The bank will then take the money out of the defendant’s account and you win big time. Considering that Digital Nomads are often targets for scams, manufactured fees not disclosed up front and gringo pricing ripoffs involving property rentals worldwide, remember this technique. Safety: use normal precautions and don’t walk alone at night in dark alleys or bad neighborhoods like any city.