Statues and murals bear his likeness. Schools and libraries are named after him. Hotels, barbershops, nightclubs and bicycle repair shops are some of his references.
In the Colombian mountain town of Aracataca, it’s impossible to walk down a street without seeing a nod to one of its most famous former residents: Gabriel García Márquez, winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Yellow butterflies are seen all over the city, one of his famous literary images. The house where he lived as a child has been turned into a museum filled with his original furniture, including the crib where he slept.
The library, named Biblioteca Pública Municipal Remedios La Bella, after Remedios the Beauty, a character from his novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, houses his books translated into different languages.
Aracataca, a once dirty and dilapidated city of 40,000, transformed by unemployment and lack of basic amenities, has been transformed by Mr. García Márquez, a famous Colombian author and one of the world’s literary titans. has been done
Ten years ago, the town had little to offer tourists and little to develop its relationship with the author, beyond a museum and a pool hall that called itself Macondo Billiards, after the fictional town. “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” “
But since Mr. García Márquez’s death in 2014, interest in him and his city, which inspired some of his most famous works, has grown.
For many writers, his nickname, Gabo, and the city of Gabolandia have become a type.
Walk down any block, and there are reminders of the author: signs bearing his name, murals, statues, street signs and coffee stands selling everything from baseball caps to coffee mugs, Mr. García Márquez’s. by analogy.
With the release of his latest posthumous book, “Until August,” hopes are high among Ararataka officials and residents that the publicity surrounding the area will attract even more visitors.
“We have seen changes in all aspects,” said Carlos Ruiz, director of a museum where Mr. García Márquez’s father worked as a telegraph operator. He has worked with the regional government to promote literary tourism in the city.
“What we want is to strengthen Araktaka through Gabbo,” Mr. Ruiz said, adding that 22,000 tourists visited last year, up from 17,500 in 2019.
The city celebrates the birthday of Mr. García Márquez every year on March 6, but this year the celebration was bigger, with more participants and more activities.
The celebration included a short story and poetry competition with a dance performance by girls dressed as yellow butterflies. A librarian dressed as Mr. García Márquez to read parts of “One Hundred Years of Solitude” to children. In the evening, a theater group presented a performance of “Love in the Time of Cholera.”
Mr. García Márquez did not want his latest book published, and the literary merits of the work are already being debated. But, in his native village, the work has created intense enthusiasm.
“There is great anticipation, especially because this work has a female protagonist,” said Claudia Aron, 50, a school teacher.
“How good,” he added, “that our great teacher allows us to enjoy his work even after his death.”
Ms Arun, who like many others at the poetry competition was dressed in bright yellow, recalled that the last time the author had been to Araktaka was in 2007, when he toured the town in a horse-drawn carriage.
“It was overwhelming,” she said. “He and his wife rock like the queen of the city.”
“Many things help us and motivate us to continue being here, to fight for this culture,” said Rocío Valle, another 52-year-old teacher, participating in the poetry contest. “Thank God and thank God.”
Mr. García Márquez was born in 1927 in Aracataca and was raised largely by his maternal grandparents before he moved to Sucre to live with his parents at the age of 8.
While his time in Ararataka was relatively short, the city became the model for Macondo’s legendary city. (A referendum was held in 2006 to change Arakataka’s name to Macondo, which ultimately failed.)
In his memoirs, Living to Tell the Tale, the novelist recalled that when he returned to Aracataca as a young man, “the roar of the summer was so intense that you seemed to see everything through an opaque glass.” have been
Today in Aracataca, the works of Mr. García Márquez are taught as early as preschool, with children asked to draw pictures based on his short stories that are read aloud, Ms. Aron said.
A group of teenagers gathered outside a shop on Wednesday said Mr García Márquez’s Nobel Prize legacy had inspired them to be creative and imaginative in class. They debated which of his works was their favorite – “the incredible and tragic story of innocent Arendra and her heartless grandmother” or “the story of a shipwrecked sailor.”
Alejandra Mantilla, 16, said she was proud to see tourists from as far away as Europe and China visiting the city, especially since Colombia is still struggling to overcome its reputation for drugs and violence.
“Colombia is probably one of the countries that is the most isolated because of drug trafficking and all that,” he said. “So it’s good that he gives a good image to the country.”
Iñaki Otaoño, 63, and his wife, who live in Spain, made Aracataca one of their stops during their month-long trip to Colombia. Mr. Otano said that he has read all the works of Mr. García Márquez.
“We’re a bit monomaniacal about this guy,” he said. “We need to know where the book goes.”
He said they planned to buy his new book when they arrived in Bogotá.
“Better to buy it here in his country, right?” he said.
The regional government is working to rehabilitate a railway that passes through Aracataca, currently used only for transporting coal, to transport passengers as part of the “Macondo Route”. A large hotel with pool and bakery is also under construction.
Growing tourism has provided more financial opportunities.
When 39-year-old Jair Beltran lost his job as a coal miner, he worked briefly in construction and agriculture before a friend suggested he work as a tour guide.
He began studying the writings of Mr. García Márquez and hired a tailor to make him a uniform so he could dress as Colonel Aurelio Buendia, a major character in “One Hundred Years of Solitude.”
“All this knowledge, both of the authors and of old Arakataka, has helped me bring it to the tourists,” said Mr. Beltran, who now works full-time as an independent tour guide. J
Fernando Vizcaino, 70, a retired banker, came up with the idea of turning his house into a hostel about six years ago when he noticed that tourists started arriving in large numbers. He named it the Magic Realism Tourist House, and he and his wife decorated it with brilliant colors, full of homage to Mr. García Márquez.
Mr. Vizcaino said his father was a friend of the author’s family and forwarded letters between Mr. García Márquez’s parents when they were young and pursuing a forbidden love, a courtship that inspired “a time of love.” Cholera in.”
“Here in Aracatka, he is still alive,” he said.
