The largest Spanish-speaking city in the world is set to host cultural activities that will enliven the grand Zócalo

Mexico City is celebrating the 700th anniversary of its founding in 2025, dating back to when the great Tenochtitlan was a city surrounded by a vast lake and crisscrossed by canals, much like Venice. This period gave rise to the hierophany depicted today on the Mexican flag: an eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus (nopalera) defeating a serpent held in its beak.

Numerous events are being planned to commemorate the anniversary, including reenactments of key moments in the history of that warrior people featuring hundreds of actors, as well as the installation of a monument recalling what the Mexica capital was like before Hernán Cortés arrived and drained the lake landscape inhabited by the Indigenous peoples. Where magnificent pyramids once stood, there is now a cathedral, the National Palace, and the City Hall, all located in the Zócalo, the largest plaza in Latin America.

Highlighting the pre-Hispanic past is a central focus of the current and previous Mexican government, which, while valuing Spanish and other heritages, advocate for recognition of that era and the atrocities committed during the conquistadors’ invasion. These celebrations are framed within that vision.

The goal is to “strengthen national identity, a sense of belonging, and patriotic pride” as well as “encourage societal reflection on the importance of participation in the country’s pivotal moments,” all under the lens of present-day values that emphasize the active role of women in these historical processes. Gender considerations are strongly present in every event held during Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, as well as by the city’s mayor, Clara Brugada, who has a strong feminist background.

In the launch of the festivities on Monday, Sheinbaum said that Mexico is no longer a country built through foreign perspectives, as it was for so many centuries, but rather must consolidate its culture based on its own roots and heritage.

Mexico City is already beginning to adorn itself with patriotic elements, such as an exhibition of prickly pear sculptures (chumberas) decorated by various artists and collectives along Paseo de la Reforma, one of the city’s main thoroughfares.

Also planned is the installation of a circular-based monument that will rise in concentric circles in memory of the original temples by the lakeshores — a replica of the teocalli of the sacred war — where the eagle will be perched. Eight engraved slabs on the monument’s slope will depict scenes from the Boturini Codex, illustrating the migrations of the peoples until they settled in Tenochtitlan. Visitors during these months will be able to admire the bas-reliefs of the tlatoanis (kings) of that era.

A moment from the 696th anniversary of the founding of Tenochtitlán, in the Zócalo of Mexico City, in 2021.Sáshenka Gutiérrez (EFE)

The monument will be unveiled on July 26, a significant date when the solar disk, during its second zenith passage, projects vertically without casting any shadow. Water mirrors reflecting the watery past will complete this installation in the Zócalo, where actors usually perform, adorned with rich plumage and rattling seeds on their legs to delight tourists.

During Sheinbaum’s morning conference on Monday, a fragment of the opera commissioned for this anniversary was also presented, featuring the haunting sound of warrior conch shells. The capital is preparing to commemorate its 700 years of history infused with the spirit of the Indigenous peoples, who amazed the Spaniards with their customs, cuisine, and vast markets of plant and animal species never before seen — a heritage that Mexico still preserves with pride.

In recent years, under the governments of the Fourth Transformation — the previous administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the current one of Claudia Sheinbaum — there has been a strong emphasis on pre-Hispanic history and Indigenous peoples. This focus was symbolized in the investiture ceremonies of both presidents, who received the staff of command amid incense, feathers, and ancient rites. Both leaders have revived these customs to overcome the foreign-centric perspective that prevailed in earlier governments, although pre-Hispanic culture has always attracted national and international academic interest.

The drive to reclaim and consolidate this past has led to reexaminations of many historical events, such as the so-called Night of Sorrows, when Cortés’s troops and their allies suffered a great defeat, now reframed as the Night of Victory. Like in other countries, these efforts have altered museum labels and led to the revision of numerous centuries-old moments.

Politically, López Obrador’s rise to the presidency soon caused friction, when he asked the Spanish Crown a gesture of recognition of the atrocities committed by the conquistadors in New Spain — a request left unanswered, with diplomatic tensions persisting to this day. However, cultural exchanges in recent weeks have paved the way for a thaw in relations, especially through two Princess of Asturias Awards given to Mexico: first, to photographer Graciela Iturbide in the Arts category, who masterfully captured the original Mexico, its traditions, and rites; and second, to the National Museum of Anthropology, a cultural jewel in Mexico City that showcases the pre-Hispanic past in all its splendor. Both awards were warmly received by President Sheinbaum, who saw them as a sign of reconciliation after diplomatic strains with Spain.

Culture has been the main avenue through which tensions between the two countries have softened, with exhibitions in Spain about Mexico’s past and tributes to international figures such as Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, part of an exchange that could help mend diplomatic rifts. In the conference presenting the anniversary celebrations on Monday, the president spoke cautiously, emphasizing Tenochtitlan’s legacy while also valuing subsequent influences.