In the eighteenth century, Jose de la Borda discovered the fabulous silver seam of San Ignacio, which quickly turned Taxco into one of the main mining centres in Mexico. Borda made an immense fortune and built the Santa Prica Church, one of the glories of Mexican baroque architecture.

In 1930, Taxco found a second wind, thanks to the American William Spratling, who opened the first silversmiths’ workshops. Taxco is a charming town on the slopes of Atachi, which is gashed by dizzying canyon. The whiteness of its houses, reminiscent of an Andalusia town, has bewitched a host of foreign visitors.

The zocalo, adorned with a small kiosk, lies in the shadow of Santa Prisca. Narrow streets with no sidewalks lead off it to reveal the charms of Taxco, their cobblestones winding round the hill through a chain of tiny squares, embellished here and there by exuberant bougainvilleas.