Pilgrimage of the Bird-Sellers: A Tradition of Semana Santa in Mexico City

Mexico offers many of the most vivid, lively, and passionate Holy Week celebrations in the world. This holiday week, called Semana Santa in Mexico City and around the country, forms the week before Easter Sunday. It’s one of the most important holidays of the year in Mexico, a heavily Catholic country, and it shows. I began my Holy Week celebrations on Palm Sunday with a unique pilgrimage to the Basilica of Guadalupe. Every Palm Sunday, hundreds of pajareros, the traditional bird-sellers of Mexico, come from around the country to this famous basilica to bless their birds and businesses. The result is a surreal, unimaginably vivid sight.

Palm Sunday at the Basilica of Guadalupe

The centuries-old Basilica of Guadalupe draws millions of pilgrims every year to worship Mexico’s Virgin of Guadalupe. I’ll have to do a post soon on the Basilica itself; there is too much to explain here! It’s the site where the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego, an indigenous convert, in colonial times. Today, 12 million people come every year to behold the manta, the blanket, on which the Virgin’s image miraculously appeared. Palm Sunday was lively with worshippers from all over, including several I met from the Ivory Coast, and a group of Mexican cowboys who had ridden there on horseback.

The Basilica and the Bird-Sellers: A Mini-History

But for decades, Palm Sunday has meant one thing for the basilica: the pajareros, the bird-sellers. Over a century ago, there were thousands of bird-sellers all around the country, and one, they say, on every street corner in Mexico City. In colorful cages, they sold domestic and wild-caught songbirds, from parakeets to robins — popular pets at the time. This year (2019) marked the 77th anniversary of the bird-sellers’ pilgrimage to the basilica.

Today, songbirds are much less popular, and especially amid increased awareness for animal rights, the bird-sellers are slowly dying out. But this traditional profession lives on for some families, who have passed it down through the generations. On Palm Sunday, they arrive from throughout the country, walking up the long Calzada de Guadalupe until they arrive at the Basilica. Their colorful, incredibly tall cages strapped to their backs, birdsong fills the air.

The Ethics of Bird-Selling

Now, let’s get this out of the way: I don’t condone this kind of bird-selling, especially of those that are wild-caught. The birds are not for sale on Palm Sunday — the bird-sellers are forbidden from selling them in the Basilica grounds. But regardless, I have very mixed feelings about this practice in the modern-day.

That said, no matter what you think of its ethics, bird-selling has played an important traditional role in Mexico. I met families who’d brought their babies with them, strapping a tiny cage onto his back with tiny toy birds inside. Four generations of bird-sellers in the family were represented there, and others had placed photos of their deceased fathers, bird-sellers themselves, as a touching tribute on the cages.

The Artistry of the Pajareros

On top of all that, the artistry, passion, and creativity the pajareros put into these 10-foot-tall cages is unbelievable. You couldn’t imagine a more surreal scene: with an explosion of color and song all around, I couldn’t help but feel joy at that aspect of the pilgrimage. Pajareros paint every cage vividly and decorate them with thousands of flowers. These must have taken their creators a long time to make. Of all the celebrations I saw during Semana Santa in Mexico City, this was perhaps the most unique.

Finally, all this to say: it’s complicated. It made me sad to see many, many kinds of birds in cages, from exotic ones to common songbirds I’ve seen free in my Midwest backyard. There’s no getting around that. But I also appreciate the beautiful aspects of this long-standing tradition, especially the bird-sellers’ remarkable creativity. At the end of the day, I reserve my full judgement, because this is a way of life, and a way to make a living, for families who have passed this job from father to son, and mother to daughter. Do I hope songbird-selling continues, anywhere in the world? Probably not. But I hope this beautiful pilgrimage finds a way to survive and adapt, as societal values shift and evolve.

How to See the Pajarero’s Pilgrimage

When:

This event takes place on Palm Sunday, which of course will vary every year. In fact, this day marks the beginning of Semana Santa in Mexico City. The Spanish name for the Catholic holiday is Domingo de Ramos. The pajareros get together in the morning, starting around 9 or 10 AM, but they don’t arrive at the basilica until around noon. That’s when I recommend arriving at the basilica to see them.

Where:

The pajareros begin at the Glorieta de Peralvillo, a roundabout where the Calzada de Guadalupe begins. This is the long avenue that leads up to the Basilica de Guadalupe, and where pilgrims walk to the basilica. It’s a long walk, and I recommend you go straight to the basilica to see them. You can tell any cab or Uber driver “Basilica de Guadalupe”, and they’ll take you there — around 25 minutes from downtown, way to the north. The red Line 6 of the metro goes straight there, to the Basilica stop; or take the more centric green Line 3 to the Deportivo 18 de Marzo stop, and walk east for 10 mins to get there. The green line 7 of the Metrobus (the big red buses you’ll see in cordoned-off areas of major avenues) also goes there, getting off at the Garrido Stop.

Above all, this is a day about tradition, creative expression, and family ties. It was clear to me that many bird-sellers were passionate about their professions, and took care of their small charges. Whether you find this tradition charming or outdated, it’s a memorable and fascinating experience. Most of all, this experience gave me insight into the complex contradictions of modern Mexico.