A getaway to San Mayol, the brand of Catalonia in the south of Buenos Aires

A slight sketch of the traditional urban lines of Catalan modernism which appeared at the beginning of the 20th century in the Iberian Peninsula, provides an unexpected nuance to the landscape of the infinite pampas in the southwest of Buenos Aires.

He fifty residents of San Mayol It proudly bears that distinctive mark that was bequeathed to them in the ’20s by the civil engineer Julio Argentino Mayol and perfected in the ’30s by his son-in-law Francisco Masferrer. The strong feeling of belonging to their payment pushed the most restless wholesalers to design the Tourism and Recreational Development Plan in 2012.

Local history begins to be written with the transatlantic journey of these visionaries, who, although they had landed in Buenos Aires without thinking about the possibility of return and were already part of the Buenos Aires aristocracy, remained attached to Matará, the original land of Catalonia that had The Mayol family was left behind by pure nostalgia.

But they were also beginning to glimpse a prosperous future in the Tres Arroyos district when the farmer Philip Mayol of Senillosa He decided to buy 24 hectares of countryside in 1895.

The future became even brighter with the preparation of the first map of the town – in 1898 – and the arrival of the Southern Railway, which linked Tres Arroyos with Lobería. It was the decisive piece that motivated the inauguration of the town in 1907.

The unique features of this town can be detected, above all, around the arrogance facade of the Catalan Cornera mansion founded in 1934 by Masferrer and his wife Ercinda Mayol.

There are some images of the Barcelona of the past, where two-story buildings with balconies decorated with wrought iron details, tile roofs that support gazebos, wooden gates in the shape of a trapezoid or hexagonal and the typical arch that leads to a patio stand out. common.

Eight of the oldest constructions make up the sequence of “reverse houses” -conceived by the civil engineer Jorge Mayol, great-grandson of Felipe Senillosa, the country’s first surveyor-, quite a rarity if one takes into account that the quiet part of the building is oriented towards the street and the façade of the house is hidden in the interior part of the land.

The anomaly has an explanation: the first plots were huge blocks measuring 100 meters wide by 200 meters high and the final layout reduced those dimensions to square lots and incorporated new roads, in which that handful of foundation houses He was somewhat dislocated.

“The Catalan Corner, the old San Mayol hotel -where the Agrarian Youth party hall, dances and social gatherings also functioned-, the disproportionate tower and the wooden Christ carved in France of the Sacred Heart of Jesus church, in addition to the inverted houses, are the most surprising attractions to visitors,” says Ezequiel Lanza, creator of the Espardemya tourism enterprise and the most suitable guide of San Mayol, along with his colleague Carolina Goicoechea.

Lanza is also responsible for enriching the heritage of his Rincón Catalán mini museumthe final point of the walking tour that leads through its rigorous story in references, dates and relevant facts.

The walk begins at Waiting room of the train station converted into a Historical Museum. There are preserved family objects, plans from 1895 of the San Felipe neighborhood and ranch, and references to the center of the Ma Llar rural estate, the comfortable residence that the Masferrer-Mayol couple enjoyed since 1936.

The stately airs of the most distinguished family were not an impediment for them to maintain a pleasant relationship with the most humble neighbors and the rural residents.

Francisco Masferrer was a Catalan independentist, owner and founder of the newspaper “Vic” -very close to the interests of the working class of Spain-, who had set foot in the country to be safe from the stalking of the Franco dictatorship.

Those letters in mold from the past of San Mayol have an imaginary link with the solidarity gesture of Core brothers, whose circus was passing through here in the ’80s. The cast stayed in the town for a month to offer six shows a week. The event was an irresistible attraction for the public that came from dozens of kilometers around and exceeded expectations.

The social and cultural imprint left by this group of vocational artists is synthesized in the Monument to the Creole Circus, the most authentic way that the wholesalers found to pay tribute to them. Inaugurated in 2023, the colorful piece denotes a gesture of joy expressed from a kind of outdoor cobblestone stage, at the mercy of the wind and the resurgent sun in San Mayol, which silently awaits the approval of the public.

• From the city of Buenos Aires to San Mayol it is 510 kilometers through Riccheri, Highway to Cañuelas and Route 3; 10 kilometers before Tres Arroyos, turn left onto a dirt road and continue for 17 kilometers.

• Plusmar or Cóndor Estrella semi-sleeper bus from Retiro to Tres Arroyos (7 hours 30′), $32,150 one way; sleeper car, $36,700.

• Remís Moreno for 4 passengers from Tres Arroyos to San Mayol, $14,000 one way (02983- 430-777).

• In San Mayol, Patria Mía family home: for two people, $20,000 to $25,000.

• In Tres Arroyos, Los Silos hotel: Standard double room with breakfast, garage, $34,000; double Luxe (also includes refrigerator, minibar, microwave and electric kettle), $38,000; apartment, $39,500 for two people (02983- 426-530 / 02983- 15575702 / recepcionsh@gmail.com / www.siloshotel.ar).

• Hotel Andrea: double room with breakfast, cable TV, wi-fi and outdoor parking at 45°, $36,000; triple, $48,000; garage, $2,500 (02983- 426-214 / 02983- 15463576 / anderahotel@live.com.ar / www.andreahotel.com.ar).

• (02983) 15511146 / (02983) 15449098 / (02983) 458-996
• info.sanmayol@gmail.com / tresarroyosturismo@gmail.com
• www.turismo.tresarroyos.gov.ar