By Carola Rico
Katya Soto Escamilla, Local Deputy for District IX that includes San Miguel de Allende and Apaseo el Grande, recently granted an interview to Atencion. She spoke about further development in the district, especially in the town of Apaseo el Grande. In her opinion, Apaseo can learn a lot from San Miguel. Soto informed us that many investments are destined for Apaseo, but that the government has to improve infrastructure and security to meet the growth and plan objectives.
Currently, automotive plants are the main source of employment in Apaseo el Grande; Tourism, on the other hand, is not very strong in the city. She notes, however, that the administration of the current mayor of Apaseo el Grande, Chelis Oliveros, has a vision for starting tourism as a source of income that will support local producers.
One of the big potentials is wedding tourism because of the more than 30 haciendas in town. Also, there are 380 chapels; “We are moving little by little toward infrastructure and for proper roadways to the highways; and also, with a planned vision to for the community,” Soto commented.
She explained that the government of Apaseo intends to take San Miguel’s example, which has become a standard for wedding tourism, and in which it has done very well. The objective is to replicate the strategies and the work to accomplish similar results in Apaseo.
Regarding the relationship with the PRI party mayor of San Miguel, Mauricio Trejo Pureco, she said that it is a friendly relationship. But, so far there is no attempt at working together nor has anything concrete been established. She applauds how San Miguel’s municipal budget has been handled. From her point of view, the finances are healthy, and she says that San Miguel is one of the municipalities with the cleanest, and most transparent finances. It has had a well-managed budget to carry out various projects. Soto believes that this is not only due to the current administration, but also to predecessors who have worked equally hard in San Miguel’s interest. So, it is something to celebrate.
Finally, Soto reported that the heritage city budget revenue law was approved. She reiterated that her relationship with Trejo is cordial in spite of the fact that they do not belong to the same political parties.
