Palm Springs Signs Sister City Agreement with San Miguel de Allende

“It’s very exciting to have a revived sister city program in Palm Springs. It’s an opportunity for us to really share our cultures and our values,” said Palm Springs Mayor Grace Garner.

Two cities in two countries are now connected. Palm Springs and San Miguel de Allende share similar demographics, cultures, and traditions, and following a ceremony on Wednesday, the two “sister cities” will now share a formal bond. 

“It’s a big deal for us definitely because San Miguel de Allende is a world heritage city. 84% of our economy is because of tourism,” said Mayor of San Miguel de Allende Mauricio Trejo.

“Palm Springs is a very cultural town, or a small city, like San Miguel de Allende. It depends a lot on tourism.”

“San Miguel de Allende has a robust LGBTQ community and they’re very welcoming to that community, so I think it’s a perfect fit for us,” said Garner. 

Palm Springs City Council approved the “Sister Cities International Partnership Agreement” at its Jan. 26 meeting this year and the first Latino mayor of the city of Palm Springs sealed the deal. 

“It’s really exciting to welcome them as a Latina, but more importantly a Mexican,” said Garner. “It’s such an important part of my identity and my life here in the valley, so to be able to welcome the Mexican city, personally, is special.” 

The ceremony marked the beginning of an ongoing partnership between the city of Palm Springs and San Miguel de Allende – a colonial-era city in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. The program will promote partnerships in politics, business, arts, and especially education between the two unique but interrelated economies. 

“In San Miguel de Allende we are pretty much the same because it doesn’t matter that the heart of our city is wealthy, there’s a lot of tourism, there’s a lot of money in it because we still have areas in which poor people are living in,” said Trejo. “When you have better students, you have better citizens, when you have better citizens, you have a better city, so that’s why I’m so excited about this particular issue.”

Through the sister city program, both mayors are hoping to work together to offer a study abroad opportunity for students in their sister city and country. And Mayor Trejo is especially eager to bring a taste of our valley to Mexico. 

“I don’t want this year to end before we have this year in San Miguel de Allende, the Week of Palm Springs,” said Trejo. “Get ready”