At the time of choose Mexico City as your destination tourist, many people in the region fantasize about being able to find the neighborhood of El Chavo del 8 . The series, which was recorded for 9 years between 1971 and 1980, knew how to conquer the hearts of millions of children and to this day it continues to be broadcast in its original version as well as in its adaptation into cartoons. In that sense, it is one of the references that many travelers have from Mexico before setting foot in the country. Now, what can you see from Chavo del 8 in Mexico City?
Brief history of El Chavo del 8
The history of the series created by Roberto Gómez Bolaños, better known as Chespirito, it is as bright as it is stormy. According to Televisa records, by 1975 it was seen by no more and no less than 350 million viewers . Of course, television had another weight in people’s daily lives, but for a time when globalization was taking its first steps, El Chavo del 8 was a kind of boom that achieved last over time.
Despite having already spent 40 years since the broadcast of its last episode, the original series occupies a place in the main channels of several Latin American countries, in many cases close to prime time. It is important to clarify that El Chavo del 8 continued beyond 1980, although no longer as an independent program, but as a sketch within the Chespirito until June 12, 1992. In total, then, there were 21 years in which the product was part of the lives of Mexicans and the Spanish-speaking public in general.
With the idea of renewing its aesthetics and reaching new generations, the series had its readjustment into cartoons: in 2006 Animated El Chavo was launched, which takes up the original series with minimal changes (the most important: the absence of “La chilindrina” due to legal problems) . This new version made it possible to expand merchandising around the product and, at the same time, reach the younger generations. The death of Gómez Bolaños in 2014, at the age of 85, helped to dimension the place that this series occupied for Latin America, where various tributes took place and a spirit of mourning covered the region . In this way, despite the legal conflicts that occurred within the cast and that were occupied by the main Mexican and Spanish-speaking portals, El Chavo del 8 was able to continue his legacy as a product so far unmatched.
The Chavo del 8 and Mexico City: a distant relationship
The museum that never was
Now, having said all this, it could be believed that Mexico City knows how to take advantage of the boom generated by the guy to attract tourists and carry out different activities with the theme of the series. The reality, However, it shows the opposite: although every year thousands of people want to visit the famous neighborhood, or a thematic museum, none of that exists in Mexico City.
In life, Chespirito had fantasized about the idea of creating a museum of El Chavo, the Chapulín and other of his creations in the tourist city of Cancun. However, the residents of the area They opposed the project because of the number of tourists that it would attract in the middle of a residential place, so the project was truncated and, after the death of Gómez Bolaño, there were no more news about it. The rejection had been such that, as the Infobae portal recounts, the neighbors hung signs on their doors with the legend” No to the Chespirito museum ” . What happens, then, in Mexico City with respect to Chavo?
The hidden neighborhood
There are many who believe that the neighborhood of El Chavo del 8, where they took place the vast majority of character adventures actually exist. Every year, agency tour guides must explain as tactfully and patiently as possible that it was actually a recording studio Televisa located at Av Chapultepec 28, Doctores, 06720 Mexico City . The great doubt, however, lies in where to find the scenery used for nearly 300 episodes and that was recorded in the retina of millions of viewers.
The news is not encouraging either, since from what Intriper was able to trace, both the original scenography and typical elements and decorations are stored in three different locations: the Televisa warehouses, the house of Gómez Bolaño and the Chespirito Foundation . In the case of the latter, despite what one might believe, it is a place closed to the general public and it can only be entered with a prior appointment. Its function is to help with the basic needs of Mexican children in vulnerable situations.
“When they tell me that if I know the place where the neighborhood is, I tell them that everything was recorded in studios, which were not really locations,” commented a tour guide at the time, surprised because of the tourists’ idea of finding the famous neighborhood. In this sense, the worker added that when they point out that in the series what I know “are improvised wooden walls, they tell me that they don’t believe, that what happens is that they don’t I want to deviate from the tour due to lack of time. ” However, all is not lost for El Chavo fans .
“Chanfle and Recontrachanfle ”: the restaurant in Mexico City inspired by El Chavo
The children of Gómez Bolaños, seeing the constant demand from locals and tourists to live a close experience with the universe of El Chavo del 8, opened at the end of 2019 and earlier this year the restaurant “Chanfle y Recontrachanfle” located in Plaza Satélite, a shopping center in Mexico City. “Come to know the neighborhood to enjoy the unique and original Chavo ham cake, Doña Florinda’s churros, Ron Damón beer or try your skill and luck in Recontrachanfle”, says the local legend.
With a setting that recreates the neighborhood and its iconic objects such as the barrel where Chavo was hiding, the menu is thematic and the people who work there also have clothing according to the universe created by Gómez Bolaño. While “ Chanfle” focuses on the history of El Chavo del 8, “Recontrachanfle” is intended as a playground and is inspired by the other series that crossed borders by the same director: “El Chapulín Colorado ”.
Of course, could not miss the waters “which are from Jamaica, but they look like lemon and taste like tamarind” . It can be visited every day and its schedule is from 11:00 am The Plaza Satélite shopping center is located at the Bosque de Chapultepec, the largest in Latin America and & nbsp; is one of the largest of its kind in the western hemisphere according to the World Urban Parks (WPI) organization.
