They say this because Nuevo Leon, in comparison to the more southern states, does not have as strong of a connection to its indigenous roots. They also say it is because Monterrey has become very modern and commercial. To say that an area is very commercial means that people there are especially concerned with making money. As we have seen, Monterrey is the richest city in Latin America, and people have argued that the city adopted this attitude from the United States. In imitating the U.S., Monterrey is said to have lost some of its "Mexican-ness".
Not everyone agrees with this belief! Such was the case of a man named Gabriel Rosiles, who argued that there was a lot of culture in Monterrey—art, music, food, history—you just had to know where to look. He was so convinced of this that in 2025, for his final project at UDEM (his university), he decided to start MADE Week (Mexico Art and Design Exhibition Week). This would be an annual event where he and his team would put together circuits of mostly free cultural activities, and artists of all kinds could apply to host an activity. The idea was that, in a single day, all of the events would be close to each other so that people could use public transportation to get to the first event and then just walk to the following ones. The first MADE Week was a success, and in 2026, they decided to repeat it (luckily for Ricky and I)!
We went to an event entitled, Tengo Orgullo de Ser del Norte (I Am Proud to Be from the North). It was a culinary and artistic experience.
