In a small town in northern Colombia surrounded by banana trees, yellow butterflies flutter through the streets, a train line cuts through its heart, and a sign at the entrance of the town reads in large letters: Macondo. Bookworms might recognize the place as the centrepiece of the globally renowned prize winning novel, “100 Years of Solitude.”
The tale is about several generations of the Buendía family over a century, who live in the fictional town of Macondo. The name has become world famous and synonymous with the renowned masterpiece by the book’s Colombian author, Gabriel García Márquez. Macondo even has hotels, restaurants and cafes around the world named after it.
Now the magic of Macondo is coming to Netflix, with the first eight episodes of the 16-part production of “100 Years of Solitude,” dropping on December 11.
But did you know that Macondo is actually real? Well, at least the town that inspired it.
Macondo: A Town Where Fiction Meets Reality
The town full of yellow butterflies and welcoming “Macondo” sign is a place called Aracataca. Yet many locals lovingly call it Macondo. That’s because García Márquez was born in the town in 1927, and he himself often referred to it as the main inspiration for his award-winning novel.
“There’s not a single line in my novels which is not based on reality,” García Márquez said in an interview with The Paris Review in 1981. Even the name itself was borrowed from a nearby banana plantation.
With a population of around 40,000 people, Aracataca is about 50 miles from the Caribbean city of Santa Marta.
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“This is now a modern town with a lot of people but there are still some houses that are still standing from the old Macondo,” says resident Gilberto Tejeda Castañeda, referring to the town by its famous name, rather than its official name of Aracataca.
From Bananas to Coal: The Train Tracks of Macondo
It’s where García Márquez lived until he was eight years old with his grandparents, and although the original building doesn’t exist, a replica that serves as a museum has been built in its place. Visitors can wander through the study, the kitchen, bedrooms and small courtyard. It’s where his grandmother would tell him dreamlike-tales and his grandfather would make little gold fish, just like Colonel Aureliano Buendía did in the book.
“He was a sponge who assimilated. So as a child he saw and took in everything that his grandparents told him – about the history of Aracataca and the surroundings,” Castañeda, an author and huge fan of the works of García Márquez, explains.
The train tracks used to be used for trains transporting bananas at the height of the banana boom in the region – just like the book describes what happened in Macondo – and were also used by locals to reach other towns and cities. These days it is only used by freight trains ferrying coal from mines to the Caribbean coast.
A Nobel Prize and International Fame
“100 Years of Solitude” has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide, been translated into 46 languages and is credited with winning him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. When García Márquez won the coveted award, it truly put Aracataca on the map.
“It was crucial for us because we became known internationally,” said Carlos Eduardo Ruíz Jimeno, director of the museum Casa de la Telegrafista in the town and the place where García Márquez’s father once worked as a telegrapher.
“Now, if you go anywhere in the world and you say, I am from Aracataca, many fans know it’s the land of Gabriel García Márquez. I mean, it really is a privilege.”
Macondo Lives On, Even Without a Name Change
In 2006 the citizens of Aracataca took part in a referendum on whether the town’s name should be changed to Aracataca-Macondo. However, not enough people turned out to vote.
Despite that, most residents have embraced the elements of the book that center around the Buendía family and their lives in Macondo. Shops carry the name of Macondo, rooms are named after the characters in one of the hotels, and in another yellow paper butterflies are stuck to the walls.
While the town draws inspiration from Aracataca, the Netflix series wasn’t filmed there. A set of Macondo was constructed near a small town called Alvarado, in the department of Tolima using a space equivalent to around 70 soccer fields. Some locals felt rejected that no filming was done in Aracataca, and no residents were cast as actors. But most still feel that the Netflix series will benefit Aracataca, both economically by bringing in more tourists, but also by keeping the spirit of García Márquez and Macondo alive.
