In September 2024 – about four months after Mexico elected its first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum – voters in the city of Guadalajara chose Verónica Delgadillo García to be their first female mayor. It was a watershed moment for a society that has long struggled with its deep-rooted machismo culture. The 42-year-old activist-turned-politician of the centre-left Movimiento Ciudadano party sees her achievement as an opportunity to emancipate Mexican politics from prejudice.

“I want to show how power can be empathetic and sensitive in a country where violence persists,” she says from her desk in Guadalajara’s city hall, which looks out onto the distinctive, richly decorated cathedral of the capital of Jalisco state. Behind her is a sign that reads “Limpia Guadalajara” (“Clean Guadalajara”). “I want us to have the cleanest streets in the country,” she says. The first phase includes graffiti removal and the maintenance of green spaces, a project that has already cost some MX$226m (€12m).

Delgadillo García cut her teeth in politics as a student. As president of the university body at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente, she had big ideas. “Back then I knew nothing about politics but my sense of conviction opened a lot of doors.” In 2012 she became deputy at the Union Congress Chamber of Deputies after a solo door-to-door campaign. “For as long as I can remember, I have been intent on improving Guadalajara’s quality of life,” she says. 

Delgadillo García’s three-year term will be punctuated by political, social and economic challenges, one of which will be jointly hosting the 2026 Fifa World Cup with 15 other cities across Mexico, the US and Canada. It’s fitting, then, that Delgadillo García’s government acquired 160 rubbish trucks to establish a reliable waste-management system and is creating faster road links with Mexico City.

But the mayor also hopes to consolidate her city’s position as Mexico’s emerging epicentre of arts and culture. “I want to make this place a global reference point for architecture, gastronomy and audiovisual production,” she tells Monocle. 

The foundations for this are well established. Every year, Guadalajara hosts the most important book fair in Latin America, Fil. The city is also home to the world’s largest mariachi festival and hosts PreMaco, the warm-up act to ZonaMaco, Latin America’s most important contemporary-art fair, which is held in Mexico City. 

The Tapatíos – as the city’s residents are known – are feeling optimistic. When we join the mayor at popular Guadalajara watering hole De La O, we sip on tejuino, a fermented corn tipple, while members of the public greet her with enthusiasm.

Delgadillo García’s battle cry is La ciudad que te cuida, which means “The city that looks after you”. “Guadalajara can be a demanding place but it’s also resilient,” she says. Like its mayor, who has had to overcome difficult challenges over the years as a young woman in politics, Guadalajara is a city with steely determination and a desire to present its best face while the world watches.