Is Macondo from ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ Real?
Cien Años de Soledad S1. Marco Antonio González as José Arcadio Buendía in Cien Años de Soledad S1. Cr. Mauro González /Netflix ©2024
One of the most-asked questions after the One Hundred Years of Solitude adaptation was released on Netflix has to do with the town Gabriel García Márquez’s novel is set in, a town which the production recreated for the adaptation in Colombia. But the question everyone is asking is if Macondo is a real town or if it was invented by García Márquez for the novel?
The answer is very simple, Macondo as we see it in the series and even as it’s described in the novel doesn’t exist. Macondo is a fictional town, created as the setting for the story of the Buendía family. It was founded by José Arcadio Buendía and Úrsula Iguarán after they were forced to leave their home and start anew because they were being haunted by the ghost of Prudencio Aguilar. The first part of the Netflix adaptation, consisting of eight episodes, focuses on these two characters, their journey to find the right place for the town as well as the first years of Macondo and their family.
But despite the town being very much fictional, there is a real-life equivalent, or at least an inspiration for the town. Macondo is based in Aracataca, the town where Gabriel García Márquez was born and where he spent his childhood. Aracataca is located near the north coast of Colombia, 80 km south of Santa Marta. In 2006, recognizing the connection, there was even a referendum in town to change the name of the town to Macondo. But the referendum failed due to low turnout.
In his autobiography, Living to Tell the Tale, García Márquez explains that he took the name Macondo from a sign at a banana plantation near Aracataca. Macondo is also the local name of the tree Cavanillesia platanifolia, which grows in that area.
One Hundred Years of Solitude: Part 1 is now on Netflix.