El Salvador: Small but Marvellous

There is more to this country than its sunset-facing beaches (but I get to them in the end!)

FROM FLORES, in Guatemala, I flew to the airport outside San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, the smallest country in the Americas. El Salvador, meaning ‘The Saviour’, has a population of 6.5 million, which makes it quite densely populated.

El Salvador, in Central America. Map data ©2024 Google. North is at the top in this and all similar maps in this post.

Like its neighbours, El Salvador used to be part of the old Federal Republic of Central America, until that federation broke up at the start of the 1840s. Its principal national hero from that era is Captain General Gerardo Barrios, not to be confused with the Guatemalan ruler of the same surname.

Effiigies of Captain General Gerardo Barrios and his wife, and his wife, Adelaida Guzmán de Barrios, in the Cementerio de los Ilustres, San Salvador. Public domain image by Efegé, 29 April 2009, via Wikimedia Commons.

Once I got to San Salvador, the first thing I did was to do a Guru Walk. That is a walk organised via a platform where you do free walks and donate money to the guides who show you the sights and landmarks.

The main town square in San Salvador is named after Captain General Barrios and has a statue of him, on horseback.