Buenos Aires: A city where every open space transforms into a dance floor

As the beating heart of South America, Buenos Aires stands out for its deep immigrant roots and its distant location far south of the equator. It's a city that’s truly one-of-a-kind on this vast and varied continent.

It’s no surprise they call it the Paris of the South. With its breathtaking European-inspired architecture and a culture that fuses old-world charm with vibrant new-world energy, it’s a place of undeniable allure.

Stroll through the streets of Buenos Aires and you can feel the buzz in the air—an electric energy, a thrilling edge, that defines the city.

Whether you’re drawn to passionate tango, the fierce energy of its soccer stadiums, or the avant-garde art in its parks and museums, Buenos Aires offers an experience like no other city in the world.

Dancing in the streets of Buenos Aires

In La Boca, Buenos Aires’ vibrant historic port, the spirit of tango is everywhere. This neighborhood, where waves of Italian immigrants arrived in the early 1900s, became the birthplace of two of Argentina’s greatest passions—soccer and tango.

Nestled beneath the shadow of La Bombonera, the famed stadium of Boca Juniors where the legendary Diego Maradona made his mark, tango continues to captivate tourists who flock to see this sultry, romantic dance firsthand and perhaps even take a turn themselves.

The tango’s rise began when immigrants in La Boca started creating their own unique style of dance, says dancer and instructor Horacio Godoy.

'I believe people needed something to connect with in this new world,' he explains, referring to the immigrants who invented what has become one of Argentina’s most famous cultural exports. According to Godoy, tango was a way for men to meet and win the hearts of women.

'People started dancing because they wanted to impress women,' Godoy laughs. 'But back then, you couldn’t dance with women, so men practiced with other men, just men,' he grins.

Tango started as a dance of the working class. More casual than the waltz and edgier than the foxtrot, it quickly grew from a local trend to a global phenomenon. Once women joined the dance floor, its fiery, passionate style was cemented, and the rest is history.

Tango is not only about passion, but also about community, as seen in the countless milongas across the city where people gather to dance, socialize, and momentarily escape their everyday lives.

Tango isn’t confined to social halls—it’s performed wherever there’s room to move. Be it on the streets, in the parks, or within the walls of homes, tango finds a space to unite people.

'Tango is the reason not to be alone,' says Godoy. 'It brings people together. It creates friendships, sparks relationships—it's a bond, a connection between souls.'

A nod to the past

While tango and soccer fuel the heartbeat of Buenos Aires, the reverence for the dead is equally profound, perhaps more so than anywhere else in Latin America, thanks to the extraordinary Recoleta Cemetery.

This necropolis stands on par with Paris’s Père Lachaise, with grand tombs and towering memorials reflecting the European influences that permeate this remarkable site.

The influential and wealthy of Buenos Aires spare no expense in erecting magnificent monuments in Recoleta, ensuring their legacies live on. But no grave attracts more visitors than that of Eva Perón, known to all as Evita.

Evita, the actress-turned-politician who became a cultural icon, passed away in 1952 at just 33 years old. However, her body was secretly buried under an assumed name in Italy for two decades, as the authorities feared the power of having such a symbolic figure’s grave in her home city.

'She is one of the most influential figures in our history,' says local historian Camila Perochena. 'When it comes to our 20th-century history... I believe she is one of the most internationally recognized Argentinians.'

This is certainly true, with only Diego Maradona being in close competition. Evita’s legacy continues to fuel passionate debate across Argentina to this day.

To the generals and elites who had her body initially buried abroad, Evita’s socialist ideals were considered a threat, and she was often seen as a mere pawn in her husband Juan’s political maneuvers. However, to her admirers, she is an enduring symbol of progress in a country that has faced many challenges over the last five decades.

Today, Evita rests five meters beneath the earth in the Duarte family tomb, alongside her own relatives. Though it’s not clearly marked and hard to find, that doesn’t stop thousands from making the pilgrimage to honor her memory.

'We don’t live in the past, but we’re always talking about it,' says Perochena. 'We argue about it, at dinner or anywhere else, about our history—about Perón, about the revolution, about the military dictatorship. The past is always with us, present in our daily lives.'

Even though Evita passed away 70 years ago, her influence endures, whether at the museum dedicated to her memory in the Palermo district, a former women’s shelter that she personally acquired in 1948, or at the Department of Health and Social Development.

Inside, there are two portraits of Evita. One shows her gazing southward, towards the poorer, marginalized areas of Buenos Aires, with the iconic smile that became her trademark.

On the opposite side of the building, facing the wealthier northern suburbs, a different Evita is depicted—one who is campaigning, pushing for social change, and rallying the masses.

She embodies many roles, even now. A bridge between the living and the dead, between history and the present. An Argentinian whose name is known the world over.

A striking reminder of the past

While debates about the past remain intense in Argentina, one historical event seems to persist as the focal point of discussion more than any other: the Falklands War.

Despite historical tensions, there are still deep connections between Britain and Argentina. Throughout the 20th century, many Scots and Welsh immigrants made Argentina their home. Polo, a sport brought by the British, remains a national passion. The Torre de los Ingleses, a clock tower in downtown Buenos Aires, stands as a testament to the British influence that once ran deep in the country.

However, the animosity between the two nations erupted into open conflict in 1982, when Britain sought to reclaim the Falkland Islands—known as Las Malvinas to Argentinians. This was a war that saw Argentinians with British roots fighting against soldiers from the very land their ancestors had once called home. Among them was Miguel Savage.

Savage comes from a family with Scottish and Irish roots, one of whom served with the British during World War II. In 1982, at just 20 years old, he was drafted into the Argentine army by the military junta and sent to the front lines.

'I had just one day of rifle training and I never thought they’d actually send me,' he recalls. 'I told my mum at breakfast that morning, 'They won’t send me, I’m not a soldier.' A week later, I found myself crouched in a peat bog at the base of Mount Longdon, in one of the war’s fiercest battles.'

'I kept asking myself, what the hell am I doing here? This is a job for a trained soldier, not someone like me.'

Savage was eventually captured and sent back to Argentina aboard a British warship, where he found that casual conversations with British paratroopers made him realize the impersonal nature of war.

'I expected tensions on the ship, but instead, I was surprised to find a few British paratroopers chatting with some of my fellow conscripts,' he recalls. 'They talked about football, music—British bands like Genesis, Pink Floyd, Supertramp—and girls. Just the kind of things young men usually discuss.'

'That’s when it hit me: wars are anonymous. When you engage in simple human interaction, war becomes unimaginable.'

The 649 Argentine soldiers who perished in the conflict—one of the bloodiest chapters of Argentina’s military dictatorship—are honored at a dedicated memorial in Buenos Aires. Around 255 British soldiers also lost their lives. The monument stands as a stark reminder of how the war still resonates deeply with locals whose families were affected, and remains a central issue in Argentine politics even 40 years later.

Out at the estancia

It doesn’t take long to leave the bustle of Buenos Aires and discover another side of Argentina—one that’s no less central to the national identity and how the country is perceived globally. Just an hour outside the city, estancias stretch out as far as the eye can see.

These expansive ranches are home to the world-famous gauchos, who raise cattle for the beef that’s one of Argentina’s top exports. Riding across these vast lands on horseback is the best way to appreciate the true scale of these places, rich in traditions that have been passed down for over a century.

For Eva Boelcke, owner of El Ombú, the life of a gaucho is more than a tradition—it’s personal.

'My grandfather purchased the farm in 1934. It’s been in the family ever since. My father was determined to keep it that way,' she laughs. 'Well, we had to keep it!'

Now, four generations later, El Ombú not only earns income from its prized beef but also attracts tourists eager to explore the authentic world of estancia life. Visitors can ride across the expansive pampas on comfortable saddles, experiencing a way of life that has changed little over the last century.

The gauchos played a crucial role in powering Buenos Aires’ economy. Today, the beef they raised remains central to Argentine social life, especially around the iconic 'asado' (barbecue).

'When I have friends over and we want to spend time together, they’ll call me and ask, 'Want to have an asado today?' That's how we do it,' says Boelcke’s son, Pablo. 'Asado just means 'come to my house' and we enjoy the moment together. It's a very typical thing here.'

The steak at El Ombú is legendary—and it lives up to the hype. Across Buenos Aires, steaks from El Ombú and other estancias are what continue to attract both locals and tourists. This is a city and a country where meat lovers reign supreme.

The estancia is an integral part of Argentina’s heritage. While it may seem distant from modern life, a visit to one—even just a short drive from Buenos Aires—offers a deeper, richer understanding of this remarkable country.

Argentina exudes a unique human warmth, and Buenos Aires, in particular, stands with undeniable confidence—a city that takes pride in itself, and justifiably so.

It’s not just the tango, the history, or the legacy of gaucho culture. Buenos Aires is an energizing place—full of pride and eager to share its vibrant spirit with the world. Anyone who visits is bound to leave feeling refreshed and inspired.