San Salvador, El Salvador Summary

Sprawling across the Valle de las Hamacas at the foot of the mighty Volcán San Salvador is the urban melee of SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador’s chaotic, frenetic and polluted capital. It’s a city which is unlikely to win many hearts – on first impressions at least – with its crumbling buildings, raucous traffic and surrounding fringe of shantytowns. Earthquakes have robbed the city of most of its colonial architecture and under-investment in public buildings is often painfully obvious, while the legacy of war has left large slices of society without employment or opportunity. The daily theatre that passes for street life in the city centre reflects all of these factors, showing the public face of a metropolis that goes about its business without recourse to many of the advantages of Western cities.