Argentina - Buenos Aires, La Boca

La Boca is one of the 47 <i.barrios (neighbourhoods) of Buenos Aires, located near the old port of the city. La Boca means in English ‘the mouth’. Its is named so because it is situated at the mouth of the river Riachuelco. This proximity to the river is in fact the reason for La Boca’s existence: the neighbourhood used to consist solely of shipyards and of the houses of people - in the beginning with many settlers from Italy - who worked in them. The houses were built with cast-off ship building materials, meaning that they were largely constructed of materials such as planks, sheet metal and corrugated iron. Houses were painted with whatever leftover paint they could find from the nearby dockyard.

These colourful houses nowadays are a magnet for tourists and La Boca is one the main destinations for visitors. Colourful El Cominito (Little Walkway) - a formerly rail route - is the main attraction with (pseudo) art galleries, artists and tango dancers. The little pedestrian street is also a tourist trap with touts, hawkers, hustlers and overpriced knick-knacks.

La Boca is also well known for its football club Boca Juniors and their stadium La Bombonera (PiP5)).