Mexican Ambassador to attend St Piran's Day parade

The annual St Piran's Day parade will have a special guest this year

The Mexican Ambassador to the UK will help celebrate Cornwall's historic links with Latin America at the St Piran's Day Parade this weekend.

Ambassador Josefa Gonzalez-Blanco has been invited by organisers Truro City Council and Truro Old Cornwall Society to attend.

The parade honours the patron saint who brought the "secrets of tin extraction" from Ireland to Cornish shores.

Ms Gonzalez-Blanco said she was "thrilled" to be attending.

She added: "We should always seize the opportunity to celebrate values such as caring, inclusion, creativity and peace."

The Old Cornwall Society said there were "many links" between Cornwall and Mexico

Bert Biscoe, President of the Truro Old Cornwall Society, said: "We are delighted to welcome Her Excellency.

"There are many links between Cornwall and Mexico, including descendants of many miners."

The council said the ambassador had a "long history as a promoter of social, environmental and cultural programmes, both in Mexico and the UK".

The parade on Saturday will set off from Waterfall Gardens on St George's Road at 13"00 GMT, heading towards the War Memorial on Boscawen Street, ending at High Cross, where there will be brief speeches and songs, including a performance by the City of Truro Male Choir.

St Piran's Day parades were held virtually in 2021 due to the pandemic but returned in "full force" in 2022.

Some links between Cornwall and Mexico:

• The Cornish Beam Engine, brought by Cornish miners to Mexico and used to pump water from disused mines, revived Mexico's silver industry, which had been abandoned after the War of Independence with Spain in the 19th Century.

• The miners carried with them Cornish pasty recipes, which were passed on to Mexican miners.

• The Cornish are credited with introducing football to Mexico, again by Cornish miners who arrived in Pachuca in 1900, where Pachuca Athletic was the first club to be formed in the country.

• Real del Monte and Pachucha in central Mexico are known as "Mexico's Little Cornwall", due to houses with corrugated iron roofs and chimneys.