Where to make a 2021 New Year’s wish in Tucson

In Spanish it’s El Tiradito. In English, it’s The Castaway. And for decades it has been a place Tucsonans bring a candle and make a wish. And if the candle burns through the entire night, the wish is supposed to come true.

Located on Main Ave in Viejo Barrio, El Tiradito is not a church or chapel although someone has added a small shrine to the ubiquitous Our Lady of Guadalupe off to the side in the space.

Instead, El Tiradito wishing spot is in the remnants of an old adobe house now with an official National Register of Historic Places designation to protect it from developers, ambitious bureaucrats and road planners. Only the walls and what may have been a fireplace remain of the old home now overseen by the Tucson Dept. of Parks and Recreation.

Scandalous legends may be true

The story surrounding El Tiradito is of a young man who fell in love with his mother-in-law. (We’ll assume for this tale that she was youngish. More likely a Stepmother to the young man’s wife. Although beautiful older real mother-in-law could work for this folk story, too.) Anyway, they didn’t let anything get in their way and began a passionate love affair. Then one day –dum-de-dum-dum–the father-in-law shows up in an untimely fashion, catches them in the act and kills the young man dead. The he was buried at this site. The story ends there.

All a folk tale?

Well, maybe not. There is a newspaper report back in 1877 about a young man shooting his father-in-law. It could be from this news nugget that the story of El Tiradito grew and evolved. There are, too, other tales including one with a suicide and a mystery burial on the site. The love-triangle story, however, is the most common one. And in all of the tales survivors of the event come to this site and light candles in remembrance. The tradition of making a wish must have come along later.

Here are some other photos of El Tiradito:

Bring a model of what you’re wishing for

El Tiradito is not particularly organized. Just bring your own candle and light it. Look closely and you’ll see models of heavy construction equipment. And a camel! I wonder who wished for those items?

Untidy, but it is interesting to see that someone wished for a camel and another person for a big truck. Wishes are also scribbled on the walls. I assume the Park Dept. added the river rock fire rings and the iron candlesticks to help keep control of where the lighted candles burn.

Shrines to Our Lady of Guadalupe are absolutely everywhere in the U.S. Southwest. This one on a painted kitchen chair looks more like a memorial than a place to wish for a future event. Remembering the dead is common in Mexico. I sorta prefer the idea of visiting El Tiradito to make a wish for the New Year!

Happy New Year!!

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