Artist Carlos Camilo Báez and about 140 workers from Taller Xibalbá built a 33.4-meter Catrina in Mexico City’s Zócalo, and Guinness World Records confirmed it as the tallest in the world, more than 5 meters above Puerto Vallarta’s 2023 record.
The giant figure was unveiled on the night of October 29 in the Plaza de la Constitución, the main square of Mexico City, as the centerpiece of this year’s monumental Day of the Dead altar.
During the ceremony, Guinness World Records adjudicator Alfredo Arista verified the measurements and gave the city the certificate, according to Net Noticias and La Jornada.
“With an official figure of 33.411 meters, I can say that you are officially amazing,” Arista told the crowd, as reported by Net Noticias.
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Taller than announced
Before the unveiling, the city and the press described the Catrina as a figure of about 32 meters. The official measurement came out higher, TV Azteca noted.
The previous record belonged to Puerto Vallarta, in the state of Jalisco, where a Catrina of 28.15 meters was certified in 2023, according to Euronews.
That makes the new figure about 5.3 meters taller than the old mark. Euronews compared its height to that of an 11-story building.
More than 100 tonnes of steel and fiberglass
The Catrina is not just a large paper doll. According to the Mexico City Culture Secretariat, the piece combines a steel structure with sculpted fiberglass elements weighing more than 100 tonnes in total.
The team also used textiles and LED lighting. The molds were made with techniques taken from cartonería, the Mexican craft of papier-mâché figures, adapted to a work of this size.
Her purple dress is more than 27 meters long. Making it took 3,500 linear meters of fabric, the Secretariat said in a statement published on October 29.
The dress was sewn in sections to make assembly easier. Its design draws on Mexican textile art, inspired by Tenango embroidery, with flowers and hummingbirds that are part of the lighting.
The skull is made of fiberglass. Báez explained that the team first modeled it in polystyrene foam and then used the cartonería technique to build the mold. The Catrina’s bones are also lit from inside, so the figure changes at nightfall.
A giant that could not be anchored
The hardest problem was the square itself. The installation is temporary, and it could not be anchored to the ground or set on a permanent foundation in the historic Zócalo.
That meant the stability of the structure, the assembly steps and the later removal all had to be planned from the start, before any piece was built.
“We started working at the beginning of the year, in February,” Báez said in the statement. He described the challenge of making an ephemeral piece “in a square where we cannot anchor ourselves, where we cannot place a foundation.”
The workshop behind the record
Taller de Arte Xibalbá is led by Carlos Camilo Báez. He took part in the first monumental cartonería projects installed in the Zócalo in 2005, according to the Culture Secretariat.
After working with other teams on large productions around Mexico, he founded Xibalbá with a group of collaborators five years ago. The collective mixes art with engineering, architecture, logistics and safety work.
Between 140 and 150 people took part in the different stages of the build, from logistics and purchasing to fabrication and assembly, the Secretariat said.
The jobs included electrical installation, welding, sculpture, mural painting and fiberglass work. A core team of 14 people coordinated the main tasks, backed by collaborators from earlier projects of the workshop.
For Báez, this is the sixth time he has helped set up an altar in the Zócalo. “It is mainly a great responsibility,” he said, adding that the piece has to be extremely safe for the people who come to see it.
A tribute to José Guadalupe Posada
The figure pays tribute to the Catrina Garbancera, the elegant female skeleton created by Mexican engraver José Guadalupe Posada. Euronews dates his illustration to 1913.
Diego Rivera later placed the character in his mural “Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Central,” helping turn her into one of the best-known symbols of the Day of the Dead.
Mexico City head of government Clara Brugada said the figure is a critique of vanity, classism and false appearances, a reminder that death makes no distinction of titles, surnames or fortune, La Jornada reported.
Marigolds, axolotls and lights
The Catrina stands at the heart of an ofrenda, the traditional altar that honors the dead, facing the Metropolitan Cathedral. The Culture Secretariat speaks of 100,000 cempasúchil flowers, the bright orange marigolds of the season.
Sawdust carpets and pieces from the exhibition “Ajolotes en el Corazón,” featuring axolotls, complete the display. Net Noticias counted 66 painted axolotl pieces.
More than 100 workers from the city’s Public Works Secretariat also built the monumental lighting on the square, with Catrinas, candles, sugar skulls, marigolds and hummingbirds, according to La Jornada.
Free to visit for a few days
Entry to the altar is free. The Catrina can be reached by Metro Line 2 at Zócalo/Tenochtitlan station, although closures are expected during the weekend’s events.
Brugada also invited residents to the 10th Grand Day of the Dead Parade, which leaves the Diana Cazadora fountain on Saturday and ends at the Zócalo.
A short life for a record
The Culture Secretariat says the Catrina is open to the public until November 2. Because it was designed without a foundation, the giant will be taken apart soon after the holiday ends.
Báez asked visitors not to let the giant replace the home rituals. “Do not stop putting up your altars at home, do not stop visiting your cemeteries, making your pan de muerto, buying the cempasúchil flower,” he said.
For the team at Xibalbá, the months of work since February now come down to a few days in the square and a Guinness certificate. Will another city try to build an even taller Catrina next year?
