How ‘murder capital' El Salvador became one of the world's hottest (and safest) destinations

Telegraph

2 days ago

One year, you're a 'murder capital', echoing to the sound of gunshots, the next you're a booming tourist magnet.
El Salvador, according to the latest United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) statistics, is the world's third fastest-growing holiday destination, behind only Albania and Qatar.
The small Central American country has seen tourist numbers jump an impressive 80 per cent since 2019. Some 3.2 million international visitors arrived in 2024, including more than 1.2 million US tourists.
Having visited in 2013 and 2017, I'm actually not that surprised.
While El Salvador is unlikely to knock Costa Rica off its perch as an entry-level Central American destination, it has plenty of diverse delights to offer the curious tourist.
Let's start with the attractions. For nature-lovers, the El Imposible National Park is a great starting point.
The name refers not to the chances of rescuing a lost tourist but to a steep gorge that was a much-unloved slog for local farmers with their mules.
The hiking here is pretty good, if hot, but the park's main attraction is the birdlife. Among the 300 or so species are glittering hummingbirds, multi-hued motmots, orioles and parakeets; it's the only place in the country to see the critically endangered great curassow.
Surfers have been loving El Salvador for decades. In 2024, the country hosted six major international surf events – including the prestigious World Surf League competition, cementing its reputation as one of the top surfing destinations in the world.
Punta Roca and Las Flores are world-famous – and stunning to look at if you're not a surfer.
La Libertad, Playa El Tunco, El Sunzal, and El Zonte, all in the west, attract lots of wave-addicts, but there are scores of less promoted spots on the coast. Because distances are relatively small, it's easy to hop from break to break.
San Salvador is a sprawling, modern, American-looking city – better for burgers and pizzas than for pupusas, the delicious flatbreads filled with pork, cheese and beans that are Salvadorean's favourite snack.
It doesn't have big-capital drawing power, but to be frank, apart from Antigua in Guatemala and Panama City, Central America is not big on urban attractions.
The plazas and backstreets down town are worth a wander, with coffee shops to refuel, and cool down, in.
The brutalist El Rosario church is eye-catching; the rainbow-coloured interior has been dubbed the 'stairway to heaven'.
Marte, the main art museum, is always hosting interesting themed shows; it has a section on the 1979-1992 civil war. It's also the site of the striking Monument to the 1948 Revolution.
A safe bet
The main point here, though, is that, apart from the airport, foreign tourists never really came to San Salvador.
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) puts it plainly: 'Security in El Salvador has improved considerably with significant reductions in crime'.
The gang crackdown and controversial draconian security measures imposed by the government of president Nayib Bukele – who won a second term in 2024, with 84 per cent of the vote – has seen the national homicide count fall from 6,657 in 2015 to 114 in 2024.
It has gone from having one of the highest murder rates in the world (106.3 per 100,000 in 2015) to one only slightly higher than the UK's.
Last year, as a consequence, the United States Department of State upgraded El Salvador's travel advisory status from Level 3 (Reconsider Travel) to Level 2 (Exercise Increased Caution).
Just 30 miles to the north of the capital is my favourite place in El Salvador.
Suchitoto, set amid rich, rolling agricultural land, is not grand or swoon-inducingly pretty, but it is cobbled, quaint and polished.
A bolthole for middle-class Salvadorans escaping the big city, it has cultural spaces, cafés and restaurants and a gorgeous church on the plaza.
It hosts an international film festival every autumn, and I can heartily recommend its lively and fun-filled fiesta honouring Santa Lucia, the town's patron saint, in December. The former mansion where I like to stay here, Los Almendros de San Lorenzo, was built in 1805 when El Salvador was still part of the Spanish Empire.
Owners Joaquín Rodezno and Pascal Lebailly have created somewhere comfortable, even luxurious, but which still feels aged and atmospheric. Tropical gardens and a pool mean you have to make an effort to wrench yourself away from the place and go and explore.
In 1983, Joan Didion's short sharp Salvador brought the bloody story of the civil war to an international readership. It was reported in the UK – the BBC's Jeremy Bowen started his career in El Salvador – but, like almost all things Latin American, it was always a remote affair.
Liberation theology, Marxist guerrillas and US and USSR machinations in the region were exotic topics in the Britain of Margaret Thatcher. Ordinary Britons easily got confused about the so-called 'Contras' and what was happening at the time in Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras and, even, Grenada.
El Salvador's Oriente region is the place to head for a basic understanding of the conflict that made El Salvador infamous. Up at Perquín – where the Farabundo Martí Popular Liberation Forces (FMLN) leftist guerrillas had their headquarters – are memorials to the fallen. Shrines and burial sites are dotted here and there, and commemorative parades are as routine as religious ones.
The Museo de la Revolución contains a collection of war memorabilia, rocket launchers, downed helicopter fragments, a preserved radio station, propaganda posters and photographs of guerrillas. Nearly 1,000 people were slain in a massacre that took place in December 1981 in El Mozote.
Visiting such places might sound like the very definition of 'dark tourism', but the people I encountered were welcoming and kind; they want the world to know what happened here.
The journey up to the sierras around Perquín – known today as the capital of the Peace Route – was also quite magical.
A bright future
UK tour firm bosses are very upbeat about its future prospects. 'I recently returned from a trip full of highlights,' says David Horwell, founder of Select Latin America.
'Sunset dinners by Lake Coatepeque, volcano hikes, artisan workshops, watching surfers at El Tunco, and drinking in atmospheric bars in San Salvador's historic centre.
'It's a perfect blend of thrilling adventures, laid-back moments, rich history, and immersive local experiences, all within a small, accessible country. Over the past year, we've witnessed a rise in interest for El Salvador as a travel destination, and it's no surprise. The country's improving safety record and steadily expanding tourism infrastructure are drawing a wide variety of travellers.'
He highlights coffee tourism and the pre-Columbian ruins of Tazumal and Joya de Cerén as attractions with major potential for UK travellers.
Steve Wilson, founder of sabbatical specialist LiNGER, adds: 'Having spent time back in El Salvador for the first time in 25 years, I can safely say it is one of the most inspiring, unique and safe countries to travel at the moment.'
John Faithfull, a Central America specialist at Steppes Travel, concurs: 'As the security situation improves on the ground, the appetite for travel to El Salvador grows.
Typically, our clients are aged 50-plus, well-travelled and driven by an interest in El Salvador's people and culture, as well as a curiosity about the civil war and its legacy. The warmth of the people and the stories they share are what our clients find most captivating about El Salvador.'
The fabled Pan-American Highway has always gone arrow-straight through El Salvador, but for years many travellers halted at the border and wondered if it was worth the risk. Bukele's heavy-handed approach to crime will continue to be divisive, but it has opened up the country to mainstream tourism.
This in turn is drawing investment. Intriguingly, in sheer visitor numbers, El Salvador is already ahead of Costa Rica – which had 2.9 million visitors in 2024, a drop of 7 per cent on 2019.
Perhaps, post-pandemic, we're all a bit braver, or at least more curious. I am already scanning the crime stats for this year's 'murder capital' to plan my next holiday.