Mayor denies kissing ban, invites all to pucker up

[January 21, 2009]  MEXICO CITY (AP) -- When you come to Guanajuato, pucker up. Mayor Eduardo Romero is declaring the colonial city in central Mexico "the kissing capital" of the world to disprove, once and for all, claims that he has banned smooching in public.

The flap arose over an anti-obscenity law that many people believed would fine anyone caught kissing in public. The government denied it intended to ban kissing, but agreed to suspend the legislation so its wording could be reviewed.

Romero unveiled advertisements Tuesday featuring a couple locking lips on one of Guanajuato's many winding, cobble-stoned streets. They read: "Guanajuato, the kissing capital."

A local legend of forbidden love gives the city claim to the title.

It tells of a young woman whose father prohibited her from seeing her lover because he was too poor. But the couple lived across from each other in a street so narrow they could lean out their windows to kiss in secret.

That street remains known as the "kissing alley."

[Associated Press]

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