Laguna del Toro

Laguna del Toro was the maximum-security unit of the Islas Marías federal penal colony, which operated on María Madre island from 1905 until it closed in 2019. Most prisoners on the island lived in open camps, working in farms, salt pans and workshops, sometimes with their families. Laguna del Toro was the exception: a walled, high-security facility built for inmates considered the most dangerous, with room for several hundred prisoners.

After the colony closed, the island was turned into a nature reserve and cultural center, and Laguna del Toro became one of the main stops on the guided tours. Visitors walk through the empty corridors, cell blocks and yards, and guides explain what life was like for the men held here. The silence of the place, surrounded by the forest of a UNESCO biosphere reserve, makes a strong contrast with its past.

The visit is usually paired with other sites in the south of the island, such as the old salt works, where prisoners once labored and where scenes of the 1951 film Islas Marías with Pedro Infante were shot, and the Punta Halcones lookout.