We will start with the lepero for being the one known on this side of the pond… Leperos They are the inhabitants of the Huelva municipality of Lepe in Spain, which, among many other things, could be said to have been the birthplace of a king of England... Juan de Lepe .
And regarding the léperos … It is said that there were léperos since Mexico City was Tenochtitlán and that Hernán Cortés was surprised to see so many in the Aztec streets. He was a being with no reason to exist, no ambitions, no job, no voice, nor did he pretend to have one. He was mestizo or Indian and it was said that they were heirs to “ the worst of the Spanish and the worst of the Aztecs ”.
Lepero
The best description of what the lépero was is done by an American soldier during the occupation in 1848:
No one can account for the occupation of the poor lépero. Only God knows how he lives or what he lives on. He always has as little need for clothing as Adam and Eve had in the Garden of Eden. His skin drinks all the sun from every pore and if an edict required léperos to wear pants, his race would be extinct. A lépero in a full pair of baggy pants would cease to be a lépero, because one thing displaces the other. The lépero is emphatically a child of nature, the shining sun, the sonorous breeze, the smiling face of nature are his prerogative and his property. Other men have horses, ranches and land. The lépero has the world. He has no master, no laws. He eats when he is hungry, drinks when he is thirsty and sleeps where and when sleep strikes. Other men rest from his labors. The lépero works when he gets tired of resting. His work, however he wants it, never lasts more than an hour, often only 10 or 15 minutes, just enough to provide the small and meager requirements of the day. He carries a bundle as luggage, and in it he carries everything that falls into his hands, even stolen wallets and he extends his hand for charity. The lépero's main visible occupation is his own amusement. And in Mexico City, in times of peace, there is never a shortage of cheap fun. There are military revues, religious processions, and music, which the lépero loves to hear; dances, bullfights, horse races and churches, to which the lépero is very fond and a frequent visitor, because the lépero loves to hear a good sermon. The lépero does not have political opinions; you may say as much as you please in his presence about his country and its laws. He doesn't care if you insult General Santa Anna, General Bustamante, Herrera or Paredes. As long as you don't say anything offensive against the Virgin of Guadalupe you are safe; but the minute you bring that up, he goes looking for her knife. During daylight hours he is as harmless as any living creature that walks under God's sun. He will not attack anyone in daylight and is even afraid of drunks, especially drunken soldiers, but at night the lépero fears no one and particularly drunken soldiers; these are the first ones he will attack, sticking his dagger in the man's back he will launch himself into his pocket and if he doesn't find much in it, he leaves him lying and wounded, but if he finds something of value, or a large amount of money on top , kills it and puts it out of the way