Zihuatanejo (de Azueta)( ) is the fourth-largest city in the Mexican state of Guerrero. Politically it belongs to the municipality of Zihuatanejo de Azueta in the western part of Guerrero, but both are commonly referred to as Zihuatanejo. It is on the Pacific Coast, about 240 km (approximately 145 miles) northwest of Acapulco, and belongs to a section of the Mexican Pacific Coast known as the Costa Grande. This town has been developed as a tourist attraction along with the modern tourist resort of Ixtapa is 5 km away. However, Zihuatanejo keeps its traditional town feel. The town is located on a well-protected bay which is popular with private boat owners during the winter months.
There are two possible origins for the name Zihuatanejo. The first would be from P'urhépecha language meaning “water of the yellow mountain” and the second would be from Nahuatl (Cihuatlán) meaning “place of women.”. Cihuatlán or “place of women” refers to the western paradise of the Nahuatl universe, the home of the “goddess women.” According to tradition, these women arose in the afternoon to lead the sun at dusk to the realm of the dead, Mictlan, to give a dim light to the dead. “De Azueta” is in honor of José Azueta who died fighting a U.S. incursion into the country in Veracruz in 1914.
Zihuatanejo spent most of its history until recently as a sleepy fishing village. The federal government’s decision to develop the nearby resort in the 1970s has had major implications for both the city and municipality of Zihuatanejo. The area is now the third most visited area in Mexico after Cancún and Puerto Vallarta and the most popular for sports fishermen. Zihuatanejo’s population jumped from 6,887 to 37, 328 by the early 1990s. Recently a new highway called the “Maxipista Siglo XXI” was built to connect Zihuatanejo with Morelia, cutting the time it takes to reach here from Mexico City to about six hours. The town is also referenced in the 1994 movie, The Shawshank Redemption.
History
The first human occupants of the region were nomadic tribes with a hunting and gathering culture. By the 15th century, the area was inhabited by groups called the Cumbia, the Panteca and the Coixcas. These groups mined salt in what is now Ixtapa. The two main settlements in the area were Cihuatlán, which is near the modern Zihuatanejo, and Petatlán. These two settlements along with much of the surrounding area was part of a pre-Hispanic dominion called Cuitlatepan. It extended from the Atoyac River along the coast and inland to the borders of what are now the states of Michoacán and Mexico State. Little remains of these two settlements, mostly because they were mostly abandoned by the local inhabitants after being conquered by the Aztecs.
The area had always been sparsely populated before the colonial era. There are some myths and legends related to the place. There is a story that states that Zihuatanejo was a sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Cihuatéotl, who was of Olmec origin. She was considered to be the mother of the human race and the goddess of women who died in childbirth, and warriors who died in battle. In modern Zihuatanejo, there is an area called “La Madera” to the east of the port which may have been a shrine or sanctuary due to the significant number of pre-Hispanic clay figures that have been found. It is thought that this was dedicated to her. The area also appears to have been a sanctuary for the burial of important persons. In pre-Hispanic times, Tarascan kings used this are as a recreational area.
Cuitlatepan was conquered by the Aztecs under Ahuizotl in 1497. It was renamed Cihuatlán and turned into a tributary province. The oldest document with Zihuatanejo’s name is called the Matricula de Tributos (Record of Tribute). The conquest caused the native peoples to mostly abandon the area. Those left to provide tribute were known in the Mexican highlands for their cotton shawls and decorated conch shells. The Spanish arrived here in the 1520s. The first Spaniard to arrive here is said to be Gonzalo de Umbria, sent by Hernán Cortés to explore this area and see if there was any gold. The Spanish arrival caused what was left of the local population to disappear completely, and it is not known where they went. The local dialect has been lost and the only trace is a small archeological site that was explored by INAH in the 1990s. The Spanish used the bay as a point of departure to explore the Pacific coast as well as a port for the first ships to sail to the Philippines, named the Florida, the Espiritu Santo and the Santiago. These ships were ordered built by Hernán Cortés and offered to the Spanish king Carlos V. According to the chronicles written by Bernal Díaz del Castillo, the ships were constructed here using Spanish carpenters and local wood. They left Zihuatanejo Bay on 31 October 1527 with Captain Alvaro de Saavedra y Cerón. Only the Florida made it to the Asian islands, and neither the captain nor crew ever returned to Mexico.
The Ixtapa area was given to Anton Sanchez as an encomienda, with nearby Pochutla and Tamaloca as part of this arrangement. With the disappearance of the native population, fields and forests were worked by Spaniards, leaving little in the way of the colonial system what was prevalent in other parts of Mexico. The Spanish raised chocolate, cotton, vanilla and corn here; however the main export was tropical woods such as cedar, oak, walnut and others. Much of this was exported to Europe. Some gold was found here, mostly in an area in the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains in an area called Real de Guadalupe and areas north of the current municipality. During the colonial period, the Spanish galleons of Manila brought coconut trees to the area, which still flourish. They were the basis of the economy of the coast for some time. Few, if any, vestiges of the haciendas of the area remain, mostly because lasting constructions such as stone mansions or aqueducts were ever built, as they were in other parts of Mexico. These haciendas were generally owned by foreigners, such as the Inguarán company of France or by creoles.
The town now known as Zihuatanejo was simply a very small fishing village, surrounded by large haciendas. In the second half of the 16th century, the original Spanish shipyards at Zacatula burned. Unable to reconstruct them, new ones where built at Zihuatanejo. The surrounding haciendas would occasionally use the bay as a port to ship wood and minerals. The bay was visited during the colonial period by famous pirates such as Sir Francis Drake, William Dampier and Anzón, with the last sinking the Spanish ship Caramelo here.
The municipality was spared involvement in the Mexican War of Independence, except for its use by José María Morelos y Pavón as a logistic port in 1811. Morelos created the province of Tecpan, which included Zihuatanejo. In 1823, with the first republic, Zihuatanejo was separated from Tecpan and became part of the district of Acapulco. When the state of Guerrero was created, Zihuatanejo was part of the municipality of La Unión and Petatlán..
In 1926, a group called the “vidalistas” attacked the town which led to a secret agreement with the government to free a number of the fellow compatriots.
The municipality did suffer consequences during the Mexican Revolution. Generally, it was sympathetic to the rebel cause and many joined, such as brothers Alfredo, Leonel, Hector and Homero Lopez. Because of its sympathy, various bands associated with the different forces fighting against the Porfirio Diaz government (and each other) came through here, as well as federal forces. These would lead to a certain amount of sacking, pillaging and vandalism. In 1952, there was a worker’s strike by those on coconut plantations from Acapulco to Zihuatanejo. Strikers blocked the highways of the town. In 1953, the town gained municipality status. In the 1970’s, the area changed radically when the federal government decided to develop the Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa area into a tourist attraction. This caused the population to increase dramatically, especially in the 1980s and today the main economic base is tourism.
Military men were on the street corners carrying submachine guns. These were security precautions taken after grenades had been hurled in the police station, wounding five people. This attack is related to the government’s efforts against drug traffickers.
In the 2000s, Zihuatanejo was the scene of events which has had some negative impact on the tourism business. In May 2008, bull sharks gathered in large numbers for unknown reasons. Two surfers were killed and a third was injured. The attacks occurred during a three-week period causing a “Jaws-like mania” and the construction of lifeguard towers and the establishment of a shark patrol for the beaches of Zihuatanejo and north. It was a rare phenomenon that subsided after the sharks dispersed. The second was caused by man. A group of men in a pickup truck threw explosive devices at the installations of the Secretaría de Seguridad Pública of the municipality of Zihuatanejo, resulting in five persons injured. The attack occurred at 7:45 pm near the municipal docks. At the time of the attack, the 56th Infantry Battalion has been stationed in Zihuatanejo, mostly to interdict the traffic in arms, drugs and stolen vehicles. The grenade attack on the security headquarters was followed by a highway ambush that killed four policemen. Kidnapping of Mexican citizens has been a problem here as well. In one instance four kidnapping victims were rescued by elements of the Mexican military and police, killing one suspect in the process.
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