Tamala

Tamala belongs to the Sierra Alta of Hidalgo, at 337 metres, in the heart of the Sierra Madre Oriental's Huasteca Karst. Rain falls in every season under a semi-warm humid climate, and runoff heads for the Amajac, a tributary of the Moctezuma. It lies in the municipality of Tepehuacán de Guerrero, whose seat is about 5 km off as the crow flies, going by Wikipedia's coordinates.

Its population draws a U-shaped curve. It had 414 inhabitants in 1900 and 496 in 1910, shrank to 194 in 1940, the low point, and has grown without pause since: 422 in 1980, 601 in 2000, 709 in 2010 and 783 in 2020, made up of 373 men and 410 women. That is now 2.51% of the municipality.

To understand the setting, look at the seat. INEGI records that its Catholic church went up in 1537 from hill stone and lime carried in on people's backs, built by Augustinian friars, and that its walls, tower and high altar are still original; the municipality also cites the parish of Santiago, from the mid-16th century. At the table, the compendium mentions the Huasteca plate with enchiladas, zacahuil, coffee, sugar and piloncillo palanquetas and cane drinks, and it names the Tepehuacán, Santa Cecilia and Zacualtipanito wind bands.