Cuautitlán de García Barragán

Cuautitlán de García Barragán is the seat of the municipality of the same name in Jalisco's southern coast region, at about 589 metres above sea level. The 2020 census counted 2,794 people, 15% of the municipality's 18,370, spread over 121 localities. The name comes from Nahuatl and means 'place among trees'; García Barragán was added in 1987 to honour Marcelino García Barragán, born in the municipality, who is credited with bringing electric light, drinking water and a public clock.

The area belonged to the Cuzalapa chiefdom. In 1522 five Spaniards took possession of the land, and a royal decree that year granted land to the original town, Hueumititlán, about 7 km from the present site. In 1855 Bishop Pedro Espinosa recommended moving it as unhealthy and the residents founded Pueblo Nuevo at Las Pilas; the original name was restored in 1884. It was a comisaría of Villa Purificación, passed to Casimiro Castillo in 1943, and became a municipality on 14 November 1946.

The setting is mountain country: about 61% of the municipality is mountainous, forest covers 68%, and the Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve takes up 35%. The Marabasco and Minatitlán rivers run through it, and the Chacala river flows by the town, where chacales, freshwater prawns, are a local dish. In the centre are the main plaza, the parish of Nuestra Señora de la Natividad, the casa de la cultura and a community museum. Local food includes birria, pozole, barbacoa and guava roll, and local crafts include basketry, woven mats and saddles.