Quitupan

Quitupan is the seat of the municipality of the same name in southeastern Jalisco, beside the Michoacán border and adjoining Mazamitla, Valle de Juárez, Santa María del Oro and Tamazula de Gordiano. The town sits at about 1,640 m above sea level and had 1,466 inhabitants at the 2020 census; the whole municipality has 7,734. Its population peaked in 1980 at 2,447 and has fallen at every census since 2000.

The name is attributed to the words Quitoa or Quitua, read as the place where something important was decided or a treaty was signed. Local tradition ties its indigenous founding to the peace between the Tarascans and the peoples of the area after the so-called Guerra del Salitre, and the municipal coat of arms carries an inkwell and quill recalling that treaty, plus a bee for the hard work of its people. The region was conquered in 1522 and the Franciscans began evangelizing in 1530. Quitupan became a municipality by decree on 28 October 1870.

The main building is the parish of La Candelaria, and the biggest fiesta honours the same Virgin: from 29 January to 6 February there is a novena, music, serenades, rockets and fireworks, pilgrimages from neighbouring localities and, on 2 February, a bullfight. The municipality has thermal springs such as Ojo Caliente, La Zarzamora, Aguacatillo and Palo Herrado, and the Laguna de Guadalupe, also known as El Quiringual. More than half of the municipal territory is rugged mountains, with the rest in foothills and plains.