Santa Cruz de la Soledad

Santa Cruz de la Soledad is in Chapala municipality, near the lake, at about 1,540 metres above sea level, and had 1,680 residents at the 2020 census. Its name was given by the Franciscans who worked with the indigenous peoples of the lakeshore; by 1548, when the church and convent of Chapala were built, Santa Cruz was already a dependency of that convent, together with Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos and San Juan Tecomatlán. The "de la Soledad" suffix comes from devotion to the Dolorosa, which grew in the early 20th century. A 1766 census recorded 41 families.

Traditionally people lived from farming, livestock and fishing; today many work in Guadalajara or in hotels and restaurants along the shore. The hills hold huamúchil, mezquite and huizache, and wildlife mentioned includes armadillos, deer and tlacuaches. A small dam lies north of the village on the road toward Ixtlahuacán, another, the presa del Cántaro, to the northwest, and there is also a chorro, a small stream formed where two hillsides meet.

The main fiesta is the Santa Cruz, a nine-day celebration from 25 April to 3 May with dawn music, fireworks, plaza food, banda music, fairground rides, a torito de buscapiés and afternoon jaripeos, which often draw back relatives living in the United States. On 15 May, San Isidro Labrador, a priest blesses the dam, inaugurated in 1970, followed by a shared meal. On 16 September there are games at the kiosk such as the greased pole and the comal tiznado, and at Easter families spend the day fishing on the lakeshore.