Tala

Tala is the seat of its municipality, in the valley of the same name west of Guadalajara, at about 1,330 metres above sea level. At the 2020 census the town had 40,906 inhabitants and the municipality 87,690. The name is linked to the Nahuatl Tlallan, "place of cultivation", and tradition adds that the Spaniards cut down a forest the local people revered and mockingly called the place Talatitlán, which was later shortened to Tala. Before the Conquest it was a lordship; Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán conquered it in 1530 and friars evangelised it in 1531. It had a town council by about 1825.

The economy revolves around sugar cane: the municipality's mill is the second most important in Jalisco, and maize, chickpeas, sorghum and agave for mezcal are grown too. That explains the Feria Nacional de la Caña, held in late April and early May. Garrafa ice cream is sold on the main square, and the local food is birria, pozole and carne en su jugo.

In the centre stand the neoclassical parish church of San Francisco de Asís, the patron saint, whose feast runs from 26 September to 4 October, the municipal palace and the Museo Regional de Tala. Around town there are ravines and hills and several spas: Los Chorros, with a waterfall of about 15 metres on the Río Salado, Los Tejabanes, Termal San Isidro and Las Tortugas. The municipality also has the Cuisillos hacienda and the El Refugio hacienda, with the chapel of the Rosario beside the first.