Zapotiltic

Zapotiltic is the seat of the municipality of the same name in southern Jalisco, at about 1,300 metres above sea level. At the 2020 census the town had 27,260 people and the municipality 33,713. The name comes from Nahuatl and is interpreted as "place of black zapotes". Before the conquest it was ruled by the cacique Tlamazollan and its people took part in the so-called Guerra del Salitre; in colonial times it belonged to the Provincia de Ávalos and was a crossroads for goods moving between Colima and the coast. The local church was built in 1629. In 1936 the Municipal Palace was seized on state orders in a violent episode in which mayor Cayetano Vega and his brother were killed.

The economy combines maize, sorghum, jícama and sugar cane with lime, cement and marmolina; there is a Cementos Tolteca plant, now part of Cemex. Sights include the parish of the Señor del Perdón, the main garden, the Acueducto, the Torreón, the former Huescalapa hacienda with its arcades and the Hacienda del Rincón, a former sugar mill. There are hot-spring spas at Agua Caliente and El Cortijo, El Salvial park, known as Parque de las Piedras, and the Calaque dam in the Sierra del Tigre for ecotourism. Mountain biking is very popular.

The May fiestas are the most important: they begin 28 days after Easter Sunday, last thirteen days and bring pilgrimages to the temple of the Señor del Perdón; they include charrería, cockfights and a parade of floats. On 15 September the Bajada de los Arbolitos comes down from El Lindero and El Pueblito. People eat birria de chivo, with garapiñado peanuts and walnut palanqueta for sweets; pomegranate punch is the typical drink.