San Francisco del Mar Pueblo Viejo

San Francisco del Mar Pueblo Viejo is the original Huave (Ikoots) village of San Francisco del Mar, in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, on the Barra de San Francisco, the sand spit that separates the Laguna Inferior and the Mar Muerto from the Gulf of Tehuantepec; it stands on the shore of the estuary called Laguna El Carrizal, a few metres above sea level. In 2020 it had 931 residents (885 in 2010).

The history explains the name. Until the 20th century San Francisco del Mar was this village on the bar, seat of the municipality. In 1970 most residents chose to move to the mainland, and on 27 April that year they founded today's Pueblo Nuevo, at a place called La Candelaria; the religious images, including the patron saint's, were carried over on 23 August 1971, and in 1972 a presidential decree restored the land to the community. A minority stayed behind; the municipal seat passed to the new village in the mid-1980s, and from 1994 this one was called San Francisco Viejo, a name changed in 2015 to the official Pueblo Viejo.

Life here revolves around the lagoon: fishing (there is a fishing cooperative, Jaltepec de la Mar) and shrimp from the estuaries. Fishing has also been a source of conflict with Pueblo Nuevo: in 2022 fishermen from there blocked the dirt road linking the two villages to the rest of the Isthmus and Pueblo Viejo had gone four years without electricity. Ask about the current situation before going. There are no hotels or tourist services listed, and a visit is mainly a chance to see a Huave fishing village on the bar. Heat and strong wind are the norm.