San Juan de los Cués

San Juan de los Cués is the seat of a municipality in the Teotitlán district, in the Sierra de Flores Magón, at 862 metres. In 2020 it had 1,498 residents, and the municipality, with nine localities, 2,421. The population fell to 309 in 1930, grew to 1,525 by 2000 and has held roughly steady since. Its neighbours are San Martín Toxpalan to the north, San Lucas Zoquiápam and Mazatlán Villa de Flores to the east, Santa María Tecomavaca to the south and San Antonio Nanahuatipam to the west. The name is Nahuatl and refers to temple-shaped hills.

The climate mixes very hot dry zones with cooler ones, 14 to 26 degrees and 300 to 1,200 mm of rain a year; over 60 percent of the municipality is jungle. The Cués, Salado and Los Reyes rivers run through it, within the Papaloapan basin. Besides the seat, the larger localities are San Antonio Nopalera (254), Contlalco (209) and Ciénega (182). The municipality is governed by usos y costumbres.

Its big day is the Feria del Limón, established on February 19, 1979 to celebrate an exceptional lemon harvest. It includes religious acts, horse races, cockfights and a coronation dance for the fair queen and princess; the 2026 edition was announced for March 11 to 15, with an agricultural expo, a crafts expo and a basketball tournament. In the local kitchen, moles negro and coloradito, beef and chicken broths and sweet and bean tamales are traditional.