Ajalpan

Ajalpan is a town in south-eastern Puebla, seat of the municipality of the same name, about 140 km from the state capital. It lies in the desert valley south-east of Tehuacán, between Altepexi and Coxcatlán, where the valley starts climbing toward the Sierra Negra and the Sierra de Zongolica, part of the Sierra Madre Oriental. The Nahuatl name means "on the sand of the water". The municipality, about 395 km², ranges from 1,100 to 2,900 m: cacti and dry tropical forest below, pine and oak forest in the mountains. The Tehuacán or Salado River, one of the rivers that form the Papaloapan, flows through it, along with the Comulco and Zinacastla. The municipality had 60,621 people in 2010.

Ajalpan is known for its red clay roof tiles, so much so that locals joke "Ajalpan da las tejas", Ajalpan makes the tiles. People also weave cotton cloth and reed, and make clay crafts. Prickly pear grows wild all around, and the fruit is eaten or turned into drinks.

The festival calendar is full. On 3 May the Señor de Coculco fair begins, about ten days of dances, rides, sport and charrería. In June the town honours Saint John the Baptist, patron of the main church, and in February the carnival fills the streets with costumed troupes, music and floats. On the Day of the Dead people visit the graves in the morning and in the afternoon walk the streets with baskets of bread, fruit, mole and tamales to take to their compadres.