San Antonio Texcala

Texcala comes from the Nahuatl texcalli, crag or precipice, and the name is explained as place where crags abound; San Antonio is the patron saint, Anthony of Padua. The village belongs to Zapotitlán municipality, in the valley of the same name, and the 2020 census counted 1,539 residents at about 1,683 metres. It has grown notably: 170 inhabitants in 1900, 591 in 1970 and 1,325 in 2000.

What gives the area its fame is salt. The alluvium of the Zapotitlán valley is very saline and formed natural salt flats that residents have worked since pre-Hispanic times. More than 70 artisanal salt producers work in the region, and the process of solar evaporation and crystallisation takes one to one and a half months in nine steps, according to a producer interviewed by Milenio in 2023, who quoted prices of 60 to 130 pesos for the salt. The village's lead photograph shows exactly these salt works.

Between Zapotitlán and San Antonio Texcala lie the La Venta onyx quarries, with large tunnels cut to extract the semi-precious stone. The landscape is thorn scrub: more than 60 million years ago this area was an arm of the sea, and the ground still shows it. To round out a visit, go on to Zapotitlán Salinas, the municipal seat, home to the Helia Bravo Hollis botanical garden, which has cabins to stay in.