Altamira

Altamira is older than Tampico and, in a sense, its parent. José de Escandón founded it on 2 May 1749 under the patronage of Our Lady of Las Caldas and named it after the colonial official Juan Rodríguez de Albuerne, Marquis of Altamira; its first mayor was Captain Juan Pérez. From its main square the families led by Juan Villatoro set out in 1823 to settle present-day Tampico, and the boundary between the two municipalities was only fixed in November 1837. A decree of the first state congress tried to rename the town Villerías, after the insurgent friar Juan Villerías, but the old name never went away. In 1829 Barradas's Spanish expedition clashed here with Mier y Terán's troops, and in 1913 Pablo González's Constitutionalists took it from Huerta's forces.

Today the town has 79,824 people (2020) and is the old heart of a municipality that grew with industry: the port of Altamira, founded on 1 June 1985, handles some of the most cargo in Mexico and more petrochemical liquids than any other. The centre still feels like a Huastec country town, 8 metres above sea level. On the Plaza de Armas stands a life-size bronze of the singer-songwriter Cuco Sánchez, who was born here, a Liberty monument showing Hidalgo carrying the Guadalupe banner, and busts of Madero, Juárez, Carranza and Morelos. Facing it is the parish church of Santiago Apóstol, first dedicated to Our Lady of Las Caldas; local lore says cow's milk went into its mortar.

Four blocks from the square the Champayán lagoon begins. On 25 July, feast of the patron Saint James, the celebrations include a ceremony on the water with dozens of boats, and every 1 January a group walks the main streets singing trovas with a huapango trio to welcome the new year. The founding anniversary is marked on 2 May. Huapango is the local music, since Altamira belongs to the Huasteca. Out on the coast, next to the north jetty of the industrial port's channel, is Playa Tesoro.