Acayucan

Acayucan is the seat of the municipality of the same name in southern Veracruz, on the plains of the Sotavento at about 100 m above sea level, where it meets the neighbouring municipalities of Oluta and Soconusco. It had 48,567 people at the 2020 census, and together with its neighbours it forms the Acayucan metropolitan area. The name comes from Nahuatl and is usually translated as "place of reeds". The climate is hot and humid, with an average temperature of around 26 °C and rains in summer. Commerce and cattle ranching drive the local economy, and the farms around it grow rice, sesame, chile, mango, maize and beans; the area has long been home to Popoluca, Nahua and Zapotec communities.

The land was under Olmec influence in ancient times, and the municipality contains a long list of archaeological sites, including Laguna de los Cerros near Corral Nuevo. By 1580 the town belonged to the jurisdiction of the Villa del Espíritu Santo (Coatzacoalcos). In 1787 an Indigenous uprising expelled the Spanish from the town, and in 1824 Acayucan became one of the first municipalities of the new state. It was made a villa in 1848 under the name San Martín Acayucan and a city on 26 September 1910. In 1906 members of the clandestine Liberal Party led by Hilario C. Salas, together with Miguel Alemán González and others, attacked the Porfirian forces at the municipal palace in what is remembered as the Acayucan rebellion, one of the early uprisings that led to the Mexican Revolution; its leaders were captured and sent to San Juan de Ulúa. Electricity arrived in 1946, and an earthquake on 26 August 1959 damaged the old parish of San Martín Obispo so badly that it was demolished in 1961.

Today Acayucan is a busy regional hub where several highways meet, with a large market right by the centre. The centre has an arcaded municipal palace, the main park with a monument to General Miguel Alemán González, and the rebuilt white parish of San Martín Obispo with its two towers and dome. The big event of the year is the fiesta of San Martín Obispo, from 11 to 26 November; on the 11th the image of the saint is carried in procession through the central streets, and the colonial-era dance of the Arrieros and Morenos is performed, with masked muleteers cracking whips and men dressed as women, a little bull and a hobby horse. The town also holds a carnival in March.