El Castillo

El Castillo is a congregación (a rural township) of the municipality of Xalapa, right on the eastern side of the Veracruz state capital and about 9 km by road from the city centre. It had 6,957 residents in the 2020 census and lies at roughly 1,170 m above sea level, lower than Xalapa itself.

Locals give two stories for the name. One credits Guadalupe Castillo, a man who settled here when the area was still forest and timber was being sawn; the other points to a round, cave-like wood-fired kiln whose sparks and smoke looked like castles. Clay has been the village trade since it was founded: pots, comales (griddles), roof tiles, bricks and blocks, and many families also worked the coffee harvest.

The best-loved spot is the La Palma lagoon, often called the Laguna del Castillo. At least 80 animal species have been recorded around it, and residents talk of eagles fishing, diving ducks and herons. Paula Basurto, from one of the founding families, remembers clear water until coffee-washing runoff and waste killed the fish; the lagoon had to be drained and refilled, and in some seasons it still receives grey water, so the community wants it protected as a place for conservation and recreation. Two legends are told on its banks: the ranatoro, a mythical creature said to live nearby, and La Llorona. The village's patron saint is the Virgin of Guadalupe.