Buctzotz

Buctzotz is a town of about 8,000 people (7,973 in the 2020 census) in northeastern Yucatán and the seat of the municipality of the same name. It sits on flat, rocky ground only 7 metres above sea level, about 90 km east-northeast of Mérida in a straight line and some 16 km east of Temax. The Maya name is usually explained as "dressed in hair" or "garment of hair", from búuk (dress) and tso'ots (hair or bristle), and local tradition links it to Spanish accounts from the 16th century of people here wearing animal skins.

The settlement is older than its paperwork: although Buctzotz only gained the official category of pueblo in 1900, it already existed before the conquest. In 1913, during the Mexican Revolution, revolutionary forces under General Juan Campos, coming from Dzilam González, fought federal troops here. Today the surrounding countryside is cattle land; this corner of the state is described as holding a large share of Yucatán's livestock, and more than half the working population is in farming and ranching. The population has grown steadily, from 553 in 1900 to almost 8,000 today, and many residents speak Maya.

For a visitor, the centre is the reason to stop. The church of San Isidro Labrador, dating from the 16th century and painted a strong orange-red, faces the main square, and its chapel is dedicated to the Inmaculada Concepción, the town's patroness. Across the plaza stands the arcaded municipal palace with its clock tower, and the main road into town passes under a welcome arch. Buctzotz has a craft centre known for hammocks woven from hemp (henequen), and its kitchen is classic Yucatecan: frijol con puerco, queso relleno, pipián de venado, papadzules and mucbipollo at All Souls. The municipality counts 104 registered cenotes, though most are on ranch land rather than set up for visitors.

The big events are religious. The state's municipal encyclopedia lists the fiesta of the Inmaculada Concepción on 8–11 January, a pilgrimage in her honour on 22–30 August and a fiesta for Santa Clara on 13–25 August; the image of the Virgin also travels to neighbouring Temax for its own January festivities.