Amatitán is the seat of a municipality in the Mexican state of Jalisco, and is home to one of the world's largest tequila distilleries.
It is the location of "La Hacienda de San José del Refugio", a distillery which makes "Tequila Herradura" and "Tequila Jimador" and is the main source of employment for the residents of the town and surrounding communities.
The Town of Amatitán is the administrative center for the "Municipio de Amatitán" which also includes the surrounding communities of Santiaguito, Villa de Cuerámbaro, Chome, La Mata, La Conchilla, El Amarrilo, Agua Fría, Santa Rosa and several other smaller settlements.
Amatitán can be visited from Guadalajara by taking the Tequila Herradura Express, a train which runs on Saturdays from Guadalajara to Amatitán, there tourists are offered tours of the local distilleries and the nearby city of Tequila, located north of Amatitán. Amatitán can also be reached from Guadalajara by car driving north on Mexican Federal Highway 15, it is a drive of about 45 minutes and the road is kept in fairly good shape.
The economy of the municipality of Amatitán, like that of the surrounding areas, relies heavily in the production of tequila beverage. Its agriculture is dominated by the cultivation of the agave plant, which is used to produce the tequila. The climate in Amatitán is hot and dry which suits the agave plant well. There is usually one rainy period during the year that lasts from June through September, when most of the residents grow their other dominant crop, corn, which requires significantly more water. There is virtually no artificial irrigation in the area and most farmers still depend on rainwater for the irrigation of their fields. Some residents also raise cattle and other livestock, mainly for regional consumption. The lifestyle of its inhabitants is mostly of a rural nature and the residents are mostly Catholic. Some commute daily or weekly to Guadalajara for employment. The area is also a source of immigrants to the United States, most of whom settle in California.
Government Municipal presidents Municipal president Term Political party NotesJuan Cardona1910–1911Maximiano Hernández1912–1913Florentino Orozco1914Fermín Hernández1915–1916Ismael Cruz1917Jesús Martínez1918Fermín Hernández1919Refugio Mendoza1919Domingo Ontiveros1920Ismael Cruz1920Juan Cardona1921Salvador Ontiveros1921Bartolo Cortez1922–1923Mauricio Meléndrez1924–1929Juan Cardona1930PNR Bartolo Cortez1931PNR Emilio Hernández1932PNR Juan Cardona1933–1934PNR Mauricio Meléndrez1935PNR Nicasio C. Rosales1936PNR Alberto Meléndrez1937PNR Silverio Franco1938PRM Pascual Villegas1939PRM Nicasio C. Rosales1940PRM Vicente Real1941–1942PRM Rosendo Ramos1943–1944PRM Ignacio Flores1945–1946PRM Emilio Hernández Curiel1947–1948PRI Sebastián Rivera1949–1951PRI Bartolo Cortez1952PRI Florentino Orozco Camarena1953PRI Acting municipal presidentJosé Rivera Ocampo1954PRI Florentino Orozco C.1955PRI Emilio Hernández O.1956–1957PRI Martín Ortega Calderón1958PRI Acting municipal presidentL. Ramiro Cortez M.01-01-1959–31-12-1961PRI Salvador Rivera Lizardi01-01-1962–31-12-1964PRI Alfredo Rivera Lizardi 01-01-1965–31-12-1967PRI L. Ramiro Cortez Martínez01-01-1968–31-12-1970PRI Salvador Rivera Lizardi01-01-1971–31-12-1973PRI Manuel Delgado Hernández01-01-1974–31-12-1976PRI Ma. Guadalupe Guapo Rivera01-01-1977–31-12-1979PRI David Calderón Zepeda01-01-1980–31-12-1982PRI Rosendo Ramos Ontiveros 01-01-1983–31-12-1985PRI Manuel Delgado Hernández01-01-1986–31-12-1988PRI Salvador Rivera Cardona01-01-1989–1992PRI Zenón Vargas Gutiérrez1992–1995PRI Benjamín Aldana González1995–1997PRI Raúl Andrés Ontiveros Bahnsen01-01-1998–31-12-2000PRI Benjamín Aldana González01-01-2001–31-12-2003PRI Joel Rodríguez Saldívar01-01-2004–31-12-2006PAN Rubén Núñez Yera 01-01-2007–31-12-2009PRI Eutimio Pérez Ocampo01-01-2010–30-09-2012PRI Panal Coalition "Alliance for Jalisco"Jaime Villalobos Rivera01-10-2012–30-09-2015PRI PVEM Coalition "Compromise for Jalisco"David Calderón González01-10-2015–30-09-2018PAN PRD Gildardo Partida Meléndrez01-10-2018–30-09-2021Panal Josué Saúl Pérez Ocampo 01-10-2021–Morena
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