Zihuatanejo (), also known as Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, is the fourth largest city in the Mexican state of Guerrero. It was known by 18th-century English mariners as Chequetan and/or Seguataneo. Politically the city belongs to the municipality of Zihuatanejo de Azueta in the western part of Guerrero, but both are commonly referred to as Zihuatanejo. It is on the Pacific Coast, about northwest of Acapulco. Zihuatanejo belongs to a section of the Mexican Pacific Coast known as the Costa Grande. This town has been developed as a tourist attraction along with the modern tourist resort of Ixtapa, away. However, Zihuatanejo has kept its traditional town feel. The town is located on a well-protected bay which is popular with private boat owners during the winter months. In 2023, Zihuatanejo was designated a Pueblo Mágico by the Mexican government, recognizing its cultural and historical importance. In fact, the 2020, Zihuatanejo de Azueta population was 126,001 inhabitants (48.8% men and 51.2% women), a 6.59% increase from 2010.
The name Zihuatanejo has two possible origins. One origin might be from the Purépecha language meaning "water of the yellow mountain"; another possible origin might be from Nahuatl (Cihuatlan) meaning "place of women." Cihuatlan, or "place of women", refers to the western paradise of the Nahuatl universe, the home of the "goddess women". According to tradition, these women arose in the afternoon to lead the sun at dusk to the realm of the dead, Mictlan, to give a dim light to the dead. "De Azueta" is in honor of José Azueta, who died fighting a U.S. incursion into the country in Veracruz in 1914.
Zihuatanejo spent most of its history until recently as a fishing village. The federal government's decision to develop the nearby resort in the 1970s has had major implications for both the city and municipality of Zihuatanejo. The area is now the third most-visited area in Mexico, after Cancún and Puerto Vallarta, and the most popular for sports fishermen. Zihuatanejo's population jumped from 6,887 to 37,328 by the early 1990s. Recently, a new highway called the Autopista Siglo XXI was built to connect Zihuatanejo with Morelia, cutting the travel time from Mexico City to about six hours.
Zihuatanejo was notably mentioned in the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption, in which the protagonist Andy Dufresne escapes from prison to Zihuatanejo, joined by his friend and fellow prisoner, Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding.
History
Pre-colonial The first human inhabitants of the region were nomadic tribes with a hunting and gathering culture. By the 15th century, the area was inhabited by groups called the Chumbia, the Panteca, and the Coixcas. These groups mined salt in what is now Ixtapa. The two main settlements in the area were Xihuacan, which is near the modern Zihuatanejo, and Petatlán. These two settlements along with much of the surrounding area was part of a pre-Hispanic dominion called Cuitlatepan. It extended from the Atoyac River along the coast and inland to the borders of what are now the states of Michoacán and Mexico State. Little remains of these two settlements, mostly because they were abandoned by most of the local inhabitants after being conquered by the Aztecs.
The area had always been sparsely populated before the colonial era. There are some myths and legends related to the place. There is a story that states that Zihuatanejo was a sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Cihuatéotl, who was of Olmec origin. She was considered to be the mother of the human race and the goddess of women who died in childbirth and of warriors who died in battle. In modern Zihuatanejo, there is an area called "La Madera" to the east of the port that may have been a shrine or sanctuary due to the significant number of pre-Hispanic clay figures that have been found. It is thought that this was dedicated to her. The area also appears to have been a sanctuary for the burial of important persons. In pre-Hispanic times, Purépecha kings used this area as a recreational area.
Just south of the Zihuatanejo Airport there is a large archeological site at La Soledad De Maciel and the small town of La Chole. While artifacts have been found there since the 1930s, excavations were only started between 2000 and 2010. The site was occupied from 3000 BCE to the early 600s CE when it was destroyed by a tsunami. It was occupied by three different cultures and was an important trading city for both Teotihuacan and the Olmec. At its height, it had a large population with the site possibly covering a area. Only a small part of the site has been excavated because most of it is owned by the local farmers who grow fruit trees, vegetables, coconuts for copra, and tobacco that they roll into cigars. The Mexican government is in the process of buying back the site, but it will be a slow process.
Cuitlatepan was conquered by the Aztecs under Ahuizotl in 1497. It was renamed Xihuacan and turned into a tributary province.
Colonial era The Spanish arrived in the 1520s. The first Spaniard to arrive here is said to have been Gonzalo de Umbria, sent by Hernán Cortés to explore the area to see if there was any gold. The conquest caused the native peoples to mostly abandon the area, and it is not known where they went. Those left to provide tribute were known in the Mexican highlands for their cotton shawls and decorated conch shells. The oldest document with Zihuatanejo's name is called the Matricula de Tributos (Record of Tribute). Today the local indigenous language has been lost and the only trace of the native population is a small archaeological site that was explored by INAH in the 1990s.
The Spanish used the bay as a point of departure to explore the Pacific coast as well as a port for the first ships to sail to the Philippines, the Florida, the Espiritu Santo and the Santiago. These ships were ordered built by Hernán Cortés and offered to the Spanish king Carlos V. According to the chronicles written by Bernal Díaz del Castillo, the ships were constructed here using Spanish carpenters and local wood. They left Zihuatanejo Bay on 31 October 1527 with Captain Alvaro de Saavedra y Cerón. Only the Florida made it to the Asian islands, and neither the captain nor crew ever returned to Mexico.
The Ixtapa area was given to Anton Sanchez as an encomienda, with nearby Pochutla and Tamaloca as part of this arrangement. With the disappearance of the native population, fields and forests were worked by Spaniards, leaving little in the way of the colonial system which was prevalent in other parts of Mexico. The Spanish raised chocolate, cotton, vanilla, and corn here; however, the main export was tropical woods such as cedar, oak, walnut, and others. Much of this was exported to Europe. Some gold was found here, mostly in an area in the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains in an area called Real de Guadalupe and areas north of the current municipality. During the colonial period, the Spanish galleons of Manila brought coconut trees to the area, which still flourish. They were the basis of the economy of the coast for some time. Few, if any, vestiges of the haciendas of the area remain, mostly because lasting constructions such as stone mansions or aqueducts were never built, as they were in other parts of Mexico. These haciendas were generally owned by foreigners, such as the Inguarán company of France or by creoles.
The town now known as Zihuatanejo was a fishing village, surrounded by large haciendas. Between 1680 and 1740 there are indications that the port was used for contraband trade; that is, for trade of arriving Asian products between New Spain and Peru, an interregional trade which had been forbidden.Mariano Ardash Bonialian, El Pacifico hispanoamericano (Mexico D.F., 2012), 279-280 infra In the second half of the 16th century, the original Spanish shipyards at Zacatula burned. Unable to reconstruct them, new ones were built at Zihuatanejo. The surrounding haciendas occasionally used the bay as a port to ship wood and minerals. The bay was visited during the colonial period by many pirates.
Independence and post-colonial era The municipality was spared involvement in the Mexican War of Independence, except for its use by José María Morelos y Pavón as a logistic port in 1811. Morelos created the province of Tecpan, which included Zihuatanejo.
However, the municipality did suffer consequences during the Mexican Revolution. Generally, it was sympathetic to the rebel cause and many joined, such as brothers Alfredo, Leonel, Hector, and Homero Lopez. Because of its sympathies, various bands associated with the different forces fighting against the Porfirio Diaz government (and each other) came through here, as well as federal forces. These led to a certain amount of sacking, pillaging, and vandalism.
In 1823, with the first republic, Zihuatanejo was separated from Tecpan and became part of the district of Acapulco. When the state of Guerrero was created, Zihuatanejo was part of the municipality of La Unión and Petatlán.
20th century In 1926, a group called the "vidalistas" attacked the town which led to a secret agreement with the government to free a number of the compatriots.
In 1952, there was a strike by workers on coconut plantations from Acapulco to Zihuatanejo. Strikers blocked the highways of the town. In 1953, the town gained municipality status. In the 1970s, the area changed radically when the federal government decided to develop the Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa area into a tourist attraction. This caused the population to increase dramatically, especially in the 1980s and today the main economic base is tourism.
Tourism in Zihuatanejo was negatively impacted by some events in the 2000s. In May 2008, bull sharks gathered in large numbers along the coast for unknown reasons; two surfers were killed and a third was injured. The attacks occurred during a three-week period causing a "Jaws-like mania" and the construction of lifeguard towers and the establishment of a shark patrol for the beaches of Zihuatanejo and north. It was a rare phenomenon that subsided after the sharks dispersed.
On 20 February 2009, a group of men in a pickup truck threw explosive devices at the installations of the Secretariat of Public Security of the municipality of Zihuatanejo, resulting in five persons injured. The attack occurred at 7:45 pm near the municipal docks. At the time of the attack, the 56th Infantry Battalion had been stationed in Zihuatanejo, mostly to interdict the traffic in arms, drugs and stolen vehicles. The grenade attack on the security headquarters was followed by a highway ambush that killed four policemen. Kidnapping of Mexican citizens has been a problem here as well. In one instance four kidnapping victims were rescued by elements of the Mexican military and police, killing one suspect in the process.
Town and its bay
Town center
The fishing town and resort of Zihuatanejo spreads out around the Bay of Zihuatanejo and inland toward the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains. The town is the seat of government for the municipality and the principal community in the region. Since the 1970s, it has been developed in conjunction with nearby Ixtapa, but conserving its traditional Mexican feel. The downtown is called "El Centro" and is located on the north end of the bay. The centro still has its narrow streets paved with stones or bricks. The town also has a long-standing community of Swiss and Italian immigrants.
The heart of Zihuatanejo is the waterfront walkway Paseo del Pescador (Fisherman's Path), also called the malecón. This tree-lined pedestrian walkway goes along the municipal beach between the archeological museum and the fishing pier. It is lined with restaurants offering seafood and many other dishes, as well as a variety of stores selling rugs, arts and crafts and souvenirs, and a small shell market. In the evening, this area fills with people socializing.