Pinal de Amoles is a town located in Pinal de Amoles Municipality in the state of Querétaro in central Mexico. It is part of the Sierra Gorda region which stretches over northern Querétaro into Guanajuato, Hidalgo and San Luis Potosí, with 88% of the municipality's land comprising the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve. The municipality contains large areas of forests and the highest peaks in the region, which separate the wetter areas of both the north and east from the drier areas of the south and west. The town began as a mining camp in the 17th century. However, most mining in the area has disappeared and the municipality is one of the poorest in Mexico, despite recent efforts to promote ecotourism and restart mining. This has led a large number of residents to migrate to larger cities in Mexico and to the United States to work, sending remittances back home. These remittances now overshadow the locally generated economy.
In 2023, Pinal de Amoles was designated a Pueblo Mágico by the Mexican government, recognizing its cultural and historical importance.
The town The town of Pinal de Amoles, was founded as Real de San José de Amoles, in the early 17th century as a mining camp. Today, much of that mining has disappeared, but the town remains. It is located 153 km north of the state capital, straddling Federal Highway 120, which connects it to San Juan del Río in the south and the state of San Luis Potosí in the north. The town located at an altitude of 2,320 meters above sea level, on small flat spaces on a mountain with a population of 1,582 (2005). For this reason, it has narrow winding streets and many inclines. Most of the streets are of cobblestone and many houses are painted red, ochre or yellow, with colorful balconies. There is no municipal market but the traditional tianguis is held on Sundays. This features basic products, especially locally produced fruits and vegetables in season. It also features locally produced coffee and breads such as pan de pulque (pulque bread).
The town center consists of a very small plaza which fronts the local parish church of San José, dedicated to Saint Joseph. The San José Church was begun in 1770 and inaugurated in 1771. It has a simple design with a traditional pediment on its facade. On the right hand side, there is a bell tower with three levels.
The town and the immediate surroundings include numerous hotels, several of which also operate cabins in the nearby mountain areas. Local food specialties include cecina, pacholes (toasted sweets made from corn), tamales with cheese, gorditas, pan de pulque, barbacoa, wines and liquors made from various fruits, pulque and aguamiel.
Because of its altitude and fairly abundant rainfall, the climate is primarily cold, with fog not being uncommon. It is surrounded by forests, canyons, arroyos, waterfalls and green fields.
History Pinal is Spanish and means "pine forest." "Amoles" is from the Nahuatl amolli – a name of a root often used as a detergent. The municipality's seal contains an amolli, along with an eagle with its wings extended to signify hospitality. There are branches and four pine cones to represent the various conifers that grow abundantly in the area, the Cerro de Media Luna mountain and a pick and shovel to represent the area's past of mining silver, mercury, gold, antimony and other metals. A cross and sword represents the Spanish conquest and evangelization. The date of 1932 signifies the establishment of the municipality. The date of 19 March 1606 represents the founding of the Spanish town.
The first inhabitants of the region were hunter-gatherers as early as 6000 BC. Starting from the 13th century groups of Pames and Chichimeca Jonaz came to the area. Communities of these groups were still found in areas such as El Cuervo, Puerto de Vigas, El Rodezno, Tonatico, Escanela and others when the Spanish arrived in the 16th century. Starting from 1534, the Spanish established the province of Xilotepec, which encompassed much of the land around what is now the Sierra Gorda in Querétaro, but it did not manage to dominate this area for centuries because of the fierce resistance of the native peoples, especially the Chichimeca Jonaz. However, the Spanish penetrated the area for evangelization, military purposes and prospecting. The first mine was in Escanelas in 1599. Pinal de Amoles, initially called Real de San José de Amoles, was established in 1606. It was named an Alcaldía Mayor Real with official jurisdiction over what is now the municipalities of Arroyo Seco, Jalpan de Serra, Landa de Matamoros, Pinal de Amoles, San Joaquín, Peñamiller and Cadereyta de Montes. However, this seat of government would be transferred to Cadereyta as the silver from the mines dwindled by 1675. However, this Alcaldía Mayor would form over half of the future state of Querétaro.
Another tactic the Spanish used to try and dominate the region was the establishment of missions to convert the indigenous peoples to Catholicism. The mission at Ahuacatlán was founded in 1693 by the Dominicans.
Complete Spanish domination would come in the mid 18th century, with the defeat of the Chichimeca Jonaz at the Battle of Media Luna, which took place in the municipality. To consolidate this hold, Spanish missionaries under Junípero Serra established five Franciscan missions in the heart of the Chichimeca Sierra Gorda just to the north of Pinal de Amoles, in Jalpan de Serra and other municipalities. As municipality's settlements grew, new churches were established. The church of San Jose was constructed in 1770. The Bucarieli Mission was founded by Guadalupe Soriano in 1775. He also built the church at San Antonio Escanelilla.
After Mexico's independence, most of the area's mines gave out, eliminating the base of most of the area's economy. Since then, Pinal de Amoles and the rest of the Sierra Gorda in Querétaro would remain underdeveloped compared to the rest of the state. The district of Jalpan was founded in 1825 which included Arroyo Seco, Landa de Matamoros, Jalpan and Pinal de Amoles. During the second half of the 19th century, this district began to subdivide. First the municipality of Ahuacatlán de Guadalupe separated from Jalpan de Serra in 1866, and included Pinal de Amoles, San Pedro Escanela and Bucareli. It would then become a sub prefecture of Jalpan, with government offices moved to Pinal de Amoles in 1894. Other government reorganization included the naming of Pinal de Amoles as a “municipal presidencia” in 1914, Pinal de Amoles was officially declared a town and San Antonio Escanellilla becoming a sub delegation in 1924. The municipality's current status as a free municipality came in 1932, with Ahuacatlán, San Antonio Escanelilla, San Pedro Escanela and Bucareli as delegations. In 1944, the delegation of Santa Águeda de Pusunguía was added.
While mining declined after Independence, it never ceased completely and there were various operations in the 19th and 20th centuries. En English company installed itself to mine silver in Pinal de Amoles in 1865. A Mexican company was founded in 1887 for the same purpose. A US company called El Soyatal began mining antimony in 1944. Mercury mining began again in 1960, which caused an economic boom, but by 1970, prices for this element fell and ended most of the mining here.
In 2001, the state taxation authority identified major irregularities with the public records of Pinal de Amoles with up to eight million pesos missing.
Ecological projects such as those to clean the waters in local canyons were begun between 2001 and 2003. In 2007, a sewerage treatment plant was inaugurated in Ahuacatlán, mostly paid for by the state and federal governments. The goal of the plant is to prevent contamination of waters in the Escanela, Chuveje and Ahuacatlán Rivers, which lead to the Jalpan Dam.
Environment Like the rest of the Sierra Gorda region, Pinal de Amoles is marked by very rugged terrain, which includes canyons and steep mountains. The area is located in an area with extremely high peaks with small flat areas and mesas. The altitude varies between 839masl at the community of Huajales to 3350masl at the Cerro de la Calentura, which is also the highest point in the state. Eighty eight percent of the municipality's territory belongs to the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve of Querétaro, a region which is protected because of its extreme diversity of landscapes, climates, vegetation and wildlife. Pinal de Amoles represents the highest peaks of this region, which essentially separate the wetter lands to the north and east from the semi arid areas of the south and west as the mountains block moisture coming in from the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the rock is sedimentary, with about 45% limestone. About 15% is intrusive volcanic rock. This due to the fact that much of the Sierra Gorda was sea bed millions of years ago, with volcanic activity later in its geological history. The volcanic rock accounts for most of the municipality's minable deposits.
Rivers are fast flowing due to the geography. The two most important rivers are the Extoraz in the south flowing east and El Rodezno or Río Escanela, which flows past Escanela, Escanelila and Ahuacatlán, emptying into the Jalpan Dam. There are also 169 bodies of surface water which include 143 fresh water springs, six small dams and 20 streams.
In the entire region, the coldest temperatures occur between December and January, with high temperatures in April and May. Temperatures vary widely depending on altitude with an annual average of 13C in the higher elevations such as Pinal de Amoles to 24C in lower areas such as Jalpan. In the highest elevations, frosts and freezes are not uncommon.
The north of the municipality is dominated by deciduous rainforest, which loses much of its leaves in the dry season. The center and northwest are dominated by pine and oak forests. Pine and holm oak forests are found mostly above 2,000 masl. The forests of the municipality are its most important natural resource. The types of wildlife is very varied and includes white-tailed deer, pumas, tigrillos (Leopardus tigrinus or Leopardus wiedii), bobcats, coyotes, raccoons, opossums, armadillos, foxes, skunks, hares and rabbits. Birds are especially varied and include woodpeckers, American goldfinches, sparrows, parrots, macaws and ravens. Reptiles include rattlesnakes and coral snakes as well as “river shrimp” or acamaya. A group of researchers from the Natural Sciences Faculty of the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro have discovered a new species of crustacean similar to a very large shrimp or small lobster in the municipality. The crustacean is found in fresh water mostly in the Platanos Arroyo and can grow to a size of up to eight centimeters. Locally, the creature is called an “acocil” or freshwater lobster, like other creatures found in other parts of Mexico. However, studies have shown that this crustacean show enough peculiarities to warrant it as a separate species. The formal name for it is Procambarus Yacoy.