Jalpan de Serra

Jalpan de Serra (ˈxalpan de ˈsera) is a city in Jalpan de Serra Municipality located in the north of the Mexican state of Querétaro. It is located in the heart of an important ecological zone called the Sierra Gorda. It is also the site two of five Franciscan missions, including the first one, to have been built in the mid 18th century, and declared a World Heritage Site in 2003. The municipality is also home to a small but important indigenous group called the Pame. However, the municipality has been losing population since the mid 20th century even though recent events such as the town being named a Pueblo Mágico have worked to create a tourism industry.

The town of Jalpan is the municipal seat, located 180 km from San Juan del Río on Federal Highway 120. This road then connects it to Xilitla in San Luis Potosí. It is also connected to Río Verde in SLP via interstate highway 69. Although officially classified as a city since 1904, the current population is only just under 9,000 people (2005). The main economic activities within the town proper are commerce, livestock production and agriculture. On weekends, there are artistic presentations. Another building that faces the main square is the former Melchor Ocampo School, which was the first in the municipality. Today, it is the home of the municipal cultural center, which hosts exhibitions, and a number of government offices. The municipal post office is located on a side of the mission church, on a building that was part of the mission complex. During the Reform War, this building held General Mariano Escobedo prisoner. Near the town are the ruins of the former Hacienda del Rayo.

There is a small community of Huastecos in Valle Verde, which has ties to a similar community of Mapatz, just over the border in San Luis Potosí. The facade is elaborately done in stucco and stone work, with ochre of the pilasters contrasting with the yellow of many of the decorative details. Much of the detail is vegetative, along with small angels and eagles. During the parade, the visiting “paisanos” show off their pickup trucks bought in the U. S. competing for the best and most luxurious.

The most important natural resource of the area is the forests, with commercial species such as pines and oaks. About 15,441 hectares of the total municipal territory of 329,020 is used for agriculture and 9,872 are used for forestry. Just under 29% of the working population is dedicated to agriculture, livestock and forestry. Only 650 hectares of agricultural fields are irrigated, with the rest worked only during the rainy season. The Tancoyol area has the most important agricultural production with beans, corn, chickpeas, cardamom, tomatoes, chili peppers and watermelon. Livestock production is most important near the municipal seat, with cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and horses, along with domestic fowl. Jalpan de Serra became a Pueblo Mágico in 2010 for its “traditions, warmth, humility, historical valued and human quality.” The Secretary of Tourism for Mexico, Gloria Guevara Manzo, indicated that the municipality has great potential not only for its natural attractions, but for its cultural ones as well. The naming means that the community is eligible for federal assistance to improve the town's infrastructure, especially the burying of electric and other cables. The Tancama archeological zone is located in the community of the same name, thirteen km from Jalpan. It is a site belonging to the Huasteca culture and dates from between 200 and 900 CE. Valle Verde's environment is one of the best conserved parts of the municipality. The main crafts producer in the community is the Soledad de Guadalupe ceramics cooperative. There is also the ecological water park called the Ojo de Agua de San Juan de los Durán and the Cueva del Agua. These areas have cabins, camping, ecological education, bicycles and horses for rent and a pool filled with water from a local spring. The large numbers of people who send money to the area and bring money with them during the Christmas holidays has “dollarized” the local economy. This currency is accepted in a number of businesses. It is estimated that about 18.2 million dollars each year comes into the area from the U. S.

The name comes from Nahuatl and means “place over sand.” In 1976, the appendix “de Serra” was added to honor missionary Junípero Serra. The coat of arms for the city contains symbols of its history from its founding as a Franciscan mission in 1744 by Captain José de Escandón. There are four elements: “idolatry” represented by the goddess Cachúm in stone, the conquest and evangelism represented by a sword and crossed arms, the mixing of the two races represented by a double headed eagle eating a snake and the fourth represents the Jalpan and Tancoyol missions. The first settlements in the area were founded between 1700 and 1000 C in the small valleys of the Sierra Gorda by people linked to Olmec areas. Afterwards, groups from the Teotihuacan, Toltec, Huasteca and Totonac cultures would settle in various parts as well. Jalpan is in the center of the Sierra Gorda, a region situated between the sedentary agricultural and mining cultures and the hunter gatherer cultures to the north. In 2003, the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro inaugurated its Jalpan Campus. The Universidad Tecnológica de San Juan del Río opened a campus the same year. The city gained a second tier professional soccer team in 2004.