Ciudad del Carmen
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Ciudad del Carmen is a city in the south west of the state of Campeche, Mexico. Ciudad del Carmen is located at on the south west of Carmen Island, which stands in the Laguna de Términos on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. In 2003 the population was estimated at 132,400 people. In July of 2006 Ciudad del Carmen celebrates its 150th anniversary.
The city is nicknamed "The Pearl of the Gulf". Ciudad del Carmen was a small city mostly devoted to fishing until the 1970s when oil was discovered in the region; since then it has grown and developed substantially. To this day Carmen is known as one of the best locations to find seafood in Mexico. As late as the early 1980s the city could long be reached only by ferry boats called "pangas"; this changed with the construction of a causeway bridge to the mainland in the 1980s and another one in 1994 before the term of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari ended. The construction of the first bridge was motivated by the sinking of one of the island's pangas which resulted in the death of nearly everyone on-board. The bridge Puente El Zacatal constructed in 1994 is one of the longest in Latin America.
This border area at the western edge of the Yucatán Peninsula was previously part of the state of Yucatán, then of Tabasco; since 1863 it has been part of the state of Campeche. In 1840 the city had a population of about 7,000.
The city is also the seat of the state of Campeche's Carmen municipality, which includes the city and the surrounding area. In 1999 the population of the municipality of Carmen was 181,566 people, second only to capital city of Campeche. There is a sense of rivalry among the inhabitants of the two cities.
The main university in Ciudad del Carmen is the UNACAR (Universidad Autonoma del Carmen).
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[edit] History
Founded in the pre-Hispanic era, Ciudad del Carmen was an important location which served to connect the Aztec and Mayan civilizations. Between the 1500s and 1700s when the city of Campeche was a trade hub between Spain and New Spain (Mexico), Ciudad del Carmen was inhabited by pirates and served as a port for repairing ships and planning attacks against the Spanish.
The city got its current name on July 16, 1717, in honor or the Virgin of Carmen, believed to be the protector of the island, when the Spanish forces, commanded by Alonso Felipe de Andrade evicted the pirates from the island and took control the city after a long period of occupation. Since then, every year at the end of July, Ciudad del Carmen turns into the very center of the regional social, cultural and religious festivities, on the fair that celebrates the island's protector virgin [1]. Carmen celebrated its 150th anniversary as a city in July of 2006.
[edit] Petroleum
In the mid 1970s Ciudad del Carmen was transformed from a fishing and shrimping city into a hub for oil when PEMEX discovered large amounts of petroleum off the coast. Ever since Carmen has become a home for Mexican and foreign oil workers alike, including many texans, and now houses many foreign companies such as Halliburton. It is generally accepted that when the oil runs dry Carmen will attempt to transform the picturesque beaches which lie just twenty minutes outside the city into a tourist attraction.
[edit] Politics
On July 2nd, 2006 carmelitas voted for their mayor, and Jose Ignacio Seara of the PAN resulted elected. He will be in office until 2009
 Downtown kiosko. |
 Puerto Real, one of the best Beaches in Carmen. |
 The "Camaron" Fountain. |
 "Carmelita" Carnival. |
