Jerez de García Salinas

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Municipality of Jerez de García Salinas

Location

The city and surrounding municipality of Jerez de García Salinas is located in the the center of the state of Zacatecas, Mexico.

The municipality is bordered on the north by the municipality of Fresnillo, to the east by the municipalities of Calera and Zacatecas, to the south by Villanueva and Tepetongo and to the west by the municpalities of Valparaíso and Susticacán. It has an area of 1,521 km² (587.26 sq mi). Its largest other community is the town of Ermita de Guadalupe.

1 Population
2 History
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Population

According to the 2005 census, the municipality of Jerez de García Salinas had a population of 52,594 inhabitants. (A municipio in Mexico corresponds to a county in the United States. The population of the city proper is considerably less, at 38,624 in this case, although it is, still, the state's fourth-largest community, after Zacatecas, Fresnillo, and Guadalupe.) The main religion is Catholicism. The city festivities are celebrated in September to celebrate Mexican Independence and the Virgen of Solitude (La Virgen de La Soledad). Another major cultural event is Spring Break (La Festival de Primavera). Every year Spring Break is celebrated beginning Holy Saturday and continuing for Easter week and the week following, with Rodeos, traditional dances, horse races, and cultural festivities. The Parade of the Cowboys (Desfile de los Charros) on Holy Saturday is a never to be forgotten event which culminates with the burning of the Judas effigies (Quema de los Judas) in the early afternoon. The main street is closed to automible traffic and taken over by hundreds of horsemen. Spring Break has attracted tourists from all over Mexico and from residents in the U.S.

[edit] History

The area around Jerez de García Salinas was inhabited by the Zacatec and Guachichil ethnic groups prior to the arrival of the Spanish.

Jerez de García Salinas, originally named Jerez de la Frontera after the town of the same name in Andalucía, Spain. The first attempt to found the town was by the Spanish Crown was in 1563 to serve as a fortress on the northern frontier and guard against the incessant attacks by Chichimeca natives on the wagon trains that passed through the region en route between the mines in Zacatecas and the viceroyal capital in Guadalajara. These first attempts were unsuccessful and it was not until 1570 that the town's existence is first mentioned as being administered by the government in Tlaltenango. The following year the town was abandoned.

In 1572, the town in resettled by a group of captains waging war against the Chichimecs on the frontier. Among the founders were Pedro Carrillo Dávila, Pedro Caldera (father of Miguel Caldera), Hernán González, Cristóbal Caldera, Juan de la Torre and Rodrigo de Pinedo.