| Concepción de Ataco | |
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| — Municipality — | |
| 1 Avenida. Concepcion de Ataco | |
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Concepción de Ataco
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | El Salvador |
| Department | Ahuachapán Department |
| Government | |
| • Type | Democratic |
| • Mayor | Capitan Oscar Oliverio Gomez (Alianza Republicana Nacionalista) |
| Area | |
| • Municipality | 23.6 sq mi (61.04 km2) |
| Elevation | 4,068 ft (1,240 m) |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Municipality | 18,101 |
| • Metro | 18,101 |
| Time zone | Central America (UTC-6) |
| Area code(s) | (503) |
| Human Developemnt Index | 0.695 – high[1] |
Concepcion de Ataco is a municipality and city within the department Ahuachapán, El Salvador. It has an area of 61.03 km ² and a population of 18,101 inhabitants (est. 2006).
The municipality administration is divided into 11 cantons, which are: El Arco, El Limo, El Naranjito, El Tronconal, La Ceiba, La Joya de los Apante, La Planxa, San Jose, Shucutitán and Texusín Chirizo. Ataos's population has pre-Columbian origin and was founded by Yaqui Indians or pipiles in central Apaneca Mountain Range.
In Nahuatl, Ataco means "high place of springs.”
Concepción de Ataco's "sister city" is Elk Grove, California[2].
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Archbishop Pedro Cortes y Larraz, Ataco in 1770 belonged to the parish and its people Ahuachapán was represented by 303 families with 784 indigenous people who spoke the Nahuatl of the Pipil turn these people spoke and understood also Castilian .
In the colonial period Ataco belonged to the administration of the province or municipality over Izalco Sonsonate. As of June 12, 1824 belonged to the municipality of primitive and great department of Sonsonate. Because the law of July 4, 1832 this population was part of the jurisdiction of the judicial district of Ahuachapán. By legislative decree of February 8, 1855 the town was incorporated in the department of Santa Ana According to a municipal report Ataco, stated on 20 April 1858, the town had a population of 972 inhabitants.
During the year 1866 the municipalities of Ataco asked the authorities, that this population be divided and separated from the department of Santa Ana and Sonsonate department add for convenience of local interests. This application did not progress.
Legislative Decree 26 February 1869 joined the district and department Ahuachapán.
For the year 1890 the city had 2.860 inhabitants.
In Concepcion de Ataco you can find stores that sell crafts with a wide variety of sculptures, ornaments, weaving, embroidery, candles, key chains and coffee. Ataco native population still retains many of the customs and traditions of their grandparents, who goes from generation to generation through oral tradition, preserving so far a bit of our culture nahuat.[3]
The small town, has the basic services (water, electricity, sewage, train toilet, telephone, internet, post office, police and magistrates' court). The town has 4 branches of the agricultural sector, all benefits of coffee, so it follows that the municipality is mainly agricultural. There are 4 foundations or organizations concerned with agriculture and community development: FUNDATACO Foundation (ATAC), ADECOA (Association for Community Development Ataco) FUNADIC (Ataqueña Foundation for the Integral Development Community) and Romero Association. The city’s economy has also been influenced by tourism starting on 2004, that is the reason why the city has grown prosperous and many investors both local and international are opening businesses like Hotels, Restaurants, Bars, etc.
Ataco has started its tourism business in the late 2004, prior to that the most visited colonial village was Apaneca, a village 20 minutes away from Ataco, after people realized Ataco has more opportunities and that its a much cheerful village, people starting investing in Ataco.[4] Even tough Ataco did not win first place in the Pueblos Vivos contest it is still preferred by local, and international tourists.
Were reintroduced to the area and can see and appreciate the art of fabric[5] making some craft shops.
You can visit the cafe to enjoy the excellent coffee in this area and enjoy the restaurants where you can enjoy typical Salvadoran food and gourmet. Ataco has many restaurants that are national and international, there is a variety of foods, Chilean, French, Italian, American, Mexican, Japanese, Spanish, Central American, and Salvadoran (pupusas, and many other traditional dishes).[6] One can ejony the gastronomic festival in the central plaza. Among some main restaurants in Ataco are:[7]
It has one of the most famous handicraft shops and treadle looms in the area "Diconte Axul". This is a very colorful and eye-catching corner who plays the village attacked, out of the ordinary and traditional. Its facade shows the lines, colors and figures of the handcrafts that are inside. Each piece, painted by its charismatic owner, Alvaro Aguirre, Cristina Faguioli, could be considered unique in its kind, which gives a higher value.
One of the first businesses to gain recognition in the Route of the Flowers was Diconte & Axul, a variety store crafts, textile art and has become the reference of the people to attack from more than 7 years. Established in an old house, dating from 1910, near the center of town, Diconte & Axular offers tourists the best opportunity to buy crafts from all over El Salvador, and Guatemala and other countries. Also, the famous "Cats" and other crafts painted with the colorful style introduced by the artists and Cristina Orellana Alvaro Pineda, who attend the place. You can also see how local artisans make colorful fabrics treadle looms, a tradition that is disappearing throughout Latin America. In Diconte & Axul can purchase these unique fabrics from $ 6 a yard, up to $ 8
Ataco has a set of many Hostels and Hotels, with a cozy arrangement, large rooms with great spaces and very low prices. Some hotels and hostels in the area:[11]
Ataco's high elevation gives the area one of the nicest climate range in El Salvador. Temperatures never going above 23C(73F) and always stay cool during the night. Sometimes it can be very chilly. The lowest temperature recorded was 4C(40F)during a cold front in November 2010. The fact that the city receives a lot of precipitation, and that the temperature is relatively cool but not cold, makes the place ideal for plants of many types to grow, it is usual to see a low of flowers, pine trees, and "veraneras" in Concepcion de Ataco and in the surrounding areas. Because the town is located on a mountain the sidewalks are designed to be really high from the street, because when there is heavy rain all the runoff from the mountain could flood the area a couple of inches. The month with the highest rainfall is July with 316 millimeters of rain (13 inches). The Average coolest months of the year are October and November with temperatures as low as 10C(50F) (due to a high presence of wind during this period of year).
| Climate data for Concepcion de Ataco | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 19.3 (66.7) |
20.6 (69.1) |
23.3 (73.9) |
23.2 (73.8) |
22.7 (72.9) |
21.6 (70.9) |
21.6 (70.9) |
21.6 (70.9) |
20.9 (69.6) |
20.0 (68.0) |
19.2 (66.6) |
18.9 (66.0) |
20.5 (68.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 14.7 (58.5) |
15.3 (59.5) |
17.0 (62.6) |
17.7 (63.9) |
17.9 (64.2) |
17.2 (63.0) |
17.1 (62.8) |
17.1 (62.8) |
16.9 (62.4) |
16.2 (61.2) |
15.2 (59.4) |
14.7 (58.5) |
16.0 (60.8) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 10.8 (51.4) |
11.6 (52.9) |
12.8 (55.0) |
13.9 (57.0) |
14.6 (58.3) |
14.3 (57.7) |
14.0 (57.2) |
14.0 (57.2) |
14.2 (57.6) |
13.6 (56.5) |
11.7 (53.1) |
10.9 (51.6) |
12.5 (54.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 6.0 (42.8) |
5.6 (42.1) |
8.0 (46.4) |
10.0 (50.0) |
10.0 (50.0) |
10.0 (50.0) |
10.0 (50.0) |
10.0 (50.0) |
9.4 (48.9) |
5.3 (41.5) |
4.9 (40.8) |
7.1 (44.8) |
7.3 (45.1) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 5.0 (0.197) |
2.0 (0.079) |
9.0 (0.354) |
36.0 (1.417) |
152.0 (5.984) |
292.0 (11.496) |
316.0 (12.441) |
311.0 (12.244) |
348.0 (13.701) |
217.0 (8.543) |
36.0 (1.417) |
10.0 (0.394) |
1,734 (68.27) |
| Source: http://www.yr.no/;[14] | |||||||||||||
Access by paved road that connects with Ahuachapán and Sonsonate (CA-8). There are regular buses that arrive at the entrance of the village, from Sonsonate and Ahuachapán. The (CA-8) is a small rural highway with two lanes, the road connects Ataco with Apaneca too and San Salvador. In order to take the CA-8 there are different highways depending on what part of the country you can take the RN-13 if you are coming from Santa Ana or Chalchuapa (if you are coming form the eastern part of Santa Ana the nearest highways is the RN-12), from Acajutla one can take the CA-2 and then the RN-15 and connect to the CA-8 near Apaneca a few kilometers away from Ataco. If coming from San Salvador or anywhere else in the country the highway that connects to the area is the CA-1(Pan-American Highway)
Most roads are asphalt but many main parts with traffics are built out of concrete. Many roads are just 2 lanes because they need to go in high mountain places, but as soon as you go down the highway system is most of the time 4 lanes going all directions in the country.
Ataco and it's surroundings are known for their high safety levels. Even tough there is no danger at all nor presence of any type of violence, Politur (Tourism Police) is present in the area to not only maximize the safety levels, but to orient who are lost, and help out in any trouble one has.
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