Everything about Saltillo Coahuila totally explained
Saltillo is the capital city of the northeastern
Mexican state of
Coahuila and the municipal seat of the
municipality of the same name. The city is located at 400km south of the
Texas border, and 90km west of
Monterrey
As of the 2005 census, Saltillo had a population of 633,667 people, rising to 725,259 if the full
Metropolitan Area is considered, making it the 20th biggest metro area in the country. The metro area comprises the
municipalities of Saltillo,
Ramos Arizpe, and
Arteaga. The municipality of Saltillo had a population of 648,929.
The Gross Domestic Product
per capita in the Metropolitan Zone of Saltillo is one of the highest in Mexico with $13,936 USD. According to the ranking of the Inversionista magazine of 2006, Saltillo is the best city to live in Mexico, chosen from more than 53 Mexican cities.
Geography
El Cerro del Pueblo (The People's Hill) and its cross overlook the city. The city's elevation is, making it cooler and windier than its neighbor city,
Monterrey. Saltillo lies near the city of
Arteaga and near the Chihuahan Desert.
Government
The city of Saltillo is the municipal seat of the
municipality of Saltillo. The current
municipal president is
Fernando de las Fuentes from the
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who will remain in office until
2009.
History
Saltillo was founded in
1577 by Spanish colonists.
Tlaxcaltecas also colonized there. It is the oldest city in northern Mexico. In
1824, Saltillo was made the capital of the State of Coahuila and included the area which is now the US State of Texas until the war of Texas Independence and the founding of the independent Texas Republic.
The city is flanked by the
Zapalinamé mountains, which are part of the
Sierra Madre Oriental. By looking at the relief of the mountains, one can see, according to local legend, the relief of Zapaliname, chieftain of the Huachicil tribe.
Economy
Saltillo's most famous exports are
Saltillo tile and the locally woven multi-coloured
sarapes. There is a
General Motors assembly plant and
Chrysler's Saltillo Truck Assembly plant, two engine facilities and a car transmissions plant. 37.4% of cars and 62.6% of trucks produced in Mexico are assembled in Saltillo. Saltillo is home to the
Grupo Industrial Saltillo, an important manufacturing conglomerate that makes home appliances, silverware, and auto parts. Some criticism has been made of this new urbanization and the lack of conservation and planning.
During the early
20th Century, Saltillo was called the
Athens of
Mexico because of its number of famous intellectuals. Nowadays, it's considered the
Detroit of
Mexico because of the importance of its
automotive industry, including the huge Chrysler, General Motors, and Delphi plants.
The General Motors plant, el Complejo Industrial Ramos Arizpe (The Ramos Arizpe Industrial Complex) exports vehicles to
Japan,
Canada, and Central America. In this plant, the following vehicles are assembled: Chevy C2 and Monza for Mexican and South American markets.
Buick Rendezvouz,
Saturn Vue hybrid, and
HHR.
Points of interest
Alameda Zaragoza is the largest park in the city and has an artificial lake in the shape of the Mexican Republic. The park is located just west of the downtown plaza.
The Colonial Center of the city is built in pink marble, giving Saltillo's architecture a distinctive flavour. Prominent buildings are the
cathedral(built from 1745-1800), the
Palacio de Gobierno (state government building), the
Ateneo Fuente and the
Instituto Tecnológico de Saltillo. The large cathedral is the best example of colonial religious architecture in northeastern Mexico; its facade is mainly
Spanish Baroque, with less exuberant areas. The Centro Cultural Vito Alessio Robles (Vito Alessio Cultural Center) is an 18th Century repository of antiquities and documents from historians Vito Alessio Robles and Oscar Davila. The repository is also a temporal museum. The Casa Purcell (Purcell Mannor) is a
Victorian style mansion built in the 19th Century by Irish merchant William Purcell. Today it's a cultural center.
The city has two world-class museums. The Museo de las Aves de México (Bird Museum), featuring a collection of bird specimens from all over Mexico in realistic displays. The Museo del Desierto (Desert Museum) focuses on the geography, geology, paleontology (with
dinosaur fossils) and biodiversity of the
Chihuahuan desert, and the history and culture of the local people through time. It includes a
cactus greenhouse and exhibits, with dozens of species.
Education
Saltillo's main universities are the
Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila, the
Instituto Tecnológico de Saltillo, the
Tec de Monterrey Saltillo Campus, El Instituto de Filologia Hispanica, and the
Universidad Autonoma Agraria Antonio Narro. Other universities include Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Avanzados del IPN (CINVESTAV Saltillo), Universidad Interamericana del Norte (Tec Sierra Madre
(External Link
), Universidad Autonoma del Noreste, Universidad Pedagogica Nacional, Universidad del Valle de Mexico, Escuela Normal de Coahuila
(External Link), and many others.
Transportation
Saltillo Metropolitan Area air traffic is served by
Plan de Guadalupe International Airport. It takes 15 minutes to get from downtown Saltillo to the airport. It has several flights per day to
Mexico City and a daily flight to
Houston, Texas. There is a comprehensive bus system in Saltillo along with many
taxis.
Sister cities
The following are sister cities of Saltillo:
(External Link)
People
Fernando Soler (1896 - 1979) Film actor and director
Trivia
Saltillo has underground tunnels, starting in the Catedral de Santiago and ending in the city's limitsFurther Information
Get more info on 'Saltillo Coahuila'.
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