Ocotlán means "near the pines" or "place of the ocote (pines)". Ocote is from Nahuatlocōtl, Pinus montezumae, a species of pine.
History
Ocotlán was founded in 1530. Two main cathedrals line the plaza. One is the church named La Purisima ("The Most Pure"), which is one of the oldest buildings in Jalisco. The altar is dipped in gold. The other cathedral, more recent than La Purisima, was built in the late 1800s and dedicated to Nuestro Señor de Misericordia (Our Merciful Lord), which honors a vision of Christ seen after an extremely destructive earthquake.
The current municipal president is Lic. Josué Avila, from the MORENA party in Mexico.
Appearance of Christ
On October 2, 1847 at approximately 0730, a large and powerful earthquake destroyed most of the city, including the original church.[2][3] The following day, a Sunday, when the faithful were attending a Mass outside of the destroyed church, a vision of the crucifix was claimed to have been seen in the sky by more than 2,000 people, lasting approximately 30 minutes. On September 29, 1911, José de Jesús Ortiz y Rodríguez, who was the Archbishop of Guadalajara at the time signed a legal document approving as a true and given fact the appearance of Jesus Christ. Which became known as the “Miracle of Ocotlan”, festivities then began in 1912 in honor of El Señor de la Misericordia (Lord of Mercy). Festivities last 13 days, from Sep 20- October 3.[4][5]
It is a recognized event, not to be forgotten. It has become a tradition passed from generation to generation, with celebrations taking place in Ocotlán, and in different parts of the United States by those who have migrated from Ocotlán.[6]
Geography
Ocotlán borders Poncitlán and Tototlán and is only 50 minutes drive east-southeast from the city of Guadalajara. It is on the northeast end of Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake. As of 2010, the city had a population of 92,967.[7] The municipality of Ocotlán, which has an area of 247.7 km2 (95.64 sq mi), as of 2020 had a population of 184,603 inhabitants, of which 50.9% were women and 49.1% were men. That is an increase of 12.9% since 2010.[8] The proper gentilic for the inhabitants is Ocotlense. The altitude of the city is 5020 ft, and the time zone is UTC-6.
Climate
For the most part the weather in Ocotlán, Jalisco is warm all year round. With warmer temperatures during the day and cooler in the evenings. Hottest months of the year are April and May, May reaching its peak with an average high of 89 °F and low of 60 °F. The cooler months being November to February. January being the coldest month of the year, with an average high of 76 °F and in the evening with an average low of 44 °F. Despite the drop in temperatures from the morning to the evening, the humidity remains the same. So if you have a humid day it will be followed by a humid night.[9]
Businesses
Some of the businesses in Ocotlán are Nestlé, Celanese, Forrajes El Nogal, Maderas primas de occidente, Triplay y Aglomerados, Fábrica de Muebles La Cibeles and many other furniture factories, like EMMAN, an MDF manufacturer. Celanese closed its acetate flake plant, built in 1947, on 31 October 2019, eliminating 200 jobs.[10]
Architecture
One of the most important buildings is the new library and media center, recently opened to the public in 2000, and operated by the University of Guadalajara.[11] The modern building is inspired by the lineal constructions of the university center. It features an impressive lobby of multiple heights in which the main elements of the visual composition of the space are the books themselves. The building was designed by the young architecture firm LeAP, based in Guadalajara. It has been published and exhibited locally and internationally.
Ocotlan is known for their authentic flavorful birria. It is a spicy stew which is traditionally made from goat meat but can also be made from beef. Many drive into the city of Ocotlan just for their birria and others have taken this delicious recipe to other countries, like the Reyes family who run a birria restaurant in Chicago.[13]
Organized crime
On March 20, 2015 around 9:15pm the town suffered from one of the deadliest shootings. Seven vehicles carrying Mexico paramilitary gendarmerie officers were sent to Ocotlan as they had received a report of an attack on municipal police. They were ambushed by Mexican drug gang/cartel with a goal to get the Gendarmerie out of their territories.[14] In August 2014, President Enrique Peña Nieto had launched a strong 5,000 Gendarmerie unit to combat economic crime. The cartel needs to send out a message and what better way to do it. The cartel’s goal is to have their territories free of federal police so they can continue with illicit economic activity, extortion, and street taxation. This attack resulted in the death of five officers, three suspects, two innocent bystanders, and 8 wounded officers. Law enforcement has been ambushed previously in this town and many other surrounding cities and states in which federal officials have been killed but never so many in a single attack. Unfortunately this is not the only state that suffers from organized crime, this is a problem that many other states and countries suffer from.[15][16]
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