In this monthly series, we republish a few of the headlines from our October editions 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago.
1973
Tourist tips
• Ferry landing complexes are under construction at Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas in preparation for next year’s opening of scheduled ferry service linking the mainland with the southern-most tip of the Baja California peninsula.
• The popular guayabera shirt, native to the Yucatan, will soon become the uniform of all of Mexico’s postmen. The Communications and Transport Secretariat has placed an order for 15,000 guyaberas for the postal service.
• Mazatlan’s rate of tourist growth is greater than that of any other Mexican city, according to the governor of Sinaloa. He says the city will end 1973 having hosted some 750,000 tourists, a 20-percent increase over 1972 with an average stay of 5.4 days and spending per person of $US80.
1983
Day of Dead traditions diluted by urban squeeze & Halloween
If, on the Day of the Dead, November 2, the dead do indeed visit Guadalajara as tradition maintains, they will do so quietly, without the noisy graveside fiestas of older times. Nor will they be awaited anxiously or fed, as remains the custom in neighboring Michoacan.
Instead, the majority of Tapatios will celebrate the national holiday by attending the unusually frequent and gloomy Masses held that day, visits to the cemetery with flowers in hand and by snacking on sweet pan de muerto, particularly relished with softened chocolate that has been dipped in milk.
According to many, Guadalajara was never a stronghold of El Dia del Difunto. Many born here have never seen—though they have read and heard of—the ofrendas laid out in either home or by the grave..
Benjamin Franklin Library Director Celia Delgado de Orozco, whose family has long roots in the city, has herself, never visited the cemetery on that day.
Businessman Alfonso Garcia said traditional Day of the Dead customs are observed in the countryside, on farms and in small villages, where there is more “religious fanaticism.” In the cities,” he said, there is far less of that sort of extremism. It is the flux and mix of city life that has killed the Day of the Dead in Guadalajara, many say.
One young Tapatio said that with the U.S. celebration of Halloween on October 31, there is a revoltura, a confusion and because of the traditional pallor of the Day of the Dead celebration here, Halloween, with its scary masks and trick or treats, increasingly dominates the period.
Editor’s note: Although Halloween was marked all over Jalisco this week, graveyards in Guadalajara were reportedly filled to the hilt during the Thursday, November 2 commemoration, according to local authorities, suggesting that the traditional Day of the Dead holiday is actually far from muerto here.
1993
Tractors block GDL-Chapala Hwy as hundreds miss flights
Chaos broke out when Jalisco farmers seeking resolution of their debt crisis blocked the Guadalajara-Chapala highway October 11 to 13. The blockade of some 250 tractors by the protest movement El Barzon occurred at the intersection of the highway with the periferico and resulted in hundreds of people missing flights from the Miguel Hidalgo International Airport.
The farmers entered Guadalajara with their tractors August 25 protesting banks foreclosing on farmer’s debts totaling more than 100 million dollars. They demanded restructuring of their loans with longer payment terms and a commitment from the federal government to support small farmers and a halt to cheap agricultural imports.
For a month the protest was confined to the downtown area and had little effect on Tapatios apart from its novelty value.
In response to comments about those who missed flights, El Barzon coordinator Maximiano Barbosa Llamas remarked: “We want international travelers to know the problems there are in Mexico and not just the official version [President] Salinas de Gortari gives on international tours.`
2003
GDL looks to skiesto boost population
A Guadalajara City Hall plan to authorize some 92 high-rise constructions in the Providencia neighborhood is likely to face strong opposition. The majority of the city’s development plans focus on the richer west end of the municipality, but City Hall also wants to convert abandoned buildings and factory space in the city center and rundown east side into residential zones.
The municipality of Guadalajara has close to 100 percent of its land developed. Its population peaked at 1,650,000 in 1990 and fell nominally to 1,647,000 in 2000. Meanwhile Zapopan, Tonala and Tlaquepaque’s populations have all increased by at least 40 percent in the 1990s. The total population of the metro area is about four million. The national Council on Population suggests that Guadalajara’s will fall to about 1.5 million inhabitants by 2010 if the current demographic shift to its neighboring municipalities isn’t reverted.
2013
Spectacular Highway opens
Twelve years after construction began, President Enrique Peña Nieto inaugurated one of Mexico’s most expensive and ambitious infrastructure projects, the Mazatlan-Durango highway on October 17.
The 136-mile highway cuts the driving time from the Pacific resort of Mazatlan, Sinaloa to the eponymous state capital of Durango from six hours to just over two and a half. The project cost 28.6 billion pesos (2.28 billion dollars), with 15.1 billion pesos spent on the Sinaloa side of the highway and 13.5 billion spent on the Durango side.
The highway passes through 61 tunnels and along 71 bridges, including the Puente Baluarte, the highest bridge in the Americas and the highest cable-stayed bridge in the world. Crossing the “Espinazo del Diablo,” or “Devil’s Backbone,” in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range, the spectacular, four-lane bridge is 1,124 meters long and 403 meters high.
The highway will have a massive economic impact on Mexico’s Northern Economic Corridor, and Mazatlan, in particular, will be one of the biggest beneficiaries. With the driving time to San Antonio, Texas reduced from about 18 hours to just 12, the Pacific port will now become the gateway for goods being transported from Asia to the east coast of the United States.