A concerned reader has pointed out the frequent use of the airport code GDL in our article headlines, instead of the full name of the vibrant city it represents: Guadalajara.
As the editor of this esteemed periodical, I take responsibility for that. Finding space for 11-letter words in compact headlines can be challenging. Time constraints often lead to shortcuts—or perhaps it’s just my own occasional laziness!
Delving deeper, some readers might be curious about the origins of Guadalajara and its name.
Guadalajara was founded in 1532 by the conquistador Nuño de Guzmán in what is now Nochistlán, Zacatecas, and named after the Spanish city of his birth. The emerging settlement was plagued by indigenous attacks and townsfolk were obliged to relocate on three occasions before settling in the current location in the Valley of Atemajac, alongside the Juan de Dios River, in 1542.
According to the Universidad de Madrid, the name Guadalajara originates from the Arabic “Wādī Al-Hijāra,” meaning “Valley of Stones.” “Wādī” refers to a valley that flows with water, hence the additional interpretation “River of Stones” or “River that runs over stones.”
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