Acapulco History

Pre 20th Century

Acapulco was named by the Náhua tribe: the name means 'where the reeds stood' or 'place of giant reeds'. Archaeological finds show that by the time the Spaniards arrived, people had been living around the bay area for about 2000 years, and had moved from being a hunter-gatherer society to being an agricultural one. The Náhua were conquered by the Aztec empire about a hundred years before it in turn fell to the Spanish conquistadors.

By order of Hernán Cortés, Spanish sailors took the Bahía de Acapulco in 1521. Port and shipbuilding facilities were established here because of the substantial natural harbor, and it was the jumping-off point for further explorations and conquests, such as that of Peru. Acapulco became the only port in the New World authorized to receive Spanish galleons from the Philippines and China. It was therefore an important link in the trade route between Europe and the Orient, the longest and most profitable commercial route in the world, and remained so until the early 19th century. Goods transported through its port included spices, silks, ivory, jade, porcelain and slaves. During the annual Acapulco Fair, lasting three to eight weeks after the galleons arrived from Manila in spring, traders converged on Acapulco from Mexico City, Manila and Peru.

All this treasure was an invitation Dutch and English pirates could not resist, and by the 17th century their ships abounded in the Pacific and along the coastlines of Mexico and Baja California. To ward off the pirates, Fuerte de San Diego was built atop a low hill overlooking the bay.

Because of the sea port's strategic importance to the Spanish crown, Fuerte de San Diego became a focus of rebellion in 1812, when the discontented population rose up against their Spanish colonial rulers in the War of Independence. The royalists were besieged in the fort for four months before finally surrendering to the Mexican troops. Much of the city was subsequently destroyed, and as independent Mexico severed most of its trade links with Spain and Spain's colonies, Acapulco fell into decline for the next hundred years.

Modern

The city's isolation from the rest of the world ended when a paved road was built in 1927 linking it with Mexico City. As the capital grew larger its citizens began flocking to the Pacific coast for vacations. A new international airport was built, and by the 1960s Acapulco was a booming resort, its reputation as a playground for the rich and famous.

Acapulco later declined in favor somewhat as it began to succumb to pollution and over-development. A massive clean-up program was undertaken in the 1990s, including hotel renovations and infrastructure improvements as well as water-treatment plants. Unfortunately, it was hindered by Hurricane Pauline, which pounded the city in 1997, killing hundreds with high winds, flooding and mud slides.

Recent

In 1999 Mayor Zepherino Torreblanca was voted in as Acapulco's first opposition-party mayor since 1923, with promises that he would restore some of Acapulco's prestige, clean up the environment and redistribute its profits to the city's poor. Competition from Ixtapa and Huatulco - carefully designed to shield tourists from the ugly truths of Mexican poverty - means only a fifth of visitors to Acapulco are from overseas; the bulk of visitors are from Mexico City's middle class. Spring-breakers from the US, attracted by discounted rooms and a welcoming hotel industry, began coming to Acapulco in droves in 2002, shifting the balance towards a younger crowd.