Agua Caliente, El Salvador
Encyclopedia
Agua Caliente is a municipality
in the Chalatenango
department
of El Salvador
.
Agua Caliente, El Salvador is a town north of Chalatenango, the capital city of the department of Chalatenango, North East of Nueva Concepcion. It occupies an area of 195 square kilometers, and has a population (2006) of 8,992. Location of the city center is 14º11’12.91”N, 89º13’19.82”W. As per the Technical Secretary of the Presidency of El Salvador, it has ranking 27 of extreme poverty of the 267 municipalities of El Salvador.
People are friendly and courteous to visitors. Most people from the neighboring “cantones” or hamlets display Caucasian features; they may be blond, with fair skin and blue eyes. This may be because the entire department of Chalatenango was populated by early Spanish settlers attracted by the boom of indigo cultivation in colonial times and sent there by Baron of Carardalet, governor of Guatemala in the late 18th century. A pdf document published by FISDL, (http://www.fisdl.gob.sv/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=902) indicates that “As per Antonio Gutierrez y Ulloa in 1807 Agua Caliente was simply a hacienda of cattle and indigo belonging to Bernardino Aguilar, five leagues N. E. of Tejutla, away from the Royal Road. As per other traditions, that hacienda became a hamlet in 1819 and then, fulfilling the Laws and Orders of Indias it became a village with the long name of San Jose Agua Caliente de las Flores. The new municipality was incorporated to the Region of Tejutla. From 1824 to 1833 it belonged to the department of San Salvador; to the department of Tejutla in 1833; to the department of San Salvador from 1833 to 1835; to the department of Cuzcatlan from 1835 to 1855. From then on it has been a municipality of Chalatenango. In 1890 it had 2,340 souls. Its name comes from two hot springs in the area and another one in the canton of Obrajuelo.”
The Cabrera, Guevara, Menjivar and Aguilar families were prominent in the history of the town. Abraham Cabrera donated the land occupied by the high school of the town. He was mayor of the town sometime in the early 1900’s. His two sons, Jose Angel Cabrera and Miguel Cabrera also served as mayors between 1960 and 1975. In late July 2007, Agua Caliente began receiving running water again. Electricity and running water were first installed in the earkly 60's as part of the initiatives of the Alliance for Progress of President John F. Kennedy. Due to lack of maintenance the piping system crumbled and as recently as two years ago, only houses in low elevations had adequate pressure. As most towns in El Salvador, there is no water treatment for raw sewage and this is typically discharged in a nearby creek or in the Metayate River which runs in the middle of the town. The local cemetery appears overflowing but there is no expansion expected in the near future. It is mainly a live stock community. A local cooperative assists with loans to small enterprises. Cheese and dairy products which are produced locally can be purchased at good prices in a couple of stores. In downtown Agua Caliente there is a Catholic church, recently under restoration, and a mini park. The church is a beautiful colonial church and it appears more majestic than those in neighboring municipalities. Legend has it that the massive bell in one of the towers is just a replica of the original one which was stolen overnight and then taken by thieves to a famous church in Ahuachapan sometime in the 20th century. Every Thursday morning from about eight to eleven there is a market place in the streets. This is when the majority of people from neighboring hamlets or “cantones” buy their food and clothing items and may come down to sell cattle or farm products. Visitors can enjoy a pupusa at a local pupuseria. There is a vibrant environment in the area. Hundreds of people emigrated to as far as Australia and Europe in the 80's as the town was the scene of conflicts between the leftist guerrillas and the government troops. As these emigrants started to buy land in Agua Caliente, land prices soared. It is not unusual to find houses priced at $50,000.00, something which was unheard of twenty five years ago. Some local families depend on money they receive from expatriates, relatives living in the United States. The warm water lagoon gives the location its name “Agua Caliente” (Hot water or Hot Springs). The Metayate River divides the town in two main “barrios” or districts: El Carmen and El Centro. The flow of water of the river has diminished considerably over time due to deforestation of the surrounding hills. One of these hills has a huge rock (“La Piedra Movediza” or “The Moving Rock”) that can be moved with little effort due to its natural balance. The Salvadorian government plans to build a hydroelectric dam north of the town, the Cimarron Hydroelectric project
, that will divert flow from the Lempa River and will likely increase the flow of water downstream into the Metayate River. The project has encountered some opposition but faced with its energy crisis, El Salvador has no options but to develop any available resource. The festivities of the town take place in the week of March 18 and 19; they are dedicated to Saint Joseph, patron saint of Agua Caliente.
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
in the Chalatenango
Chalatenango Department
Chalatenango is a department of El Salvador, located in the northwest of the country. The capital is the city of Chalatenango. The Chalatenango Department encompasses 2,017 km² and contains more than 220,000 inhabitants. Las Matras Archaeological Ruins contains the relics of prehistoric...
department
Departments of El Salvador
||A list of the departments of El Salvador in alphabetical order.Department :# Ahuachapán # Cabañas # Chalatenango # Cuscatlán # La Libertad # La Paz...
of El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
.
Agua Caliente, El Salvador is a town north of Chalatenango, the capital city of the department of Chalatenango, North East of Nueva Concepcion. It occupies an area of 195 square kilometers, and has a population (2006) of 8,992. Location of the city center is 14º11’12.91”N, 89º13’19.82”W. As per the Technical Secretary of the Presidency of El Salvador, it has ranking 27 of extreme poverty of the 267 municipalities of El Salvador.
People are friendly and courteous to visitors. Most people from the neighboring “cantones” or hamlets display Caucasian features; they may be blond, with fair skin and blue eyes. This may be because the entire department of Chalatenango was populated by early Spanish settlers attracted by the boom of indigo cultivation in colonial times and sent there by Baron of Carardalet, governor of Guatemala in the late 18th century. A pdf document published by FISDL, (http://www.fisdl.gob.sv/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=902) indicates that “As per Antonio Gutierrez y Ulloa in 1807 Agua Caliente was simply a hacienda of cattle and indigo belonging to Bernardino Aguilar, five leagues N. E. of Tejutla, away from the Royal Road. As per other traditions, that hacienda became a hamlet in 1819 and then, fulfilling the Laws and Orders of Indias it became a village with the long name of San Jose Agua Caliente de las Flores. The new municipality was incorporated to the Region of Tejutla. From 1824 to 1833 it belonged to the department of San Salvador; to the department of Tejutla in 1833; to the department of San Salvador from 1833 to 1835; to the department of Cuzcatlan from 1835 to 1855. From then on it has been a municipality of Chalatenango. In 1890 it had 2,340 souls. Its name comes from two hot springs in the area and another one in the canton of Obrajuelo.”
The Cabrera, Guevara, Menjivar and Aguilar families were prominent in the history of the town. Abraham Cabrera donated the land occupied by the high school of the town. He was mayor of the town sometime in the early 1900’s. His two sons, Jose Angel Cabrera and Miguel Cabrera also served as mayors between 1960 and 1975. In late July 2007, Agua Caliente began receiving running water again. Electricity and running water were first installed in the earkly 60's as part of the initiatives of the Alliance for Progress of President John F. Kennedy. Due to lack of maintenance the piping system crumbled and as recently as two years ago, only houses in low elevations had adequate pressure. As most towns in El Salvador, there is no water treatment for raw sewage and this is typically discharged in a nearby creek or in the Metayate River which runs in the middle of the town. The local cemetery appears overflowing but there is no expansion expected in the near future. It is mainly a live stock community. A local cooperative assists with loans to small enterprises. Cheese and dairy products which are produced locally can be purchased at good prices in a couple of stores. In downtown Agua Caliente there is a Catholic church, recently under restoration, and a mini park. The church is a beautiful colonial church and it appears more majestic than those in neighboring municipalities. Legend has it that the massive bell in one of the towers is just a replica of the original one which was stolen overnight and then taken by thieves to a famous church in Ahuachapan sometime in the 20th century. Every Thursday morning from about eight to eleven there is a market place in the streets. This is when the majority of people from neighboring hamlets or “cantones” buy their food and clothing items and may come down to sell cattle or farm products. Visitors can enjoy a pupusa at a local pupuseria. There is a vibrant environment in the area. Hundreds of people emigrated to as far as Australia and Europe in the 80's as the town was the scene of conflicts between the leftist guerrillas and the government troops. As these emigrants started to buy land in Agua Caliente, land prices soared. It is not unusual to find houses priced at $50,000.00, something which was unheard of twenty five years ago. Some local families depend on money they receive from expatriates, relatives living in the United States. The warm water lagoon gives the location its name “Agua Caliente” (Hot water or Hot Springs). The Metayate River divides the town in two main “barrios” or districts: El Carmen and El Centro. The flow of water of the river has diminished considerably over time due to deforestation of the surrounding hills. One of these hills has a huge rock (“La Piedra Movediza” or “The Moving Rock”) that can be moved with little effort due to its natural balance. The Salvadorian government plans to build a hydroelectric dam north of the town, the Cimarron Hydroelectric project
Cimarron Hydroelectric Power Project
Cimarron Hydroelectric Power Project a hydroelectric power plant in El Salvador, that was to start construction in 2010. The plant would have been be located in the upper basin of the Lempa River, upstream of the Cerrón Grande Hydroelectric Dam...
, that will divert flow from the Lempa River and will likely increase the flow of water downstream into the Metayate River. The project has encountered some opposition but faced with its energy crisis, El Salvador has no options but to develop any available resource. The festivities of the town take place in the week of March 18 and 19; they are dedicated to Saint Joseph, patron saint of Agua Caliente.