Boca del Río, Veracruz
Encyclopedia
Boca del Río is a city and municipality
Municipalities of Mexico
Municipalities are the second-level administrative division in Mexico . There are 2,438 municipalities in Mexico, making the average municipality population 45,616...

 located in the center of the state of Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...

. The small city of Boca del Río serves as the seat of the municipality. The municipality lies just south of Veracruz Municipality
Veracruz, Veracruz
Veracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...

, and contains a part of the city and port of Veracruz, Mexico. It is a port in its own right, as well as the metropolitan area’s center for business travel
Business travel
Business travel is the practice of people traveling for purposes related to their work. It is on the rise especially with foreign business markets opening up...

 and upscale hotels and restaurants. The city contains two museums, one dedicated to Agustín Lara
Agustín Lara
Agustín Lara was a Mexican singer and songwriter.-Biography:Lara was born in Tlacotalpan, Veracruz. Later, the Lara family had to move again to Mexico City, establishing their house in the borough of Coyoacán. After Lara's mother died, Agustín and his siblings lived in a hospice run by their...

 and the other a military ship that has been converted into a museum. However, the municipality's main feature is the World Trade Center Veracruz, which hosts business meetings, conferences and conventions.

History

The name “Boca del Río” is from Spanish, meaning “mouth of the river” and refers to the mouth of the Jamapa River as it flows into the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

. The pre-Hispanic name for the area was Tlapaquitan, which means “divided land.”

From 1000 to 1200 BCE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...

, the area was under Olmec
Olmec
The Olmec were the first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco....

 domination. The area officially came under Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...

 domination in 1474 and is mentioned in the Codex Mendoza
Codex Mendoza
The Codex Mendoza is an Aztec codex, created about twenty years after the Spanish conquest of Mexico with the intent that it be seen by Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain...

 as part of the district of Cuetlachtlan. However, the Aztecs had been active here for sometime before that. In 1518, Juan de Grijalva
Juan de Grijalva
Juan de Grijalva was a Spanish conquistador. Some authors said he was from the same family as Diego Velázquez.He went to Hispaniola in 1508 and to Cuba in 1511....

 came to the area with his crew and named the river “Río de las Banderas” because they saw indigenous peoples communicating across the river with flags. In the same year, the first Christian rites where performed at a chapel called Nuestra Señora de Santa Ana. In 1879, the localities of Hacienda de Santa Maria Punta, Hato and Anton Lizardo were separated from the municipality and joined with neighboring Alvarado municipality
Alvarado, Veracruz
Alvarado is a city in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city also serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. It is located 64 km from the city of Veracruz, Veracruz, on Federal Highways 180 and 125...

. In 1892, the Veracruz- Tierra Blanca rail line was built, passing through Boca del Río. The settlement gained city status in 1988.

From the early 2000s, crime and pollution have been the city’s major challenges. Like much of the rest of Mexico, drug trafficking causes significant incidents of violence such as the ambush and murder of three agents of the Inter-municipal Police and the murder and mutilation of rivals. There is a problem with the theft of aluminum and copper cables from certain parts of the city but the major crime story to date has been the theft of over 1 million pesos worth of merchandise, mostly jewelry and watches, from the Ejército Mexicano branch of the Nacional Monte de Piedad
Nacional Monte de Piedad
The Nacional Monte de Piedad is a not-for-profit- institution and pawnshop whose main office is located just off the Zócalo, or main plaza of Mexico City. It was established between 1774 and 1777 by Pedro Romero de Terreros as part of a movement to provide interest-free or low-interest loans to...

. The thieves had cut a hole in the back wall of the building and then cut the alarm system and cameras to work their way into the vault.

From the late 20th century to the present, pollution, especially of the beaches, has been an issue. There are complaints that the waters off the beaches of Boca del Rio, especially Playa Los Arcos are contaminated, with foamy, grey, malodorous waters. Authorities state that all of Boca’s beaches are within sanitary norms and pose no risk to visitors. Merchants in Boca del Río, as well as the city of Veracruz, have appealed to state authorities for help with the sanitation problems of the beaches here, claiming that the garbage and foul smell drive away tourists. In 2008, the city began a program to recycle motor oil and other used automobile fluids in cooperation with a company called Eco-Klin and the federal environmental agency SEMARNAT. The purpose of the free collection system is to keep the fluids from being dumped in drains or burned by consumers.

In October 2007, a statue of former President Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.Fox was elected...

, sculpted by Bernardo Luis López Artasanchez, was pulled down by youths on the boulevard named for the ex-president. Local members of the political party PRI
Institutional Revolutionary Party
The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few...

 were blamed for the vandalism. The event caused a major scandal in the state of Veracruz and received national press, as Fox was the first non-PRI president since the early 20th century. The statue has since then been repaired and put back in its place.
During the AH1N1 crisis
Pandemic H1N1/09 virus
The Pandemic H1N1/09 virus is a swine origin Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 virus strain responsible for the 2009 flu pandemic. For other names see the Nomenclature section below.-Virus characteristics:...

 in Mexico in April 2009, beaches of Veracruz and Boca del Rio suffered a 43 to 46 percent decline in visitors.

The city

The city is part of the metropolitan area of Veracruz and its port works closely with the port of Veracruz. Much of the area’s modern and luxury hotel and restaurant infrastructure is located here, centered around the World Trade Center Veracruz. The main church is called the Parish of Santa Ana, which was constructed in 1776. Nearby is the colonial-style municipal palace. The Plaza Civica is in front of the municipal palace and contains the Nahuatl Fountain. The main dock is called Muella Banderas.

The Agustin Lara House Museum, also called the “La Casita Blanca” (The Little White House) exhibits works, photographs and personal effects of the poet Agustín Lara
Agustín Lara
Agustín Lara was a Mexican singer and songwriter.-Biography:Lara was born in Tlacotalpan, Veracruz. Later, the Lara family had to move again to Mexico City, establishing their house in the borough of Coyoacán. After Lara's mother died, Agustín and his siblings lived in a hospice run by their...

, who was called “El Flaco de Oro” (The Golden Skinny One) . News clips, caricatures and a replica of the radio studio where he hosted " La Hora Azul" ("The Blue Hour") are among the items on display. Lara was one of the city's most famous sons as a popular songwriter and singer in Mexico. Lara began his career playing the piano in brothels and later became a bullfighter. Lara had seven wives, one of whom was Mexican screen diva María "La Doña" Félix, for whom he wrote the song, "María Bonita." To be a gentleman, when he and Félix were about to break up, he married her to "make an honest woman of her" even though they had lived together for years

A ship museum called the Buque Cañonero (Cannon Ship) Guanajuato is located here. When the ship was decommissioned, it was decided to restore it as a naval museum rather than to scrap it. It is considered to be one of the most important naval museums in Latin America. The ship contains an arms room, a telecommunications room, infirmary, bunks, dining room and library. The themes covered include the history of the ship itself as well as naval warfare simulation room, based on the technology of the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

.

Boca del Río’s two major festivals occur in the summer and are collectively known as the Fiestas del Boca del Río (Festivals of Boca del Rio) or simply Fiestas de Boca. Events take place at various locations such as the Plaza Civica, the Plaza Dorada, the Gutierrez Barrios Theatre, the Plaza Banderas, the San Pedro y San Pablo Church and Vicente Fox Boulevard. Bocafest occurs each year in June when a number of musical artists play in the main venues of the city, especially in Plaza Banderas. Musical styles represented range from the very traditional Mexican folk to electronic music. In 2008, featured artists included Natalia Lafourcade
Natalia Lafourcade
Natalia Lafourcade is a Mexican pop-rock singer and songwriter. Her band's name is Natalia y La Forquetina.-Biography:...

 and Aleks Syntek
Aleks Syntek
Raúl Alejandro Escajadillo Peña , better known as Aleks Syntek, is a Mexican singer, songwriter and producer. He is married to Karen Coronado, sister of talkshow host Ingrid Coronado.-Biography:...

. Other events include Mexican and Caribbean folk dance and music and art expositions. The Feast of Saint Ann is the main traditional festival of the city, taking place from 24 to 31 July. The days are filled with cultural as well as religious events.

The Expo Regional Ylang Ylang (Ylang Ylang Regional Expo) occurs from the end of May to the beginning of June and showcases the area agricultural, craft, industrial and commercial production. It also has cockfight
Cockfight
A cockfight is a blood sport between two roosters , held in a ring called a cockpit. Cockfighting is now illegal throughout all states in the United States, Brazil, Australia and in most of Europe. It is still legal in several U.S. territories....

s, rodeos (called palenques) and folkdance such as jaripeos. From the end of May to the beginning of June is held the annual agricultural, crafts, industrial and commercial fair of the city, with cockfights, rodeos and folk dance. Crafts here include seashell jewelry, wooden boxes, key rings and trinkets made with ocean materials such as coral and pebbles.

Veracruz’s annual carnival parade passes along the boardwalk that connects the port of Boca del Rio with the port of Veracruz. It is one of the highlights of the event, which has contained as many as 35 dance groups, 10 bands and over 100 floats.
The city is mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records for preparing the largest seafood-filled fish in the world.

The municipality

The major attraction of the municipality is the World Trade Center Veracruz, serving business travelers. The World Trade Center Veracruz is affiliated with the World Trade Center Association and is the organization’s third site in Mexico. The center has 16,000m2 of space with elevators, escalators, handicapped access, commercial stands, lockers, ticket windows, parking lot and direct access to a neighboring mall and hotel. It hosts business meetings and professional conferences as well as cultural events. It has its own art gallery, the Galería Veracruzana de Arte (Veracruz Gallery of Art), which is a joint Project between the World Trade Center Veracruz and the Coordinación de Difusión Cultural y Artística del Sistema DIF Estatal (Coordination of Cultural and Artistic Diffusion of the State DIF System). The art center holds temporary exhibits from a variety of artist and with different themes. Some of the shows in 2009 included a collection of portraits done by Mexican artist Enrique Estrada, landscapes of Veracruz state by Armando Zesatti and a photo exhibit named “Lenguajes fotograficas.” The World Trade Center Veracruz also contains an ice-skating rink, something that has become popular in Mexico.

As municipal seat, the city of Boca del Río is the local government of 18 other localities, which together make up a territory of 42.77km2. Only 7.2% of the municipality’s population of 138,058 lives in the municipal seat, while 126,507 (91.63%) lives in the Veracruz city portion of the municipality. The municipality borders the municipalities of Veracruz, Alvarado and Medellín
Medellín, Veracruz
Medellín is a Municipality in Veracruz, Mexico. It is located in central zone of the State of Veracruz, about 100 km from state capital Xalapa. It has a surface of 370.14 km2....

 with the Gulf of Mexico to the east. It has a territory of 42.77km2. It is located on the central zone of the state and part of the plains known as the Llanuras del Sotavento. The main river is the Jamapa, which empties here into the Gulf of Mexico. At the mouth of this river, there are mangroves and boat tours are available to see them and the nearby Moreno Arroyo. The municipality has a hot, humid climate with most rain falling from June to October. It is mostly covered in perennially green tropical forest with some pines in the highest elevations. Tree species that can be found here include sapodilla
Sapodilla
Manilkara zapota, commonly known as the sapodilla, is a long-lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. An example natural occurrence is in coastal Yucatan in the Petenes mangroves ecoregion, where it is a subdominant plant species...

 and mahogany
Mahogany
The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....

 with most animal species being small mammals such as armadillo
Armadillo
Armadillos are New World placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. Dasypodidae is the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one"...

s, squirrels, rabbits, opossums and foxes. There are deposits of oil and natural gas within the territory.

About 1,618 hectares of the municipality is dedicated to agriculture, mostly growing corn and beans. Livestock is mostly dairy and beef cattle, with some pigs, sheep, horses and domestic fowl. In the higher elevations there is some lumber harvesting. This employs less than two percent of the municipality’s population. Industry is mostly dedicated to citrus packing, manufacture of concrete tubes, chemical products and pre-mixed concrete. This employs about a third of the municipality’s population, with commerce employing almost the rest of the people. Tourism is mostly related to business and professional conferences, much of which is related to the World Trade Center Veracruz.
Off the coast of Boca del Río is an island called Isla de Sacrificios
Isla de Sacrificios
Isla de Sacrificios is an island in Gulf of Mexico waters, situated off the Gulf coastline near the port of Veracruz, in Mexico. The waters surrounding the island are part of the Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano National Marine Park...

(part of Veracruz Municipality
Veracruz, Veracruz
Veracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...

), which measures 450 meters long and 198 meters wide, the largest of a group of islands that are in front of the Boca del Río and Veracruz ports. The island is part of a system of twenty three coral reefs called the Veracruz Reef System which is a national park.(murtur) It is possible to kayak to the Isla de Sacrificios to observe seagulls, pelicans and the fish that inhabit the coral reef. In 1983, a study and initial cleanup project was undertaken at the island, which collected fifty tons of trash. Shortly thereafter, the island was closed to the public and since then, there has been a struggle between authorities, tour operators and fisherman as to the fate of the island. There are those who would like to build hotels, restaurants and other facilities for ecotourism. However, access to the island has been restricted to research, teaching and the occasional sporting event. The island contains one of the lighthouses used to guide ships into the ports of Veracruz and Boca del Rio.

Towns and villages

The localities (cities, towns, and villages) are:
Name 2010 Census Population
Veracruz (part)
Veracruz, Veracruz
Veracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...

126,507
Boca del Río 9,947
Paso Colorado 912
San José Novillero 316
El Estero 102
Bajos del Jobo (Puente Moreno) 100
Residencial el Dorado 52
El Terraplén 35
Rancho JF 30
Camino al Manglar 21
Fraccionamiento Rivera de la Condesa 19
Colonia Graciano Sánchez 10
Laura y Concepción 4
El Zafiro 3
Casa de la Condesa de Malibrán 0
Santa Lilia 0
Las Bombas (Compuerta de la Zamorana) 0
Boca del Río [rural locality] 0
La Pinagoga 0
Total Municipality 138,058
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