Cuautitlán Izcalli

There is proof that the place that the municipality occupies today has been important for more than two thousand years, when indigenous groups, including hunters nomadics and settled peoples, such as the teotihuacanos, the Toltecs, Chichimecas and Olmecs, occupied the territory. With the defeat and fall of Mexico-Tenochtitlan in 1521, the kingdom of Spain exercised its power in the newly conquered regions. Hernán Cortés entrusted the town of Cuautitlán to Alonso de Ávila and this, to his brother Gil González Dávila. During this time, Cuautitlán was one of the first places where the Franciscan friars taught their doctrine, because a nephew of Moctezuma Xocoyotzin, the Señor de Tenayuca (English: Lord of Tenayuca), reigned there.[9]

In the period of the independence war, in order to control by the Spanish the participation of the “rebels” in the war, a proclamation was issued to the sub-delegate of Cuautitlán, offering the grace of pardon to all those who belonged to its jurisdiction and who participated in the movement. Already promulgated, in 1827, the Political Constitution of the Free and Sovereign State of Mexico, the Departmental Board decreed on December 23, 1837, that the department of Mexico be divided into 13 districts, of which the fourth was Cuautitlán.[10]

In 1855, nine districts and 33 districts were delimited, and the fifth was named Tlalnepantla, made up of that locality, Cuautitlán, Tlalpan and Zumpango. The history and strategic location gave rise to the original towns of the municipality: Axotlán, San Juan Atlamica, La Aurora, Santa Bárbara Tlacatecpan, San José Huilango, San Lorenzo Riotenco, San Mateo Ixtacalco, San Martín Tepetlixpan, Santa María Tianguistengo, San Francisco Tepojaco, Santiago Tepalcapa, El Rosario,[11] and San Sebastián Xhala.[12]

To keep the workers close to the various factories that flourished in the city, especially in the town of La Aurora, 225 adobe or tepetate houses were built around the facilities known as rancherías. They had services such as: drinking water, drainage, bathrooms, a tienda de raya (English: raya store) called "La Vizcaya", a school (they were provided with supplies such as notebooks, pencils, books), streets and passenger cars for their transportation. La Vizcaya was the first factory that existed in this direction of Cuautitlán and that shipped products by rail.[13]

In 1965, Gonzalo Monroy Ortega, then municipal president of Cuautitlán, asked the local legislature to make the colony of La Aurora disappear to become part of the town of La Aurora, but this request was not answered positively, because the two towns are only separated by a canal. On April 1, 1961, La Vizcaya closed due to the competition that arose at that time with the production of products derived from petroleum, which reduced the sale and distribution of coastals of natural fibers.[13]

On July 31, 1971, the then President of the Republic, Luis Echeverría Álvarez, laid the first stone of the city, located next to what is now the Parque de las Esculturas.[14][15] Originally, Cuautitlán Izcalli was planned to be the first self-sufficient city in the metropolitan area of the Valley of Mexico, and for this, a large part of the territory of existing municipalities was taken, such as Cuautitlán, Tepotzotlán, Tultitlán and Atizapán de Zaragoza. Like many other projects of the time, one of the objectives of building this city was the regulation of population growth and the reduction of congestion in the metropolitan area.[16] The city was created using the plans of European and American cities as a base,[14] which helped to transform the land into appropriate areas for the establishment of work, service and housing centers, with the idea of having sports areas and industrial, residential and green areas.[16]

On May 1, 1972, President Luis Echeverría, together with the then Governor of the State of Mexico Carlos Hank González, made the symbolic delivery of 225 houses, and also began to operate the first office of telegraphs of Cuautitlán Izcalli; but it was not until August 21 of the same year, when the keys to the first 227 houses were handed over to normal school teachers from the entity and the first “Conasuper” shopping center was inaugurated in the vicinity of Plaza Isidro Fabela, in Cumbria.[17]

Decree Number 71 of the H. XLV Legislature of the State of Mexico, signed on June 22, 1973,[18] stipulates that the official name of municipality number 121 of the State of Mexico is Cuautitlán Izcalli:[19]

"Se crea el Municipio de Cuautitlán Izcalli, México, y se delimita la poligonal que con base en los puntos de referencia en el mencionado decreto vertidos sirven de límites a este municipio." (English: "The Municipality of Cuautitlán Izcalli, Mexico, is created and the polygonal is delimited that, based on the reference points in the aforementioned discharge decree, serve as limits to this municipality.").[18]

— Congreso del Estado de México, XLV Legislatura

Once the official designation of the city was finalized, the first political administration of the municipality was headed by the lawyer Gabriel Marcelino Ezeta Moll, who began his activities with a limited budget that amounted to 3 million 103 thousand 166 pesos until the end of 1973.[17] Serving in the role of ruler from 1973 to 1976,[20] the first seats of government were established first in the "Calmecac" secondary school in Cumbria, then in four houses on Jocotitlán street, later in some offices installed in the upper part of a sub-commercial center located on Jilotzingo street, and Finally, it was not until 1976 that a government building was established that began to function as the municipal presidency. The headquarters was inaugurated by Luis Cuauhtémoc Riojas Guajardo, who was elected as the second municipal president of Izcalli after the end of the term of governance of Gabriel Marcelino.[17]

Panoramic photograph taken in 2011 from the Sierra de Guadalupe. In the background, the tallest white building belongs to the commercial plaza and hospital Luna Parc, located in Izcalli. In addition to the municipality, other sister places that can be appreciate include Tepotzotlán, Tultitlán, and part of Cuautitlán

It has a territorial extension of 109.54 square kilometers, it represents 0.5% of the surface of the State of Mexico.[43]

The highest portions are located to the south of the municipality at a maximum height of 2430 m s. n. m. (metros sobre el nivel del mar, English: meters above sea level) and the lowest is to the west with 2200 m s. n. m., the municipal seat is at 2280 m s. n. m.[43]

Hydrography

Laguna de Axotlán in 2011

The principal water currents in Izcalli are the río Cuautitlán, which crosses an approximate extension of 40 km of the municipal territory, and the Hondo de Tepotzotlán River. The main bodies of water in the municipality are:[43]

• Presa de Guadalupe (English: Guadalupe Dam)
• Laguna de la Piedad (English: Lagoon of Mercy)
• Espejo de los Lirios (English: Mirror of the Lilies)
• Presa de Angulo (English: Angulo Dam)
• Laguna de Axotlán (English: Axotlan Lagoon)

Ecosystems

Horses around lago de Guadalupe

The municipality has a great variety of vegetation, mainly made up of forests and grasslands. The former occupy a land area of approximately 451 hectares. The main reason why the municipality has several green areas is because the initial construction lands were covered by several plains.[16]

Shopping malls in the city include Centro San Miguel,[62] San Marcos Power Center,[63] and Luna Parc,[64] which compete with Galerías Perinorte to the south of the municipality.[65] Ford Motor Company's Cuautitlán Assembly plant is based in Izcalli, assembling Fiestas (F-Series before 2010).[66] Companies like Alpura and Becton Dickinson installed their industrial plants in this municipality.[67][68]

Some of the cultural centers and places that Izcalli has include:

• The Centro Regional de Cultura Cuautitlán Izcalli (English: Regional Center of Culture Cuautitlán Izcalli), a cultural space managed by the Instituto Mexiquense de Cultura in which workshops are given on ballet, Mexican folk dance, theater, guitar, piano, children's theater, singing, among other classes.[69]
• The Plaza Estado de México (English: State of Mexico Square), inaugurated on April 20, 2013, in homage to the Mexican Army and the Mexican Air Force, it is located next to the Mexico-Querétaro Highway.[70]
• The Parque de las Esculturas (English: Sculpture Park), that offers an environment in nature, accompanied by the art of the sculptor Charlotte Yazbek.[71]
• The Teatro San Benito Abad (English: San Benito Abbot Theater), which belongs to the private school Centro Escolar del Lago (English: Lake School Center), has a capacity of 1,500 spectators.[72]

By 2005 Mexican national intermediary (conteo) census figures, the city of Cuautitlán Izcalli is the sixth-most populous in the state, with its population of 477,872 dominating a municipality of 498,021 people.[76]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cuautitlán Izcalli.

• Ayuntamiento de Cuautitlán Izcalli Official website
• Comercio en Cuautitlán Izcalli Comercio en Cuautitlan Izcalli

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