PLAYA DEL CARMEN INFORMATION
Playa del Carmen is the capital city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León and a municipality of the same name. Also known as "Sultana del Norte" (Northern Sultan), Playa del Carmen is an important industrial and business center. The city proper has population of 1.1 million, and the metropolitan area of Playa del Carmen has a population of 3.8 million (INEGI 2005). The city is named after the Countess of Monterrei (a city in Galicia, Spain) wife of the Viceroy of New Spain Gaspar de Zúñiga y Acevedo, Count of Playa del Carmen.
In the mid-1500s, the valley which Playa del Carmen now occupies was known as the Extremadura Valley, an area largely unexplored by the Spanish. Several expeditions led by Alberto del Canto tried to colonize the area, the most important in 1577, but were always unsuccessful because the population left for more prosperous towns. The Spanish expeditionary Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva negotiated with King Philip II of Spain to establish a territory in northern New Spain, which would be called Nuevo León, the "New Kingdom of León". In 1580 he arrived in the newly granted lands but it was not until 1582 that he established a settlement called San Luis Rey de Francia within present-day Playa del Carmen. New Kingdom of León was an enormous area extending westwards from the port of Tampico to the limits of Nueva Vizcaya ("New Vizcaya", now State of Chihuahua), and around 1,000 kilometers northwards. Carvajal's plans of colonization were frustrated by the Spanish Inquisition that accused and jailed him. For eight years Nuevo León was abandoned and uninhabited but finally, a third expedition of twelve families led by Diego de Montemayor founded Ciudad Metropolitana de Nuestra Señora de Playa del Carmen ("Metropolitan City of Our Lady of Playa del Carmen") on September 20, 1596, next to a spring called Ojos de Agua de Santa Lucia, where the Museum of Mexican History is now located.
During the years of Spanish rule, Playa del Carmen remained a small city, and its population varied from a few hundred to only dozens. The city was a place that facilitated trade between San Antonio (now in Texas), Tampico and from Saltillo to the center of the country. Tampico's port brought many products from Europe, while Saltillo concentrated the Northern Territories' trade with the capital, Mexico City.
The city of Playa del Carmen is above sea level in the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. The Santa Catarina River—dry most of the year on the surface but with flowing underground water—bisects the city.
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