Playa del Carmen
| Playa del Carmen | ||
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Coordinates: 20 ° 38 ′ N , 87 ° 4 ′ W Playa del Carmen on the map of Quintana Roo
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| Basic data | ||
| Country | Mexico | |
| State | Quintana Roo | |
| Municipio | Solidaridad | |
| Residents | 149,923 (2010) | |
| Detailed data | ||
| height | 5 m | |
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Playa del Carmen is a city and a tourist center in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo . Playa del Carmen is located on the Mexican Caribbean coast, the so-called Riviera Maya , 70 km south of Cancun . It is east of the Carretera 307 freeway, halfway between Cancun and Tulum .
Playa del Carmen is considered to be the city with the highest population growth in Mexico. In 1970 only about 200 people, mostly fishermen, lived in the city. In 2005 a census showed a population of 100,383 people, in 2010 there were already almost 150,000.
The ferry to the island of Cozumel is in Playa del Carmen .
history
In pre-Hispanic times, the Maya settlement Xaman Há , which belonged to the administrative region of Ekab , was located on the site of today's Playa del Carmen . During the first attempt by the Spaniards to conquer the Yucatán peninsula under the leadership of Francisco de Montejo , which began in 1527 , his adjutant Alonso Dávila founded the Salamanca de Xaman Há garrison here , but this had to be given up again the following year. Later attempts to conquer the peninsula were made from its north coast. During the following Spanish colonial era, the region around Playa del Carmen remained practically uninhabited.
The history of modern Playa del Carmen began in the early 20th century when the first families settled here. It is believed that the first residents of Playa wanted to avoid the conflicts of the Caste War or that they were renegade workers in the chicle mining industry, which was then flourishing in the region . Playa remained a small fishing village until the 1960s, the supra-regional importance of which was limited to being the starting point for the ferry connection to the island of Cozumel.
In the period that followed, tourism began to develop, which was accompanied by exceptionally strong growth. The official population was 10,594 in 1992, and in 2005 it was 100,383. Unofficial projections assume a population of 162,425 for 2009.
Until 1993, Playa del Carmen belonged to the municipality of Cozumel , which at that time included extensive areas on the mainland in addition to the island of the same name, which made up 91% of the area. After the mainland areas became increasingly important as a result of their rapid development, the geographical distance of the administrative headquarters in San Miguel de Cozumel was perceived as problematic. Therefore, with effect from July 28, 1993, the mainland area was declared an independent municipality with the name Solidaridad . Playa del Carmen as its largest city became the administrative center of the new district.
On January 16, 2017, several people died in a shooting during a music festival.
economy
The economy of Playa del Carmen is based on tourism. The place is part of the “Riviera Maya” concept, under which the stretch of coast between Cancún in the north and Tulum in the south has been marketed as a tourist region since 1999. The city has its own sandy beach and, due to its location, is ideal as a starting point for excursions to the surrounding cenotes , archaeological sites such as Tulum and Cobá, and leisure facilities such as the Xcaret Eco Park .
The center of tourist life is Quinta Avenida , which runs parallel to the beach and is where restaurants and souvenir shops are lined up. In addition to the city center, the hotels are concentrated in the adjacent Playacar area to the south , a privately owned territory in which numerous all-inclusive resorts have settled. According to the municipality of Solidaridad, there were 161 hotels with 5,785 rooms in the actual Playa in 2009, while Playacar has 6,183 rooms in 23 hotels.
In October 2005, the development of tourism in Playa del Carmen suffered a temporary setback when Hurricane Wilma stayed in the area for two days and caused severe damage. In 2009, the tourism industry , which was already under pressure due to the financial crisis , experienced a sharp decline as a result of the influenza pandemic that started in Mexico . In the summer of the year, the number of visitors to the Riviera Maya was more than 30% lower than in the previous year.
education
There are four universities in Playa del Carmen: the state universities Universidad Tecnológica de la Riviera Maya and Universidad de Quintana Roo and the private universities Universidad del Sur and Universidad Interamericana para el Desarrollo (UNID).
Sports
Playa del Carmen was one of the venues for the 2010 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup .
swell
- ^ Información de localidad: Playa del Carmen. Catálogo de Localidades. In: microrregiones.gob.mx. Secretaría de Desarrollo Social , accessed September 17, 2017 (Spanish).
- ↑ Historia. (No longer available online.) In: solidaridad.gob.mx. May 8, 2009, archived from the original on July 17, 2009 ; accessed on May 16, 2019 (Spanish).
- ↑ Población ( Memento of the original of July 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Solidaridad municipality website.
- ↑ Several people shot in front of the nightclub. In: Spiegel Online . spiegel.de, January 16, 2016, accessed on January 17, 2016 .
- ↑ Verano, insuficiente para recuperar turismo - El Universal of July 5, 2009.
