Spanish lookout
Coordinates: 17 ° 13 ′ N , 88 ° 59 ′ W
Spanish Lookout is a municipality in the west of the Central American state of Belize in the Cayo District (not to be confused with the island of Spanish Lookout Caye , 16 km east of Belize City). Spanish Lookout has an area of approx. 7500 hectares and is located on the north side of the Belize River . The community has around 2000 inhabitants and the vast majority of Plautdietschen Mennonites live there.
History and economy
Spanish Lookout was settled in 1958 by around 75 Mennonite families from the Small Community who had immigrated from the Colony springs in Chihuahua (Mexico). This group belongs to the modernists within the Mennonites who also advocate the use of machines. The arriving settlers encountered primeval forest which they made arable for their agricultural purposes. For the first ten years their main source of income was growing and selling vegetables, but this was largely abandoned by the late 1980s. Instead, a poultry and egg production facility was set up, the dairy industry was extensively expanded and cattle breeding was carried out. Today Spanish Lookout supplies large parts of Belize with its agricultural products.
The settlers used their craftsmanship to fill further gaps in Belize's economic structure. They specialized in furniture production and house building and have gained a dominant influence in these areas. This also applies to trading in tires, auto parts and agricultural machinery.
In 2005, smaller oil fields were found in the Mennonite settlement area, which are now also being exploited.
Migration has occurred over the years as some families emigrated to the Interlake area of Manitoba , Canada , and another 25 families settled in the Northfield Mennonite Settlement in Nova Scotia , Canada. Despite these emigration movements, the population remained stable and even increased when refugees from El Salvador and Guatemala came to Spanish Lookout.
The community maintains its own administration, as well as the local roads, bridges and schools.