History

Recent History

Puerto Vallarta has gone on to become one of Mexico's premier international beach resorts, commanding as much tourist-brochure space as other Pacific playgrounds like Acapulco, Mazatlán and Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa. The resort-city gets 2.5 million visitors annually, 1.5 million of whom are Mexicans.

Modern Day History

Emboldened by the Sánchez land-grab, groups of farmers and fisherfolk followed suit. Within 35 years, there were enough people living here to seriously entertain the idea of giving the settlement a name. The town's first official incarnation was as Las Peñas, but in 1918 'Puerto Vallarta' was cobbled together from puerto (port) and the name of a former state governor, Ignacio Luis Vallarta.

In 1954, Mexico's main domestic airline realised the tourist potential of this beautiful village in its pristine bayside location. It started flights to a dusty runway in what is now the center of Puerto Vallarta - an area originally named after the peasant revolutionary, Emiliano Zapata. But the real turning point in the development of the local tourist industry came almost a decade later, when film director John Huston shot his adaptation of Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana in the nearby cove of Mismaloya.

The international press descended on Puerto Vallarta to expose the secret romance between lead actor Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Vallarta suddenly became world-famous, with an aura of steamy tropical romance. When the film crew and media left, tour groups loaded with starry-eyed honeymooners began arriving.

Puerto Vallarta never looked back. In 1968, it used the influx of visitors and investors to lobby successfully to become a designated Mexican 'city'. It began building highway links south along the coast to Barra de Navidad and north to Compostela, and a new international airport. In the 1980s, the permanent population of central Puerto Vallarta doubled to over 100,000.

Pre 20th Century History

According to Puerto Vallarta's rather slim volume of recorded history, this area, prior to being settled, was part of the traditional lands of the indigenous people that lived along the coast for many centuries. It probably wasn't seen by anyone else until the 16th century, when passing Spanish armadas stopped here to stock up on local water and firewood. The Spanish were quite taken with the sheltered harbor and considered establishing a colony here on several occasions but never actually got around to it.

Puerto Vallarta did not begin its urban life until 1851, when a family by the name of Sánchez arrived and made its home near the mouth of the Río Cuale.