APRIL IN THE HISTORY OF PUERTO VALLARTA

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The history of Puerto Vallarta has several dates in April, worth calling to mind.

The authorization to build the church of Las Peñas, the construction of the first swinging bridge over the Cuale River, the formation of the Administrative Technical Committee for the Drinking Water and Sewer Services for Puerto Vallarta (SEAPAL) and the first FM radio transmission of Estereo Sol, XHFM.

One of the most important constructions of Puerto Vallarta, which has given the town part of its personality, is the church of our Lady of Guadalupe.

In the book written by city historian, Carlos Munguia Fregoso, “Panoramic History of Puerto Vallarta and the Bay of Banderas”, he states:

“The Construction of the church of Las Peñas was authorized in 1895 on lands donated by the Union in Cuale, choosing the priest of San Sebastian to bless and place the first stone, -Assuring that by way of a formal donation of land for said church, sacristy and the priest’s quarters would be secured-. This was the start of what is now the parish of our Lady of Guadalupe”.

Presently, our Lady of Guadalupe’s church, is the most important icon of this tourist destination as well as its main church.

On April 11th of 1927 the first Cristero movement in Puerto Vallarta took place, headed by Benigno Verduzco and Father Francisco Ayala.

Carlos Munguia illustrates this in the following quote from his book:

The reforms of the Constitution of 1917 were not rigorously applied at first. Venustiano Carranza, the President of the Republic, put together two bills to modify articles 3 and 130, but Congress did not take them into account. When General Plutarco Elias Calles became President of the Republic on December 1st, 1924, he tried to strictly enforce the anti-religious laws strictly and even proposed some persecutory measures. The consequences were immediate. The clergy, voicing the existing discontent, ordered the suspension of religious practices in all the country as a sign of protest. Catholics formed the Defender of Religious Liberty League. The Popular Union of Jalisco and Mexican Youth Catholic Action joined them. As no peaceful solution to the problem was found, the armed revolution known as the War of the Cristeros began. The rebellion spread rapidly throughout Jalisco and the neighboring states under the direction of Anacleto Gonzalez Flores, Jesus Degollado and Enrique Goroztieta, who was named the first head of the liberating army. Father Francisco Ayala headed the Cristero Rebellion movement in Puerto Vallarta and felt the rebirth of his spirit in the fight for a just cause when the conflict exploded.

The swinging bridge, a journey of movement through reality

The first swinging bridge over the river Cuale was inaugurated on April 5th, 1932. This novel element of Vallarta’s urban landscape at that time, meant the connection to the fruit and vegetable gardens south of the Cuale river, in the area which is now Colonia Emiliano Zapata. Although the original bridge is no longer there, there are still several of them over the Cuale river.

This type of bridge was seen originally a couple of years before over the Mascota river at Paso de El Guayabo, built by a North American company that produced and exported bananas in what is today the Municipality of Ixtapa.

The Administrative Technical Committee for the Drinking Water and Sewer Services for Puerto Vallarta (SEAPAL), was created by the State Congress on April 8th 1978 with Decree number 9608.

Good morning Puerto Vallarta, you are listening to “Estereo Sol”

The first FM commercial radio station, XHFM, Estereo Sol, began in 1978. Puerto Vallarta, for the first time, was able to listen to music and commentaries about the town.