Coahuila de Zaragoza Attractions

The first reasonably-sized settlement in Coahuila (Náhuatl: "featherless serpent"), was established in 1575 by Francisco de Urdiñola on the site of present-day Saltillo. To provide protection against hostile Indians, Urdiñola brought some of Spain's Mexican allies the Tlaxcaltecs with him. Unlike other tribes they were accorded substantial privileges. From this initial outpost the Spaniards slowly pressed further north into what is now the

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From Mexican Independence until the hiving off of the Texan territories in 1836, Coahuila and Texas formed a single state, with Monclova or Saltillo as its capital. At that time, and also subsequently, unrest verging on civil war brought the Mexicans under General Antonio López de Santa Ana into conflict with Americans led by Zachary Taylor, culminating eventually in outright war against the United States. In 1857 Coahuila was amalgamated with Nuevo León, only becoming an independent state in 1868. In 1863 Benito Juárez, fleeing from French Interventionist troops, temporarily set up his headquarters in Saltillo.

The state, blessed with good transport links, boasts a relatively stable economy based principally on steel production, a substantial mining industry (silver, lead, coal, copper, iron), an increasingly important agricultural processing industry, and many branches of agriculture as such including cultivation of maize, wheat, beans, cotton and sugar cane. Livestock farming also contributes significantly.