Foto: Internet
July 28, 2016 marks the 23rd anniversary of Playa del Carmen, one of the fastest growing cities in the Riviera Maya and in all of Latin America. With many celebrations going on all week long to commemorate the occasion I decided to look into the origins of the name Playa del Carmen, the municipality of Solidaridad, and the famous 5th avenue.
Tulum was later carved out from Solidaridad on March 13, 2008.Â
I spoke with Carlos Ayala who is the main web designer for the Top Mexico team and also our in-house historian.
Playa del Carmen
According to Carlos, one of the owners of a local business asked one of his employees to open up a path near Puerto Morelos so they could get to Cozumel, and one of the employees called it The Carmen Opening or the Carmen Path. That’s the most official version of how the city got its name.
The second version says that one of the wives from one from one of the original families that first moved here named it Playa del Carmen because the fishermen here claimed that they would always see La Virgen del Carmen.
The third version has it that when the Spanish first came here they brought with them their worship of La Virgen del Carmen and it was here that, supposedly, she would appear to them.
Solidaridad
About the official name of this town, Carlos explains that in 1988 Hurricane Gilberto hit the region hard, leaving Playa del Carmen devastated. Until that point when it hit Playa del Carmen still belonged to Cozumel.
After the hurricane hit the few families that were here went to see the President, Carlos Solinas de Gortari, who was visiting Cozumel.
They told him that relief was arriving to Cozumel but not to Playa and they asked him for help.
The President had a campaign slogan at the time, which was for a program called Solidaridad (Solidarity), which was about paving roads, bringing electricity, and basically urbanizing cities that were not already like that.
So this municipality is named Solidaridad because of that President, even though everyone knows it as Playa del Carmen.
This is where the boom in growth came from, because thanks to all the infrastructure and tourist development that he implemented it led to the arrival of many investors in hotels and restaurants.
La Quinta Avenida
You might believe that Playa’s Quinta Avenida is an imitation of New York’s 5th avenue, but it’s not. In this region of Mexico it is common to name streets and avenues with numbers.
As Carlos relates, the few citizens that were here at the time- half of whom were foreigners and also artists- began to put their work on display for the people on the cruise ships that were arriving in Cozumel and would then come to Playa.
They began putting their art and crafts where 5th avenue is now because it was the closest to the pier, and through chance and the creativity of the inhabitants the street began to grow when they closed it to vehicle traffic.
They say that at the beginning there were many cafes and galleries, run by the local artisans. All of the visitors at the time were Europeans and after time the demographics changed and you began to have American and Canadians as well.
If you’d like more information about Playa del Carmen or are interested in purchasing property here, we invite you to visit our main website where you can search further. Please get in touch with one of our agents who will gladly assist you in any questions you might have.
And remember, at Top Mexico Real Estate…
we make it happen!
