Ensenada

Yuman-speaking hunter-gatherers lived around the bay and in the valleys of the Sierra de Juárez and Sierra de San Pedro Mártir long before Europeans arrived, and the Kumeyaay had a village called Pa-tai where the city now stands. Kiliwa, Paipai and Kumeyaay communities still live in the region. Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo reached the bay by sea in 1542 and named it San Mateo; in 1602 Sebastián Vizcaíno, searching for safe harbours for the Manila galleons, renamed it Ensenada de Todos Santos. Missionaries, first Jesuits and then Dominicans, brought the first permanent settlement.

The modern city dates from 1882, when the small community of Rancho Ensenada de Santos was made capital of the northern part of the Baja California territory. Gold and silver mines in the hills brought growth, and an English land company tried to develop the area, but the Mexican Revolution left it devastated and the capital moved to Mexicali in 1915. By 1930 only about 5,000 people lived here. Early in the century the name was shortened to Ensenada to avoid confusion with Todos Santos in the south.

US Prohibition changed its fortunes, sending Americans south in search of drink and entertainment. A grand hotel and casino opened on the bay in 1930 and briefly put the town on the international map; it closed in 1964 and later became a cultural centre and museum. Ensenada truly began to grow in the 1950s, and by the 1960s it was an established resort. The port, fishing, science and the wine valley have since made it one of the main cities of Baja California.

Ensenada calls itself La Cenicienta del Pacífico, the Cinderella of the Pacific, and has a relaxed, outdoor character shaped by the sea and by its closeness to California. Spanish missionaries and Russian settlers both had a part in starting its wine industry: Spiritual Christians from southern Russia settled the nearby Guadalupe valley between 1905 and 1910, and families who remained still keep small museums there. The city is a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.

Its calendar is full of big events. The carnival is one of the largest in Mexico, filling the streets for six days and nights, and in August the Fiestas de la Vendimia celebrate the start of the grape harvest in the city and the valley. Motorsport has a devoted following: the Baja 500 and Baja 1000 off-road races traditionally start or finish here, and the Newport to Ensenada yacht race and the Rosarito–Ensenada bike ride both end in the city. The Marineros de Ensenada baseball team play in the Liga Norte de México.

The city's other identity is scientific. With the research centre CICESE, the Ensenada campus of the Autonomous University of Baja California and research institutes of UNAM, it has been called the City of Science, and is claimed to have more scientists per head than any other city in Latin America.

About 331,000 people lived in the city at the 2020 census, making it the third-largest in Baja California after Tijuana and Mexicali.

The economy rests on the port, fishing, tourism, science and light industry. The Port of Ensenada is the only deep-water port on the peninsula and handles cargo, cruise ships and fishing boats; more than 90 species are fished commercially, from tuna, shrimp and spiny lobster to abalone and sea urchin, much of it exported to East Asia, and the tuna industry has turned to farming fish for the Japanese market. Factories produce electric guitars and marine electronics, and a cluster of medical-device and biotechnology companies works closely with San Diego's.

Daily life follows the rhythm of the port and the weekend visitors from southern California, and cruise days fill the centre. Water is a constant issue in a city without rivers: a dam built in 1976 and, since 2018, a desalination plant help supply it.

Seafood is everywhere, and Ensenada is said to be the birthplace of the fish taco — battered white fish in a corn tortilla, served with cabbage, cream and salsa. Local cooks use white fish, shrimp or a mix of both. Shrimp tacos and ceviche are just as typical, usually with avocado and salsa, and carpaccio is also counted as a dish of the port. The Mercado Negro by the harbour is the place to see the day's catch and eat it.

The surrounding farmland adds grapes, olives, tomatoes and asparagus, and the city's Mediterranean climate means wine and olive oil are part of everyday cooking. Spanish, Italian and French influences sit beside Mexican dishes on the city's menus, and the restaurants of the Valle de Guadalupe are known for Baja Med cooking, which mixes Mexican ingredients with Mediterranean techniques.

To drink, the valley produces most of Mexico's wine, and a second wine area lies south of the city at Santo Tomás. Craft beer has grown fast, with young breweries clustered around El Sauzal north of town, and the cantinas of Avenida Ruiz, Hussong's above all, have served visitors since the 19th century.