Parras de la Fuente

Spanish explorers crossing from Zacatecas in the 1560s found an oasis of springs and wild grapevines — parras — in the Coahuila desert. The first Spanish ranch was set up by Captain Francisco de Urdiñola, and the town was founded in 1598 by Captain Antón Martín de Zapata and the Jesuit Juan Agustín de Espinosa as the mission of Santa María de las Parras, on the site of what became the Hacienda del Rosario. In 1599, on the viceroy's orders, a group of Tlaxcaltec settlers was moved here from Saltillo.

Wine came almost at once. The oldest winery in the Americas, founded by Lorenzo García on 19 August 1597 as the Vinícola San Lorenzo, is in Parras, and documents in the old Jesuit college show vines grown widely across the valley in the early 1600s. The town became known for wines, brandies and liqueurs, and later also for textiles. During the Mexican–American War American troops held Parras in 1846, and French forces were defeated here in 1866.

In the late 19th century the businessman Evaristo Madero founded Casa Madero at the Hacienda de San Lorenzo, whose winery has carried that name since 1893, and in 1870 he bought a denim mill founded in 1854. His grandson Francisco I. Madero, born here in 1873, launched the Revolution against Porfirio Díaz in 1910 and was president from 1911 to 1913. In 2004 Parras was named a Pueblo Mágico.

Wine is the centre of local identity. Parras calls itself the first wine-growing region in the Americas, and its estates range from Casa Madero, with its wine museum, to a younger vineyard first planted in 2000 that grows Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Malbec and Chardonnay among other grapes. The grape fair, the Feria de la Uva, is held on 9 August each year.

The Madero family is the other great presence. The town's coat of arms carries the date of 20 November 1910, the start of the Revolution, in honour of Francisco I. Madero, and his brothers and relatives, revolutionaries, governors and ministers, appear across the town's history. Houses linked to the family survive in the centre.

The springs shape everyday life and leisure: open-air pools fed by them, once used to generate electricity for industry, are where families swim on hot days. Parras is a devout town, and the Santo Madero on its hill and the colonial church of San Ignacio de Loyola are both places of worship and landmarks.

About 44,000 people lived in Parras at the 2020 census. It is the seat of a very large municipality of more than 9,000 square kilometres, much of it desert and mountain.

Winemaking and denim are the town's best-known industries, and Parras has long been a notable exporter of denim. One of the oldest and most important mills, La Estrella, was founded in 1854 by Colonel Rafael Aguirre and bought in 1870 by Evaristo Madero, who built its international reputation. The irrigated fields and orchards grow grapes, walnuts, quinces, apples, peaches, cotton and fodder. The town lies at about 1,500 metres, which keeps its nights cool.

Life follows a small-town rhythm, with the plazas at its centre and water from the surrounding ranges the precious resource that has made the oasis possible. A summer programme of Humboldt State University in California has brought students to the town to study Spanish language and culture.

The table in Parras is northern and rural. Asado de puerco, roast pork, mole, pork and chicken tamales, barbacoa and cabrito, young goat, are the dishes most associated with the town, along with gorditas, thick corn cakes with fillings, at simple stands.

Sweets are the speciality. The orchards supply walnuts, figs, grapes and pine nuts for candies and pastes, and cajeta, a thick milk caramel, is made here too; shops in the centre sell them alongside local wine.

The drinks are the town's own: table wines, fortified wines and grape liqueurs from the wineries, and brandy, which Parras has long produced. Casa Madero, considered one of the most important wine businesses in the Americas, makes labels such as Casa Grande Gran Reserva and Casa Madero Reserva. Other producers include Rivero González, and wine shops in the town, among them El Vesubio, sell bottles from several producers. Tastings at the estates are part of most visits.