Puerto Vallarta

Little is known of the area before the 19th century, though archaeological finds suggest people lived here for more than two thousand years. In the 16th century Spanish ships explored the great bay, later called the Bahía de Banderas, and one tradition holds that Playa de los Muertos takes its name from shipwrecked sailors whose bodies washed ashore. The town itself grew from Las Peñas de Santa María de Guadalupe, whose official founding is dated to 12 December 1851, when Guadalupe Sánchez Torres and his family settled at the mouth of the Cuale River. In the 1860s the village grew as the mouth of the Cuale was used to supply the Union en Cuale company, and by 1885 it had about 800 residents.

The town was renamed in honour of Ignacio Vallarta, a former governor of Jalisco. Its fame came in 1963, when John Huston filmed The Night of the Iguana at Mismaloya; the film drew Richard Burton, Ava Gardner and Elizabeth Taylor, and the off-screen lives of its stars brought the town international attention. The government built an international airport, highways and the El Salado wharf, opened in 1970.

Rapid growth brought informal settlements in the 1980s, and outlying districts still lack good roads and services. Hurricane Kenna damaged the Malecón in 2002, and in 2015 Hurricane Patricia forced evacuations but made landfall to the south. In February 2026 the city was badly affected by the unrest that followed the death of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel's leader.

Puerto Vallarta's public face is the Malecón, where people stroll on Sunday evenings among sculptures by Sergio Bustamante, Alejandro Colunga, Ramiz Barquet and others, among them the Boy on the Seahorse, which once stood on the rocks of Las Pilitas. Concerts are held at the bandstand of the Plaza de Armas and on the stage before the arches across the street. The film connection endures: a statue of John Huston stands on Isla Cuale, and his children helped found the city's film festival.

The city is known as one of the most LGBTQ-welcoming places in Mexico, with a scene centred on the Zona Romántica and the southern end of Playa de los Muertos. Vallarta Pride, held in May, ends with a parade along the Malecón, and events such as Beef Dip Bear Week fill the calendar in winter.

Religious tradition remains strong. The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the heart of the old town, and the festival of the Virgin of Guadalupe runs from 1 to 12 December, and the Day of the Dead is marked at the botanical garden south of town with workshops, marigold arrangements and a bonfire dance. Large numbers of retirees and second-home owners from the United States and Canada give some districts a strongly international character.

About 224,000 people lived in the city at the 2020 census, out of about 292,000 in the municipality, and the metropolitan area, which crosses the state line into Nayarit's Bahía de Banderas municipality, had about 480,000. It is the largest urban area in Jalisco after Guadalajara.

Tourism dominates: around 80 per cent of the workforce is employed in hotels, restaurants, personal services and transport. Real estate is a second engine, with foreign retirees and Mexican investors buying condominiums priced in dollars; foreigners hold coastal property through a bank trust. In the Zona Romántica traditional houses have been demolished for condominium towers, a controversial trend.

Most residents live away from the beach, in districts such as El Pitillal, once a separate town, Bobadilla and the dense housing estates built for the city's workforce. Poverty remains a problem, fuelled by migrants seeking work, and some hillside colonias still lack paved roads, water and sewers. The high season, from late November through March, sets the rhythm of work, and the summer rains bring a quieter, cheaper season.

The bay's food is built on seafood. Ceviche and aguachile, raw fish or shrimp cured in lime with chilli, are served piled on tostadas, and some seafood places serve marlin tacos. From the Nayarit coast to the north comes pescado zarandeado, a whole fish split and grilled over wood. Seafood places range from restaurants in the Zona Romántica to local spots in El Pitillal and near the airport that draw residents more than visitors.

Street food is the everyday cooking, and the square in El Pitillal is known for the variety of its stalls, many selling dishes that visitors may not have met before.

The spirit of the coast is raicilla, a colourless or wood-aged agave spirit from south-western Jalisco, made in simple stills for around three centuries and now protected by a denomination of origin. Tequila, from the agave fields inland, is everywhere, along with Mexican beer and the fruit waters called aguas frescas.