Zapopan Travel Guide, Mexico

Guadalajara Metropolitan Area is one of the metropolitan areas of Jalisco (which happens to be a state of Mexico). Guadalajara Metropolitan Area comes in second position in terms of metropolitan population. Greater Mexico City is the only other metropolitan area which is ahead of Guadalajara Metropolitan Area. Zapopan happens to be one of the surrounding municipalities of Guadalajara Metropolitan Area.

Zapopan is situated on the northwestern side of Guadalajara (the capital of Jalisco) and tiny communities like Tesistán and Nuevo México are its part. Within the state of Jalisco the municipality as well as the city of Zapopan lags behind Guadalajara’s municipality and city in terms population and hence it is the second largest municipality and city of Jalisco.

Zapopan is famous amongst tourists as it happens to be an important commercial center for Mexico due to the chain of shining shopping malls which clog the city.

Industries like Jabil Electronics and Flextronics Corporation have their corporate offices within the industrial park of Zapopan. Another famous company, Empresas Tajín, which produces the popular chain of seasoning like lime, chile peppers, and salt is also the brain child of a businessman in Mexico and this company, too has its corporate office in Zapopan. Housing development is turning out to be another business which has huge prospects due to the growing economy of the city. Zapopan is also famous for the production of corn.

Zapopan already has a football club, namely UAG, and a huge stadium, Estadio Chivas, is all set to be launched by January 2009. Although it is designed for multiple uses, it will mostly be used for football. It is estimated to have a capacity of around 45,000 people.

The plantations of tequila maguey in the outer areas of the city, Santiago River canyon located on the borders of the city, and spas plus the Primavera oak forest in and around the city, are some of the major reasons why Zapopan attracts various tourists.

Zapopan’s basilica is also a famous monument famous amongst various pilgrims. Basilica was the name given to special churches although originally they used to be public Roman monuments.

The downtown area of the city is located east of Zapopan and this is the area that has all the shopping malls like Plaza Milenium, Plaza del Sol, and Centro Magno.