Milpa Alta
Milpa Alta is a borough in Mexico City. It lies in the southeast corner of the nation's capital, bordering the State of Mexico and Morelos. It is the least populated, second largest and most rural of all the boroughs. It is also one of the most traditional areas of the city, with over 700 religious and secular festivals during the year and an economy based on agriculture and food processing, especially the production of nopal cactus, barbacoa and mole sauce.
Geography
The borough of Milpa Alta is located in the southeast of Mexico City bordering the boroughs of Xochimilco, Tláhuac and Tlalpan, with the state of Morelos to the south and the State of Mexico to the west. It has the second largest territorial extension after Tlalpan, occupying 268.6km2.The terrain is rugged mostly consisting of volcanic peak along with some small flat areas mostly formed in the Cenozoic Era. City officials have classified the entire borough as a conservation zone, important for its role as an aquifer recharge area as well as its forests. Forest, farmland and grazing areas constitute 98.1% of the total surface area.
It has an average altitude of 2,420 meters above sea level with altitudes varying between 2,300 and 3,600. It is part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and the Sierra Chichinautzin volcanic mountain chain, which separates Mexico City from the state of Morelos. The borough is divided into three zones: Ajusco-Teuhtli, the lowest elevations, Topilejo-Milpa Alta in the medium range and Cerro-Tlicuaya at the highest elevations. The main elevations are volcanic and include Cuautzin, Tulmiac, Ocusacayo, La Comalera, San Bartolo, Tláloc, Chichinautzin, Yecahuazac, Quimixtepec, El Oclayuca, El Pajonal, El Ocotécatl, Acopiaxco, Tetzacoatl, Tehutli Cilcuayo, Nepanapa, Texalo, Oclayuca, San Miguel .
The area belongs to the Amacuzac River basin but only small streams run on the surface. It has ample surface water but confined to small springs and streams which over time have formed a succession of narrow valleys or micro-basins, which are important for recharging the Valley of Mexico’s aquifers. These micro-basins include Cilcuayo, Río Milpa Alta and Cocpiaxco and contain the borough’s main towns.
Most of the area has a temperate climate, with cold climates found at the highest elevations. The average annual temperature is with average lows at and averages highs at. Average annual precipitation is. Freezing temperatures occur occasionally from October to March especially in the higher elevations. The windiest months are February and March. On the Koppen scale, its climate is described as C b which signified a relatively moist climate, with a rainy season in the summer especially in July and August. However, the climate varies substantially in the territory based mostly on altitude, with six sub-climates: C which is relatively cold, C also relatively cold but wetter, C a temperate climate, C a températe and relatively wet climate, C temperate and relatively dry and C which is relatively cold with rains falling mostly in the highest areas.
The area has a number of species found nowhere else. The natural vegetation is mostly forest with a mix of pine, oyamel fir and holm oak, with some concentrations of Abies religiosa. The most intact forest is found in the small canyons of the Nepanapa volcano and the west side of the Tláloc volcano. Other vegetation include fruit trees such as tejocote, capulin blackberry and well as various scrubs, grass and flowers. The rugged terrain presents a number of micro climates which favor certain species. Depending on conditions oak, cedar, strawberry trees, pirul, tepozan, nopal cactus and maguey can be found. Wildlife includes 59 species of mammals such as zacatuche rabbits, which in danger of extinction, along with coyotes, deer, lynx and moles. However, only sixteen of these species are still commonly seen because of habitat destruction. Species such as wild boar, bobcats and opossums are extinct in the area. There are about 200 bird species native to the area in 128 classes, 33 families and eleven orders. Eighty percent of the species live in the area year round. There are twenty four amphibian species from ten classes, seven families and two orders and fifty six species of reptiles from thirty one classes, ten families and two orders. A notable areas for these two classes of animal is the corridor between the Ajusco and Chichinautzin mountains.
While named after Villa Milpa Alta, the borough is not concentrated on a single community like Tlahuac or Xochimilco but rather is composed of twelve main towns all of which are rural. This limits the area’s connectivity with the urban zone of Mexico City. Main communities in the borough include San Pedro Atocpan, Villa Milpa Alta, San Bartolome Xicomulco, San Francisco Tecoxpa, Santa Ana Tlacotenco, San Lorenzo Tlacoyucan, San Juan Tepanahuac, San Agustin Ohtenco, San Antonio Tecómitl, San Pablo Oztotepec and San Jerónimo Miacantla. San Agustin Ohtenco is considered to be the smallest community in Mexico City. These main towns are subdivided into twenty nine neighborhoods called barrios and there are 225 communities in the borough total. Villa Milpa Alta has seven barrios, San Mateo, La Concepción, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, San Agustin, Santa Martha and La Luz.
Demographics and culture
With a population of 152,685 as of 2020, Milpa Alta has the lowest population of Mexico City’s sixteen boroughs. About half of the borough’s residents live in or near Villa Milpa Alta and about eighty percent are under forty. It is also one of the city’s most rural and traditional areas. There is a dual system of government, administrative and agricultural, with the latter mostly tasked with the administration of common lands. The social organization of the area is traditional, based on families headed by a male, nuclear in the towns and extended in the more rural areas. Men still hold most of the paying jobs, with most women classed as homemakers, although many of these work in family business, generally for no salary. While it has the lowest crime rates overall, it does have problems with alcoholism in men leading to domestic violence. The borough is gaining population from migration from places like the State of Mexico, Puebla and Oaxaca. and few people migrate out.The borough contains a number of towns and localities. Those considered by the government to be urban are: San Antonio Tecómitl, Villa Milpa Alta, San Pablo Oztotepec, San Salvador Cuauhtenco, San Francisco Tecoxpa, Santa Ana Tlacotenco, San Pedro Atocpan, San Bartolomé Xicomulco, San Lorenzo Tlacoyucan, and San Nicolás Tetelco. In addition, there are approximately 250 rural settlements with populations each of less than 1,000.
Before the arrival of the Spanish, the area was dominated by the Nahuas. Its one of the few places left in the city with Nahuatl speaking communities, with 4,007 people speaking an indigenous language as of 2010. The use of Nahuatl is widespread in the borough, with the most concentrated in the towns of Santa Ana Tlacotenco, San Lorenzo Tlacoyucan and San Pablo Oztotepec. Ethnic Nahuas are found in all of the borough’s main towns. There are also efforts to preserve and promote the use of the language in the borough.
The Nahuas are primarily Catholic with a number of indigenous beliefs still remaining and blended in. Most of these have to do with the agricultural cycle, often represented by veneration to the saints. Traditional medicine is still practiced by a number of Nahuas in combination with modern medicine. Starting in the 1950s, evangelical movements such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses have made inroads into the area. Traditional housing among the Nahuas is of adobe, but these are being replaced by cement and cinderblock constructions. Traditional handcrafts include embroidered clothing and articles made from maguey fiber. The current community struggles to maintain its identity and culture and to prevent being absorbed into the urban sprawl of Mexico City. One way of doing this is through ecotourism on tribal land including guided hikes, zip lines, temazcals and camping. The community also sponsors reforestation events.
The borough lacks theaters, shopping centers, supermarkets and hotels. However, it is one of the boroughs in the city that conserves many of its traditional religious festivals, with about 700 per year, about two per day somewhere in the borough. these fairs and festivals bring 1,200,000 visitors each year to the borough. Each community in the borough, including the twelve main towns and each of these towns’ neighborhoods has a patron saint celebrated once a year. The areas with the most festivals and other events are San Francisco Tecoxpa, San Pedro Atocpan, San Lorenzo Tlacoyucan, San Salvador Cuauhtenco, Santa Ana Tlacotenco, San Pablo Ozotepec, San Agustín Ohtenco, Villa Milpa Alta, San Jerónimo Miacatlán and San Juan Tepanahuac. The most important saint day in the entire borough is that of Our Lady of the Assumption in August. Other important religious events include the passion play, held jointly by the towns of San Francisco Tecoxpa, San Pedro Atocpan, San Lorenzo Tlacoyucan and San Antonio Tecómitl and requires six months of preparations. Carnival is celebrated in San Lorenzo Tlacoyucan, San Antonio Tecómitl, San Pablo Oztotepec and Villa Milpa Alta. Day of the Dead is celebrated in the borough with altars, the cleaning and decorating of gravesites, masses and vigils like many other places in Mexico but it is also celebrated with the release of sky lanterns in communities such as San Agustin Ohtenco, as well as publicly held events such as concerts, the creation of monumental papier-mâché skulls and even Mesoamerican ball games. Holy Week is very important in the borough, especially the Passion Play held each year to reenact the passion and death of Jesus. The event involves over sixty actors, all residents of the borough chosen yearly. The current tradition was started in 1905, although it was suspended during the Mexican Revolution. The scenes of the play are enacted in several locations. Palm Sunday in San Agustin el Alto, the Asunción parish to the main church in Villa Milpa Alta for Good Friday.
Secular events include the Festival of Corn and Pulque in San Antonio Tecomitl in September, Feria de la Nieve in San Antonio Tecomitl in March, Feria Ganadera, Gastronómica y Artesanal in San Pablo Ozotepec in April, the Festival de Juegos Autóctonos celebrating native toys in San Juan Tapanáhuac, the annual fair of San Lorenzo Tlacoyucan in August, and the entire borough celebrates the founding of Villa Milpa Alta on 22 August with a Regional fair and lighting of a New Fire in the crater of the Teutli volcano. In 2012, this event celebrated the town’s 480th anniversary.
The borough is home to four significant balloon events, which together are called the Magic Route of Light. It begins with the Festival Multicultural de Globos de Cantolla in September in Santa Ana Tlacotenco, with the main event of 3000 lanterns launched at once. It is followed by the Concurso Nacional de Globos y Faroles de Papel de China and the Encuentro Internacional de Constructores de Globos de Papel in San Agustin Ohtenco and San Antonio Tecomitl in November. The last is the Noche de Luces in San Francisco Tecoxpa in late November.