La Union

La Union, Guerrero

The town of La Union, Guerrero, is the center for the municipality (much like a county seat) of La Union de Isidoro Montes de Oca in which are found the communities of Petacalco, Zacatula, Surcua, El Naranjito, Los Llanos and Playa Troncones, amongst many others.

La Union is located 6 kilometers off federal highway 200 that runs all along the coast. At the junction, an approximate 1 hour drive north of Ixtapa Zihuatanejo,  is a Pemex gas station, a bus stop shelter and a number of small restaurants serving simple local fare that can sometimes include things like stewed iguana and venison. Children hold up bags of empanadas — rustic bread often baked in outdoor clay ovens and stuffed with pureed yams or sweetened, grated coconut — to passing cars as they slow to negotiate the topes or traffic bumps found on either side of the junction itself.  At times there is an army checkpoint set up at the junction as well.

La Union lies on the banks of the La Union river. It is a typical coastal town with its daily market, a larger weekly tianguis and simple coastal construction designed for coolness.  Its major public service buildings and businesses are arrayed around the small plaza. Activity in the small and dusty town is slow and minimal in the midday heat.

In the surrounding area and hills which are the foothills of the dry Sierra Madre Occidental,  are found plenty of iguana, small Mexican deer, javelina, wild cats and rattlesnakes.  The coastal areas are home to crocodiles, and many sea turtles come to lay their eggs on the beaches in the Troncones area. Agricultural pursuits of the region center around mango, coconut, bananas, tamarind, corn, beans and papaya, and a variety of livestock is raised in large and small ranches of the municipality.

A regional fair is held in La Union yearly on February 5th. Mechanical rides are set up, music and regional food circulate and cockfights are a standard activity of the cooler evening hours. Crafts typical of the area include handmade clay pottery and grindstones and the mortar-and-pestles known as molcajetes.

Buses run between Zihuatanejo and La Union, leaving from the central bus station in Zihuatanejo behind the Comercial Mexicana.