History of Cancun

Cancun is a blessing for historians. It's one of the few worldly retreats where they can guarantee that their two week break won't turn in a 'busman's holiday'. Historically the modern resort is still in its infancy and bereft of interest, except perhaps as a warning of the dangers of relentless over development. However the historical backdrop of the Yucatan Peninsular is a fascinating one. Cancun is in striking distance of several major archaeological sites all the handiwork of the regions first settlers, the Mayans.

Until 1967 Cancun was a remote island, home to a coconut plantation and a just enough mosquitoes to make it uninhabitable. Meanwhile over in Mexico City a computer belonging to the government was on the verge of pinpointing this slither of talcum-powder white sand as the location of Mexico 's new tourist Mecca. Jungle was cleared on the mainland to house those working on the resort and construction began apace. The first hotel opened in 1974, but as a resort growth was sluggish. An injection of foreign capital in the mid 1980's was what Cancun needed to push it to the forefront of the Mexican tourism industry.

The bulk of the Yucatan 's archaeological legacy comes from one benefactor, the Mayans, who dominated the peninsular from 300-900AD. While much of modern day Mexico remained nomadic the Maya settled, refined their agricultural practices and sowed the seeds of the first of the great civilisations.

By the time that the first Spanish arrived in 1519 the Mayan Empire had fragmented and the focus of power had shifted west to the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán(the site of modern day Mexico City). The Aztecs put up some resistance, but proved no match for the conquistadors' firepower.

Over the following three centuries the colonists squeezed everything they could from the Yucatan, nearly wiping out the native population through overwork and imported disease. With the native population decimated it was up to the new settlers to fight for independence from Spain, which they won in 1821.

Peace was short-lived. The new Yucatecan aristocracy now yearned for independence from Mexico, and the Maya's land claims had been largely ignored. In 1847 fearing an invasion the Maya were issued weapons which they swiftly and ruthlessly turned on the hacendados. Within a year they had taken control of the lion's share of the peninsula. The government stepped in and funded a counter-revolution that halved the population of the Yucatan over the next five years.

Physical isolation meant that the Yucatan played little part in the Mexican Revolution and the political instability that dogged the country over the following decades. The area surrounding Cancun was of such insignificance that it wasn't named until1902, whereupon it became Quintana Roo after a general of the same name, who was alleged to have never set eyes on the place. Quintana Roo became a state in 1974, the same year Cancun's first hotel opened.