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The birth of Ixtapa

Ixtapa yacht marina

Ixtapa is a government-planned tourist resort constructed on what was once a coconut plantation and mangrove estuary that was begun in the early 1970s.

The development of Ixtapa was supported by a loan from the World Bank and, In 1968, the Bank of Mexico created a special fund for the creation of new tourist destinations on the country’s coastlines. The first two now infamous destinations were Cancun, in the state of Quintana Roo, and Ixtapa, next to the town of Zihuatanejo.

Ixtapa Aerial Photo

Ixtapa was initially developed by just two Mexican architects, Enrique and Agustín Landa Verdugo, the latter also decided on the choice of the site. Their project defined the tourist destination’s street layout and municipal zoning. The tourism project is configured using super-blocks with irregular shapes, with the express passage streets for motor vehicles separating these blocks, and cul-de-sacs within each of them. Other architects were also selected to build this city; some are still celebrity residents of this town. Architects like Concepción Rivera and Miguel Ángel Rojas still live and work in Ixtapa.

Telenovela Marimar Ixtapa

A little know fact is that the famous Mexican soap opera (Telenovela) ‘Marimar’ was filmed here between 1994 and 1995. Mexicans from all over the nation began a love affair with Ixtapa because of Marimar which presented Ixtapa as a chic and fashionable neighborhood with affluent residents.