Saltillo

Saltillo occupies a broad valley on the northern edge of the Mexican Central Plateau, flanked by the Sierra de Zapalinamé, part of the Sierra Madre Oriental. As the capital of the state of Coahuila, it recorded 879,958 inhabitants in the 2020 census, with a metropolitan area exceeding one million. Its elevation of 1,700 metres gives it a temperate semi-arid climate, with warm summers and mild winters.

Founded in 1577 by the conquistador Alberto del Canto as Villa de Santiago del Saltillo, the city welcomed Tlaxcaltec settlers in 1591 at the invitation of the Spanish Crown, who brought with them the textile tradition that gave rise to the sarape de Saltillo — an emblematic piece of Mexican weaving that reached its artistic peak between 1750 and 1860. The Cathedral of Santiago, built between 1746 and 1810, combines Baroque and Churrigueresque styles in carved stone. The Museo del Desierto, inaugurated in 1999, traces the natural history of Mexico's three great deserts across four pavilions featuring tyrannosaurus and hadrosaur skeletons, fossil collections, and a live prairie dog colony.

Saltillo's sporting culture revolves around baseball. Los Saraperos de Saltillo, a team in the Mexican League, play at Estadio Francisco I. Madero (11,000 seats, inaugurated in 1963, renovated since 2019) and have accumulated three championships (1980, 2009, 2010). The Sierra de Zapalinamé supports an active community of trail runners and mountain cyclists, with 11 mapped routes on Trailforks and trails climbing up to 2,988 feet of elevation gain. The Maratón Saltillo, with an edition scheduled for October 2026, and the 21K Coahuila round out the city's race calendar.

Saltillo is part of the ACES Activa network as a participating Mexican city. Its sports infrastructure, managed by the Instituto Municipal del Deporte, and its mountain natural surroundings offer an uncommon combination of urban sport and outdoor activity.