Pinal de Amoles - Economy

Economy

Only just over eighteen percent of the total population is economically active. Just over 50% of these are dedicated to agriculture, livestock, forestry, fishing and hunting. Of a total of 60,970 hectares in the municipality, 32,901 are forest, 23,176 are used for livestock and 4,893 are cultivated. The only irrigated land is located in Misión de Bucareli with 71 hectares and Medias Coloradas with 32 hectares. Most crops are for auto consumption and include corn, beans, chickpeas, chili peppers, potatoes and tomatoes. The area has climates suited for the cultivation of apples, but pears, peaches, quince and figs are also grown. In the small subtropical area there is the production of limes, lemons, papaya, mangos, guavas, peaches, coffee, avocados, sugar cane, blackberries, pineapples and ornamental plants. Livestock is mostly cattle with some sheep, goats and pigs. Local livestock farmers have a cooperative to help with the acquisition of supplies.

In the early 2000s, apple growers in the region found that they could not sell their fruit, not because of taste but because it is smaller and has a less shiny appearance than fruit from the north of Mexico, the US and Chile. In 2003, apple growers from Pinal de Amoles and other nearby municipalities came together to find ways of marketing their product. The result is the production of apple juice, produced by a cooperative. Initial taste tests were positive but marketing was a challenge. Business students helped out and eventually the product began to appear on store shelves in various parts of Mexico and even in the US. In 2005, the cooperative signed a deal with bottlers to sell 60 tons of Querétaro Golden apples as 550,000 250-ml boxes of juice.

Just under seventeen percent of the population is dedicated to mining, infrastructure and construction. Only three percent are dedicated to manufacturing, mostly handcrafts. Handcrafts in the area include objects made from leather, palm fronds, silver, gold, wire, wool, wood and stone. Municipal president has announced plans to reactivate mining in the municipality to create jobs. He stated that it needs to be done because it is a part of the area’s history. There are mines in San Gaspar, Río Escanela and Bucareli among others which generate three hundred jobs, extracting mercury, silver and antimony.

About twenty one percent are dedicated to services, tourism and general commerce. For the Sierra Gorda area, tourism, especially ecotourism is a new and important source of income for the region. As the municipality contains many of the highest peaks of the Sierra Gorda, much of the area is covered by fog and clouds for at least part of the day. Natural areas for visitors include El Camposanto Viejo and El Cruz de Palo with camping, hiking and rustic playgrounds for children. Campamento Río Escanela Enclavado is located along the Escanela River with a path that leads to the Angostura Canyon and the Puente de Dios. The nearby townof Río Escanela is an old mining community surrounded by forest. The facility has cabins, camping area, showers, picnic tables, grills and food services. Campamento Las Trancas in Potrerillos is a camping location just outside the municipal seat. In November 2010, it installed the first extreme sporting facility in the Sierra Gorda, a zip-line which measures about one hundred meters and crosses a deep narrow canyon. One ecotourism site is in Cuatro Palos, a village of thirty homes just outside the municipal seat. It is a campground which is one of twelve founded by The Ecological Group, a service organization dedicated to promoting alternative economies based on ecologically sensitive technologies. About thirty women from the village work at the campground as a cooperative. The campground has dry toilets in which lime, sawdust and solar energy are used to produce compost. There have also been some solar panels installed.

There are also a number of small archeological sites and historic monuments. Pinal de Amoles has had problems with the sacking of these sites, but now programs have been started to halt this activity and create tourist routes based on the sites.

Pinal de Amoles has been ranked as one of the poorest in the country of Mexico, with the lowest levels of income by the United Nations Development Programme. and one of the highest levels of economic marginalization. Only about 18% of the residents are economically actively, 45% of which are homemakers, with the rest students and retirees. About half of the population is considered to be very poor, with ten percent considered to be living in deplorable conditions with no public services at all.

For this reason, many from this municipality and others from the Sierra Gorda, have migrated out to cities in Mexico and to the United States in order to work. The municipality estimates that about 35% of its population has migrated abroad, equaling about 8 thousand people. Others suggest the numbers are even higher, with an estimate of four people in the United States for each family here. No one knows exactly how many from the state of Querétaro have gone to the U.S. to work or the amount which is send back in remittances each year. However, it is estimated that the Sierra Gorda region receives between 50,000 and 100,000 USD per day or 18.2 million dollars each year. This is larger than the municipal budget of Pinal de Amoles. These remittances have come to overshadow earnings made locally from small shops, livestock and agriculture. In Pinal de Amoles and other areas of the Sierra Gorda, the dollar has become part of the economy, especially around Christmas when many come back to visit families for the holiday season. This has led to many businesses accepting the dollar as a medium of exchange in many businesses including restaurants and bars. Many families now use it as a regional currency. However, remittance money sent back can vary depending on economic and political factors. As of January 2011, the amount sent back to the Sierra Gorda fell about forty percent. Officials blame the security situation on the US-Mexican border, with many younger people in the US not visiting during the Christmas season.

The money sent back by those in the United States is so important that Pinal de Amoles is one of the sponsors of the annual “Día del Paisano” (Day of the Countryman) event which honors migrant workers visiting at Christmas time. The event is held in Jalpan de Serra and includes contests, raffles and more. This money is not only sent back directly to families but is also the basis for a number of public works projects. In the early 2000s, migrants from Querétaro formed a Federación de Clubes de Migrantes de la Sierra Gorda, in order to donate to public works projects in their hometowns. It consists of twenty seven smaller groups, eight of which are from Pina de Amoles, to spur economic development. Under a program "Queretaro Unidos Tres por Uno" each dollar sent by residents abroad is matched by the federal and state governments to three dollars as part of a nationwide program sponsored by the Secretaria de Desarrollo Sustentable. Most of the projects have been related to paving, running water and sewerage, but have also included electrical networks, schools, health centers and computer equipment. The death of sixteen residents in 2006 and 2007 and the lack of employment pushed the municipality in 2007 to start promoting legal emigration to the United States. For this purpose, municipal resources have been budgeted, and a liaison with the U.S. embassy established to help residents get visas. In 2007, forty residents succeeded in getting legal work visas through the program, who mostly went to Escondido, California. Each of these applications cost the municipality 5,000 pesos, which includes transportation north.