La Malinche

La Malinche National Park, or Matlalcuéyatl in Nahuatl, was decreed in 1938 and protects an extinct volcano between the states of Tlaxcala and Puebla, with a summit of around 4,400 metres. It is the fourth or fifth highest peak in Mexico depending on the measurement, and its isolated cone dominates the landscape of the whole region.

Its value lies not in geological spectacle but in its status as an ecological island. La Malinche rises in the middle of one of the most densely populated and transformed areas of the country, entirely surrounded by farmland and towns, so that its pine, sacred fir and oak woods constitute an isolated refuge for the mountain wildlife and flora of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, and an important piece in capturing water for the surrounding valleys.

That isolation is also its problem. The park suffers pressure from logging, fires, grazing, agricultural expansion on its lower slopes and very high visitor numbers because of its proximity to Puebla and Tlaxcala, and several studies have documented the loss and degradation of its forest cover over recent decades. It is home to the volcano rabbit, endemic and threatened, along with ringtails, coyotes, squirrels and a community of high-altitude forest birds. The name refers to Malintzin, Hernán Cortés's interpreter, although the original Nahuatl place name, Matlalcuéyatl, means she of the blue skirt and designates a water deity.