As late as the early 1980s the city could long be reached only by ferry boats called "pangas" or small motorboats ("lanchas") operating between Ciudad del Carmen and Zacatal; this changed with the construction of a causeway bridge to the mainland in the 1980s (eastbound) and another one in 1994 (westbound).

Since then, every year at the end of July, Ciudad del Carmen turns into the very center of the regional social, cultural and religious festivities, on the fair that celebrates the island's protector virgin.

Laguna or Isla del Carmen has, along with the territorial portion, a unique history for different reasons, among them, that the Spaniards discovered but did not conquer or colonize it; while the pirates made it a den and residence while fighting for neighboring lands and populating other places in the region.

Progress was made so slowly that, for example, on 4 September 1663, during the provincial government of Francisco Esquivel and de la Rosa, governor and captain general of Yucatán, came news that Tris Island was held by the pirates, who at that time already exploited, with great utilities, the dye stick.

At the end of the seventeenth century there are about 600 people organized in Terms and Puerto Real, from 1686 to a considerable number of pirates returned to the island, restarting the harassment of Tabasco villages and taking out the Usumacinta.

With notable numerical inferiority, carried out a naval attack against the English, achieving their almost total imprisonment and forcing them to lose the lost and the contraband, under extremely benevolent conditions.After that victory, the rapid construction of a defense lurch began, which is the origin of the current Ciudad del Carmen.

However, the country's government did not have a clear idea of the geographical location of the island, to such an extent that Iturbide, by order of September 2, 1822, made El Carmen depend on the state of Puebla.

He was granted the title of villa by governmental provision of 2 October 1828, with his respective shield: a lion perched on the island that is eaten by the eagle; Around it bears the following legend: "La Laguna by Yucatán and both by the Mexican Republic".

Following the fate of the peninsula, when they experience the split of the Mexican Republic in the 1840s, they chose separation and neutrality; in 1846, in the war against the United States, he followed the criteria that he had adopted on 8 December of that same year the City Hall of San Francisco de Campeche: without being oblivious to popular pressure, in a meeting he pronounced for a postponement of reinstatement until the national government is stable.

Robira presided over a popular meeting in which the neighbors asked Commodore Perry not to withdraw from the island when peace was signed between the United States and Mexico, until the Supreme Government was in a position to care for the security and defense of Carmen.

A situation that paralyzed political concerns needs to be clarified; Justo Sierra O'Reilly dealt with the points on the items at the time, remembering that only the spirit of the party and interests drove that detachment, sponsored by the dictator Antonio López de Santa Anna, whose purposes were, during 27 months of his regime, split the great states of the nation to more easily impose the yoke and the influence of centralist power.

Because of the importance acquired and its marked development, the government of the president Comonfort decreed, on 10 July 1856, the title of city for Carmen, a fact that approved the Congress of the Union on 17 September of that same year.

On 3 May 1858, the Territorial Division Agreement was signed, which among other points stipulated the respective dividing line, obligations in the war against the natives, taxes and tariffs; It was published in San Francisco de Campeche with the solemnity of the case on 15 May.

The struggle between the adherents to the conservative cause and the faithful to the Republic of Juarez became manifest, a meeting of authorities and connoted persons was called and, after a vote, Carmen remained as a French colony, the liberals had Than exile from the city.

Obeying an economic trend, guided by the transition of land to private individuals, the Porfirio Díaz government handed over large concessions to foreign companies and connoted people in the region.

At the end of 1907, in El Carmen, two groups faced conflicting ideas, the one of friends of the Porfirian regime called "Club dos de Abril", who met at the pharmacy of Don Jesus Cervera, and the other called "The hornet" , who met in the pharmacy of Carlos González l. On 11 September, at the beginning of his campaign, Don Francisco I. Madero arrived by boat to Carmen from Tabasco, accompanied by his wife, Ms. Sara Pérez de Madero, from the graduates José María Pino Suárez and Serapio Rendón and other supporters and collaborators from Tabasco.

This sculpture was inaugurated on the night of 15 July 2014 by ecclesiastical authorities and the State and municipal government before more than 15 thousand people who packed the esplanade of the monumental horn and part of the city boardwalk.

But, after the company's crisis was revealed, the municipality asked the state Congress for a 40 million pesos item to conclude the works, which the legislature denied the request, so it is unknown where the remaining money came from the play.

More than 15 months it took the Mexican sculptor Sergio Andrés Peraza Ávila the realization of the sculpture in honor of the Virgen del Carmen Stella Maris whose work of art the greatest in her artistic career has been the biggest challenge with more than 15 tons of bronze weight and 14 meters high, which keeps mystique and feeling in the process of its creation.

In his speech, the state president described the night as "historic" and recalled that next year marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of the mestizo culture and the beginning of the evangelization process led by the Franciscans throughout the region.

Similarly, Ciudad del Carmen retains that natural framework that represents being located between the Gulf of Mexico and the Laguna de Terms, which gives the population a very interesting tint.

The Laguna de Términos is the estuarine lagoon system of greater dimensions and volumes of the country, in it a part of the main hydrological network of the coastal area of the Gulf of Mexico flows.

A hall, two towers and an angled eardrum between the edges of the gable roof, three against forts give solidity to the lateral structure and its gray and white marble altar serves as accommodation for the beautiful image of the Virgen del Carmen, Patroness of the sailors.

They highlight here the excellent examples of Mayan pottery, a ship integrated to the permanent exhibition, the early history of the Island of Tris, the expulsion of English pirates and the foundation of the Carmen prison, in addition to the large stick extraction of dye during the first half of the 19th century.

Without losing its essence and flavor of an island, Ciudad del Carmen has been incorporated into the modernity demanded by the population increase itself and by the economic dynamics imposed by the oil industry, which is why it now offers visitors a variety of options in gastronomic, lodging, culture, fun and entertainment.

With the arrival of the Camarón boom, the Laguna Azul Fishing Port was built, located between the La Caleta estuary and the Gulf of Mexico, an installation that operated until the occurrence of two events: the increase in oil production and the decline in shrimp catch volumes.

The airport was incorporated into the Network ASA in 1965, has an area of approximately 192 hectares and its platform for commercial aviation is 10,484 square meters; It also has three positions, a track 2.2 kilometers long and has its own parking lot.

Because Ciudad del Carmen is located on an island, the materials of its crafts are based on shells, snails and fish scales with which lamps, vases, ashtrays, earrings, key chains, pins, jewelry and various ornaments are made.

In 2017, film tape is produced El Tormentero directed by Rubén Imaz and performed by José Carlos Ruiz, who is a shrimp fisherman discovers in one of his trips a huge oil well.

[citation needed] In the mid-1970s Ciudad del Carmen was transformed from a fishing and shrimping city into a hub for oil when Pemex discovered large amounts of petroleum off the coast.