Every year Tocopilla celebrates its anniversary on 29 September with a big show the day before, which includes a parade down in the main street of the city, food and a fireworks display at midnight.

The northern portion of Tocopilla is home of the municipal buildings, the central square and many stores and shops.

The steep gradient of the city from beach to vertical hillside is covered in houses and apartments crammed together to save space.

In this case, the devil is not the incarnation of evil but a being of the subterranean dimension who gazes through a window made of both spirit and matter—that is, the body—in order to observe the world and share his knowledge with it.

[1] As a commune, Tocopilla is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council, headed by an alcalde who is directly elected every four years.

Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Tocopilla is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Marcos Espinosa (PRSD) and Felipe Ward (UDI) as part of the 3rd electoral district, (together with María Elena, Calama, Ollagüe and San Pedro de Atacama).

The city has one association football team called Deportes Tocopilla who currently play in Tercera B (Chile).