Map - San José Acatempa (San José Acatempa)

San José Acatempa is a municipality in the Jutiapa department of Guatemala. One of the first towns founded by the Spanish conquistadors in 1525 under the command of Capitán General Don Pedro de Alvarado y Contreras, which was on route to conquer the region of the old kingdom of Cuzcatlan, now parts of southeastern Guatemala and the republic of El Salvador. The town was previously known by the name of Azacualpa, and during the colonial period, the region was known as Valle de Zacualpa. San José Acatempa received its current name in 1944 by order of General Jorge Ubico.

According to historical records, the region was originally occupied by indigenous people that were either annihilated or expelled by groups of families of Spanish conquistadors. These pioneers were self-denominated as gypsies from Hungary and Spanish-speaking, some Hungarians were Jews but the majority belonged to the Romani ethnicity that were mixed with Spaniards that originated mainly from Navarra, País Vasco, and Andalucia. This explains the small proportion of individuals with light dark skin, a characteristic of people with Mediterranean origin. Another discussed hypothesis asserts that those Romani may have arrived to Spain from Jewish descendants passing through Egypt and Morocco. Among the original families of which took over the lands of San José Acatempa include the family surnames of: Alvarez, Boteo, Cano, Castillo, Cermeño, García, Jiménez, Pernillo, Pineda, among others. The surname of Segura was added later, which according to records began by the arrival of the colonel of the colonial Spanish army Carlos Segura in the late 19th century. Coronel Segura later took the commanding officer position of the army in Azacualpa.