When Was Cancún Founded?

The modern city of Cancún was founded in 1970 as a planned tourism development by the Mexican government (INFRATUR/FONATUR). Before that, the area was sparsely populated by Maya descendants and coconut plantation workers. The island's Maya name was Nizuc ("point of grass"). Ancient Maya sites (El Rey, El Meco) exist in the hotel zone, but the city itself is a 20th-century creation.