Zapala

Zapala was founded on 12 July 1913, and turned into a municipality in 1948. It was (and still is) located around a railway station built by the Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway, a British-owned company taken over by the Ferrocarril General Roca after railway nationalisation in 1948 and, since railway privatisation in 1993, in the hands of Ferrosur Roca. The city is split in two by the railways; on one side there is a commercial district with old buildings, and on the other a modern residential area.

The station is a terminus at the end of the line from Bahía Blanca and Neuquén which was meant to continue across the Andes mountains into Chile. Construction was abandoned in the 1920s although resumption of construction was proposed in 2006.

In 1918 Zapala was the starting point of the first flight by an airplane across the Andes, when Luis Candelaria flew to Cunco, Chile, on April 13. It is served by Zapala Airport.

In March 1994, conscript Omar Carrasco disappeared from the military base in Zapala, where he was serving his mandatory military service. The discovery of his body and that he had been murdered by his superiors led President Carlos Menem to end conscription in August of that same year.

Climate

The climate of Zapala is cold semi-arid (BSk, according tho the Köppen climate classification), bordering on a cool-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb). Winters are cold. The climate is also very windy during most of the year; Winds of 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph) have been registered. It may also snow an average of 30-40 centimetres (12-16 in) every year. It is very dry, with about 369 millimetres (14.5 in) of rain yearly. Summers can have high temperatures, up to 35 °C (95 °F), with sunny and stable days and cool nights.