The Spanish conquest of Guatemalan Highlands occurred in the 1520s, followed by the establishment of the Province of Tecusitlán and Lacandón within the Viceroyalty of New Spain.
Tejutla was an important commercial and religious center; in August 1767, Joseph Domingo Hidalgo described Santiago Tejutla as "El Curato" -i.e., the focal center of commerce of all the towns that were around it− in the Gaceta de Guatemala, the official newspaper of the times.