Quetzal ("Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary"), from the Nahuatl root = "stand up" used to refer to an upstanding plume of feathers. The word entered English through Spanish. The word "quetzal" was originally used for just the resplendent quetzal, the long-tailed quetzal of Guatemala, (more specifically a town called Petén) which is the national bird and the name of the currency of Guatemala. It still often refers to that bird specifically but now also names all the species of the genera "Pharomachrus" and "Euptilotis". "Pharomachrus" is from Ancient Greek , "mantle", and , "long", referring to the wing and tail coverts of the
Ruta Quetzal Ruta Quetzal The Ruta Quetzal ("Quetzal Route") is a trip taken yearly by hundreds of Latin American, Spanish, and other Spanish and Portuguese-speaking students. The full name of this study and adventure travel is Ruta Quetzal BBVA, or formerly Ruta Quetzal Argentaria. In 1979, Miguel de la Quadra-Salcedo, Quetzal Route currently director since the beginning of the "Ruta" (as it's called by the routers), proposed to the king Juan Carlos I of Spain his idea to form a trip for teenagers from Spain, Latin America and other countries of Asia and Europe, one which would promote intercultural exchange between the