La Palma is located west of the department of Chalatenango, 82 kilometers from San Salvador, and 8 kilometers from El Poy, the El Salvador-Honduras border.

La Palma is well-known for its wood crafts and designs in Naïf art, a creation of Salvadoran painter Fernando Llort, who also designed the mosaics of the Metropolitan Cathedral in San Salvador. Llort is one of the most emblematic people that has influenced this municipality, and with his hard work he taught the villagers the “naïf” art, a technique that basically consists of representing moments of everyday rural life, as well as typical flora and fauna of the place, made in copinol seeds. In most of the houses of La Palma you can find workshops where crafts are made in wood, leather, ceramics, different kinds of seeds and designs on cotton clothes. Currently, this craft activity is what generates more income and jobs in this town.

In addition to being renowned for its handicrafts, La Palma became the center of attention in 1984, when President José Napoleón Duarte met with rebel guerrilla leaders in an attempt to end the civil war, this being the first peace talk since the beginning of the war in 1980.

La Palma was part of the so-called Caminos Reales (Royal Roads), this being the route to get to Honduras. Since the first years of independence, it has been the scene of national battles, since it was municipal and government forces that fought against the troops of the ex-president Francisco Malespín, in both battles Malespín was defeated.

The city also offers hotel infrastructure and restaurants, as well as places to do hiking.