You are probably not familiar with the peculiar history of Tecate, the first Magical Town of Baja California. Although at first sight it may look like a nondescript town, when you learn about its history you will understand its singularity. Tecate is a border town but it doesn´t look it. Tecate could be city but maintains the placid spirit and slow rythm of the village. Tecate offers magnificent landscapes, good climate and great opportunities to enjoy the outdoors, but it is neither mountain, desert of forest proper. It is, simply, Tecate, a Magical Town worth discovering.

From the acorn trees to the ranches to the beer plant

Tecate has been inhabited by Kumiai nomadic peoples since time immemorial. Today’s Tecate grew under the Cuchuma hill, the Kumiai magic mountain, a sacred place of rounded rocks and connection to the Universe. The first settlers left their mark nearby, at the El Vallecito archeological site, where you will find the famous Diablito (Little Devil). Then came missions, ranchs and the border, but Tecate continued to be a slow place where views extend over the horizon.

En the early 1900s the beer factory arrive, bringing along the railroad, progress and finally the village as we know it was born. And the place named “acorn tree” by the Kumiai was internationally known thanks to the beer. A tour of the interesting Museo Comunitario takes us to these three key moments of the Magical Town of Tecate: the Kumiai culture, the years of the ranches, and the railroad and the beer factory.