Que bonito es el Quelite

About 30 miles northeast of Mazatlan lies the picturesque colonial pueblito of El Quelite. The beautiful streets of this village are invitingly strollable and litter-free, mostly cobbled and lined with subtropical trees, shrubs, and colorful flowers spilling onto the sidewalks.

This Colonial town, with monuments such as Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Temple it’s ideal for the so called rural tourism. It is famous for its cheeses.

Awash in color, the houses are painted bright hues of yellow, green, red, the complete rainbow. This town is so lovely that it inspired Francisco Terriquez to write the famous Mexican folk song, Que Bonito es El Quélite (How Beautiful is El Quelite), which is well known throughout Latin America, and can be heard playing regularly throughout the town, a demonstration of how proud the 2,000 people who call this pueblito home are of their village.

The Pueblos Magicos (Magic Towns) program was initiated by the Mexican government to help preserve towns that embodied the best of Mexican culture, history and tradition. Launched in 2001, the program provides financial assistance to places that «reflect the beauty of traditional Mexican culture» according to the Secretary or Tourism. The program has met with great success in terms of increasing tourism and bringing a much needed business into these areas. Currently, there are 34 towns that are officially listed as Pueblos Magicos. El Quélite is going to be on the list of Magical Tows of Mexico on 2018