Welcome to Tecate

Tecate is the oldest border town in Baja, though in terms of peninsular history, it's still relatively young. In the early 1800's, a few mestizo farmers began working the valley lands. As word got around that the valley was fertile and water - supplied by the Tecate and Las Palmas Rivers - was abundant, more followed. In 1831, Peruvian Juan Bandini receive a land grant of 4,500 hectares from the Mexican government and two years later lais out a town to serve the budding farming community.



Long before Bandini's arrival, the valley surrounding Tecate had been sporadically inhabited by Yuma Indians, who called it Zacate. The Yumas revered 1,520 - meter (5,000 foot) Monte Cuchumá, the valley's most outstanding geographic feature, which today straddles the U.S. - Mexico border. Surviving Kumyais, a sub-tribe of the Yumas, still revere the mountain, and in 1982 they successfully obtained a U.S. agreement to dismantle radio towers on Cuchumá's California side.

Those who cherish the rocky, brush-covered slopes of Tecate Peak don't see the international border that runs through it – just acres of undisturbed wildlife and sacred Kumeyaay Indian grounds.

Tecate became a household word in Mexico after the founding of the Tecate Brewery in 1943. Aside from the brewery and a few maquiladoras east of the city on Mexico 2, the town remains primarily dependent on agriculture. Tourism, though relatively limited, is also a source of local revenue.