The city of San Jose del cabo is the head of Los Cabos County and is located in the far extreme of the state of Baja California, Mexico. Its name was given to it by the Jesuits that founded the mission that later became the city. Today it is an excellent tourist city that offers a more tranquil and traditional style than the rest of the beaches. The majority of tourists that visit this city usually describe it as ¨enchanting¨, a word that has become distinctly related to this city.

Before the colonial city, these lands, where Los Cabos county is today, were inhabited by the Pericues people. They lived off of the abundant marine life, flora, and occasional hunting, which gave them all the necessary things to live and settle in this region. This indigenous people called this area ¨Yenecami.¨ In particular, the area of San Jose del Cabo had a numerous variety of fauna and flora, thanks to its freshwater lakes, which facilitated and promoted that various native communities establish themselves there.

During the whole pre-colonial period and part of the colonial period, this area was an obligatory stop for all the expeditions because it was known for its freshwater springs that always offered food and water to all the travelers, especially the Asian and Spanish ships. These characteristics lead the travelers to name this area ¨Agua Segura¨ (sure water). Also because of this characteristic, it was a constant target for pirate ship attacks.

On the other hand, since the Jesuits discovered the area the Pericues people inhabited, they wanted to open two missions on the south part of the peninsula, however, considering the hostile temperament of the natives that did not give in so easily, it was necessary to unite the persons with the necessary abilities to negotiate, and in a last intent, force submission on the indigenous people. Once this was done, the General of the Jesuit Missions, father Jose Chavarria and father Nicolas Tamaral began their journey to these lands on March 10, 1730, parting from Loreto.

After learning the Pericues language in the Santiago Mission, they went on their way and on April 1730, the two fathers founded the Mission of San Jose del Cabo. Regrettably, twenty-four years later a tragedy took the life of father Tamaral in one of the several Pericues attacks made to recover their territory. After this tragedy, the mission was abandoned and its population migrated to the Santiago mission, located about 50 km away, only to return several years later.

Today, this whole area is known as the county of Los Cabos, in which San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas are found. These two cities are united by a highway on the coast that is 33 km long and has beautiful scenery, with wonderful beaches apt for all aquatic sports. It offers an enormous variety of tourist services, international airport, hotels of all categories, marine life, golf courses, tennis, extraordinary restaurants with the best national and international kitchens, installations for sport fishing, considered the main attraction of the area, and everything even the most demanding tourist could hope for in a tourist area of this magnitude.

It was thanks to the private, local and foreign investments, that San Jose del Cabo went from being a point of supply and water for travelers, to a picturesque, traditional city full of history and fantasy that offers all type of tourism and attractions to the thousands of visitors it receives in the year, from the most luxurious style to the most simple, yet enchanting.

San Jose and its little over 48,000 permanent residents, exhibit the best Mexican tradition, having tranquil streets and sidewalks filled with trees, full of galleries, restaurants and boutiques, with a total deliberate lack of fast food businesses, with a downtown located a few blocks away from the ocean, a beautiful municipal palace with a Spanish colonial style, among other characteristics that submerge us in Mexican culture.

This city is a proud authentic place to explore and relax, to let yourself go and appreciate it with the five senses, a fusion of an exquisite Mexican tradition and the modern luxurious amenities

Sources:
Tripadvisor, en http://www.tripadvisor.com
Portal Educativo SEP anmas de la Secretaría de Educación Pública de México, en http://sepanmas.sepbcs.gob.mx/index.htm