Towns Tending Magial: Pueblos Senorales—Noble Towns

By Jackie Peterson

To promote tourism in the State of
Sinaloa, a new program has emerged called Pueblos Señoriales—noble towns, a takeoff on the federal government’s Pueblos Magicos- magic towns’ campaign.
The difference between a town that’s noble and one that’s magical is that the designation of noble is one level below the federal category — but may be striving to get there. Also, it’s a classification that’s statewide, not nationwide. Ricardo Urquijo of the Secretaria de Turismo (SecTur) office here in Mazatlán, who is in charge of the Señorial program, explained details recently at a meeting of Friends of Mexico, where he said that the idea originally came from Jesus Vizcarra, the losing aspirant to the governorship in the July elections, who at one time served as the state’s Secretary of Economic Development. “Any town that wants to be promoted as a Pueblo Señorial,” Urquijo explained, “has to meet certain criteria. It must have a population of less than 30,000, be more than 100 years old, have a colonial arch at the entrance to town, an historic church and vintage architecture, a community museum and cobblestone or flagstone streets — no asphalt.” These towns also must have a hotel, inn or other lodging for visitors and at least a couple of restaurants. There are many historic little towns in Sinaloa that qualify, he said, but added that the main ingredient “is not so easy to come by: a