With the aim of implementing a tourism project that promotes a culture of peace, the Camino Iniciatico de Santiago (Initiatory Way of St. James) in Jalisco and Michoacán was presented to the State Congress.
This is a 115-kilometer route that will connect Concepción de Buenos Aires, Jalisco, with Sahuayo, Michoacán, emulating the route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, which attracts thousands of visitors from around the world.
Marco Tardelli, project leader, explained that it is a cultural, nature, and religious tourism route that includes six municipalities in Jalisco and Michoacán: Concepción de Buenos Aires, La Manzanilla de la Paz, and Mazamitla, in Jalisco, and Marcos Castellanos, Cojumatlán, and Sahuayo, in Michoacán.
“These are official concessions with UN Tourism and Asicotur, the Spanish tourism agency that promotes the route. There are only four official concessions in the world: one in Japan, one in Brazil, one in Panama, and one that will connect Jalisco and Michoacán.
It will begin in Concepción de Buenos Aires, where all the pilgrims will arrive, then descend to La Manzanilla, Mazamitla, Marcos Castellanos, and end in Sahuayo, Michoacán. It’s a 115-kilometer journey, made on foot, on horseback, or by bicycle,” he explained.
The presentation was attended by representatives Norma López of Morena (Morena), Sergio Martín of the Labor Party (PT), and José Guadalupe Buenrostro of the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM), as well as business leaders and tourism promoters from Mazamitla and San Juan de los Lagos.
The project’s promoters hope to have the Jalisco-Michoacán route operational for the 2026 World Cup in June of next year.
“We are holding informational forums. The first was held in the federal Chamber of Deputies, this one in Jalisco is the second, the next is in the Michoacán Congress, and the fourth in the Senate of the Republic, to showcase this attraction, because we are managing it as a culture of peace attraction.
It’s important that we put effort into it; believe me, no portfolio will be lost along the way. We are getting everyone to agree on how to take care of it. Believe me, society has already spoken with everyone, and everyone agrees,” he asserted.
The 115-kilometer route is practically complete, as it will use the route of the old Camino Real to Colima. What remains is to build restrooms, dormitories, and install internet service.
Source: udgtv
