Mexicans Toast UNESCO´s Naming Agave Tequila Fields as World Heritage Site

Tequila may have blurred the memory of many a drinker, but the Agave fields that produce it won´t soon be forgotten after UNESCO put them on its list of World Heritage sites.

Residents of Mexico´s mountainous Jalisco state on Wednesday toasted the addition of their blue-tinged, Tequila-producing Agave landscape to the list of places “considered to be of outstanding value to humanity,” in the words of the UN cultural agency´s Web site.

The cactus-like Agave plant, which is native to the area, is grown in abundance around Tequila to meet the world´s thirst for the fiery liquor. The sprawling blue fields make for an impressive spectacle, even from over-flying passenger jets.

Located about 45 miles northeast of the city of Guadalajara, the town of Tequila is packed with breweries and cantinas, and most of its 60,000 residents work in the spirits industry or in its spillover tourism sector.