El Chorrito

El Chorrito is a shrine tucked into the Sierra Madre Oriental at 740 metres, in the municipality of Hidalgo, north of Ciudad Victoria. At its heart is a cave where the Virgin of Guadalupe is venerated, and its name, "the little spout", comes from the spring that rises in the mountain and runs down the slope as a small waterfall beside the church. The devotion goes back to the late 18th century, when this country was a route for the transhumant shepherds of New Spain: according to tradition, local people saw in a rock inside the cave a shape that reminded them of the Virgin and began climbing up to leave offerings and prayers. In 1939, on church orders, an image of Guadalupe was carved into one of the grotto's stalactites. It is regarded as one of the earliest popular shrines in northeastern Mexico.

Next to the cave is a church where Mass is said and images and rosaries are blessed, and around it a small village of stalls selling plaster figures of the Virgen del Chorrito, sweetcorn bread, pork asado, micheladas and rusas. There is also a river, swimming pools and guided horse rides. On 12 December 2025 a stainless-steel Virgin of Mercy more than 32 metres tall was inaugurated on a hill a few steps from the waterfall; it is the work of Ciudad Victoria artist Elizabeth Pesquera, assembled on site from ten large pieces on a frame designed to withstand strong winds, and its pupils were blessed by Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican. In 2025 the state also spent more than 34 million pesos on the 21.5 km Hidalgo–La Mesa–El Chorrito road and on an access bend of state road 30.

The shrine lives by its festivals. From 17 to 19 March, for Saint Joseph, the saint's image is carried from the chapel of the former La Mesa hacienda (founded in 1752 and owned in the late 19th century by President Manuel González) up to the grotto, escorted by dance troupes and shepherds' plays that dance non-stop in the churchyard; pilgrims come from all over Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, northern San Luis Potosí and from Mexicans living in the United States. Holy Week brings the procession of Las Carretas, and on 11 and 12 December thousands of the faithful arrive on foot, by bicycle or in convoys to celebrate the Virgin of Guadalupe.