This is a small Andean town with not much more than 900 inhabitants, located 70 km from Copiapó. The climate is temperate and the air is dry. Here you will find interesting houses which belonged to the workers of the former railway.

It is a center of agricultural activity for the production and export of grapes. Formerly it produced oranges and vegetables.

At the beginning of the twentieth century there was a sanatorium for respiratory ailments, taking advantage of the extraordinary conditions of the locality. At that time there was railway service to Los Loros.

The most interesting feature is the church, where a festival in honor of the Virgen del Carmen takes place in July every year.