LA PAZ, Mexico -- Queen Elizabeth II Tuesday received the warmest welcome of her cruise along the Mexican Pacific coast on her last stop in the Latin American nation before heading to the United States.
She is scheduled to meet with President Reagan in California next week.
Her visit to La Paz, a fishing and resort city of 110,000 in the state of Baja California Sur, lasted four hours.
It was apparently aimed mainly at taking on fresh fuel and supplies for the 1,000 miles non-stop cruise to California.
But the citizens of La Paz, less accustomed to distinguished visitors than people at the queen's other two stop in Mexico at Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta, turned out to give her a rousing welcome.
All schools and many stores were closed. Police estimated the crowd along the route and in the main square at 60,000.
The queen and her husband Prince Philip were both dressed in tropical clothes and colors. The queen wore a pink with green patterned dress, a bright turquoise hat and white gloves and shoes.
Prince Philip wore a pale blue, long-sleeved guayabera.
They were met on the dock by Baja California Governor Alberto Andres Alvarado Aramburu and his wife.
As the queen walked to the bus to take her to the town square, a band broke into marimba music and the crowd cheered, triggering a large smile from the queen.
At the town square she toured the local Catholic cathedral Nuestra Senora de La Paz, and shook hands with the black-robed priest.
The people in the pews broke into applauae as she left. She then toured the city's central plaza which was jammed with people and ate a seafood lunch with the governor. The royal couple spent the remainder of their stay in his residence.
A Mexican government spokesman said she probably used the private beach available at the residence and then later left for the cruise up the coast.
Baja California was once dependent on pearling and mining and is now kept solvent by tourism, mainly from deep sea fishing enthusiasts.
