Exhibit 23(a)


CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS

The Board of Directors
Westamerica Bancorporation:

We consent to the incorporation by reference in
Registration Statement (No. 33-60003) on Form S-8 of
Westamerica Bancorporation and subsidiaries (the Company)
of our report dated January 22, 1998, relating to the
consolidated balance sheets of Westamerica Bancorporation
and subsidiaries as of December 31, 1997 and 1996, and the
related consolidated statements of income, changes in
shareholders' equity, and cash flows for the years in the
three-year period ended December 31, 1997, which report
appears in the December 31, 1997 annual report on Form
10-K of Westamerica Bancorporation.  On April 12, 1997,
the Company acquired Vallicorp Holdings, Inc. on a 
pooling-of-interests basis. We did not audit the financial 
statements of Vallicorp Holdings, Inc. as of December 31, 1996
and for the years ended December 31, 1996 and 1995.  Those
statements, included in the 1996 and 1995 restated
consolidated totals, were audited by other auditors whose
reports have been furnished to us, and our opinion, insofar
as it relates to the amounts included for ValliCorp
Holdings, Inc., is based solely on the reports of the
other auditors.


/s/ KPMG Peat Marwick, LLP
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KPMG Peat Marwick, LLP


San Francisco, California
March 26, 1998