Guánica Bay boardwalk (
El
Malecón)
Guánica (GWAH-nee-kah) is a
municipality in southwestern Puerto Rico located on southern coast, bordering
the Caribbean
Sea
, south of Sabana Grande
, east of Lajas
, and west of Yauco
. It is part of the
Yauco Metropolitan
Statistical Area.
Guánica's postal zip code is 00653 and telephone area codes are 787
and 939. The urban area of Ensenada has a separate postal zip code
of 00647.
Guánica is also the name of the principal
town
of the municipality. The town's population in 2000 was 9,247
persons among 3,808 housing units over a land area of . The town is
located on a deeply indented harbor of the same name. The harbor
resembles a tropical fjord, narrow and bordered by rugged hills,
barely a quarter-mile wide, but about two miles (3 km) from
mouth to the town.
The town is about and over two hours driving
distance from San Juan
, the capital city of the island, and about west of
Ponce
, another principal city of the island
commonwealth.
History
Settlement
Juan Ponce de León landed in
the Guánica harbor on
August 12,
1508 and founded a town called Guaynía, a word derived
from the Taíno indigenous culture that possibly meant "Here is a
place with water".
The town, considered the capital of the
island of Puerto Rico (which was at that time named Isla de San
Juan Bautista), was destroyed during the indigenous uprising
of 1511, and the area was abandoned by Europeans for some years,
during which time San Juan (itself at first called Puerto Rico) became the
capital of the island. The refounded town of Guánica was at
first a part of the municipality of Yauco until Guánica was
established as a separate municipality on
March
13,
1914. Víctor Ángel Sallaberry Safini
was Guánica's first mayor.
Invasion
On
July 25,
1898 USA
troops (who included the young poet-writer
Carl Sandburg and were led by General
Nelson A. Miles) landed in Guánica as part of the
course of the
Spanish-American
War. This invasion led to Puerto Rico being acquired by the
United States.
The invasion, just one small part of the war
between Spain and United States, occurred in Guánica due to its
sheltered harbor and proximity to Ponce, besides being such an unexpected site for such an
attack, which had been anticipated at the heavily fortified city of
San Juan. The invasion is commemorated by a contentious
monument on the waterfront: along a broad paseo (
el
malecón), there is a large coral boulder marked by the carved
words, "3rd Battalion, 1st U.S.V. Engineers,
September 16,
1898."
July 25 was subsequently commemorated in
Puerto Rico as Occupation Day, later renamed Constitution Day (see
Public holidays in Puerto
Rico).
Today
Guánica is a modern town that maintains roots and connections to a
traditional past. Known as
el pueblo de la amistad (the
friendly town), is also occasionally referred to as
el pueblo
de las doce calles (the town of the twelve streets). The
central part of town consists of five streets running north-south
crossing seven other streets that run east-west, resulting in a
compact grid of 24 square blocks, one of which is the town plaza.
Facing the plaza is the Catholic church, city hall, a school, and
many shops; the plaza itself contains greenery, walks, and a music
stand. In recent years this central area of the twelve streets has
been extensively supplemented by suburbs in the south and west.
Hills surround the town and harbor, including the 450-foot (140 m)
hill to the east of town, itself topped by the tiny Fort Caprón.
Two large factories, one producing fertilizer, partially distract
the eye from the pleasant landscape, but both have been important
to the economy of the town, at one time dominated by the sugar
plantations of Guánica's Central. The resort chain known as
Club Med once attempted to set up a luxury
resort on beaches east of the town, but withdrew due to local
opposition which was apprehensive about both environmental and
community degradation; east of the town some of land, including
three miles (5 km) of beach, have been intermittently for
sale. It is a fishing village. Commercial fishermen still ply their
traditional trade beyond the harbor entrance.
Flag
The five waves, blue and yellow represent the Guánica Bay, a
fragment of the Official Shield of Guánica.
Coat of Arms
Shield divided in four quarters. In the superior right side, it has
a "bohio" (hut) under a crown that represents Cacique Agüeybaná,
whose yucayeque (Indian territory) was in this region. In the
superior left quarter, a lion representing Juan Ponce de León. The
checkered strips over a silver-plated background in the inferior
right side represent the shields of Don Cristóbal de Sotomayor,
founder of the town of Tavara, the actual location of Guánica. The
waved stripes represent the bay of this town. The branches
surrounding the shield represent the sugar cane industry that was
very important in this region.
Demographics
Barrios (Districts/Wards)
Geography and topography
Guánica State
Forest
(Bosque Estatal de Guánica) is also the
name of a small dry forest
reserve east and west of the town, the largest remaining tract
of tropical dry coastal forest in the world, and designated an
international Biosphere Reserve in
1981. The park comprising much of the dry forest is known as
el bosque seco de Guánica.
Highway
Route 116, the nearest principal road, heads west toward San Germán
and east toward Ponce, passing through the island of Puerto Rico's driest
area. The largely intact forest of the Guánica Dry Forest
reserve hosts the greatest number of bird species found on the
island, including several bird species seldom found anywhere else:
the
Puerto Rican
Lizard‑Cuckoo,
Puerto Rican
Woodpecker, the
Puerto Rican
Nightjar, and the
Puerto Rican
Emerald hummingbird. Other animals thought to be extinct in PR
have turned up in this forest.
Many different types of cactus grow here, a
stunning contrast to the lush Caribbean National Forest
in the northeast part of the island, which is a
tropical rain forest.
The contrast is due to the mountain ridge
Cordillera Central
which separates Guánica from the northeast part of the island;
while the northeast receives over of precipitation each year,
Guánica receives less than 30, and some regions of the forest
reserve receive are said to receive only six inches.
The forest reserve of some contains of trails through four
different forest types: deciduous trees, a coastal region with
tree-size milkweed and nine-foot-tall prickly pear cactus, a
mahogany forest, and twisted gumbo limbo trees. There are about 700
varieties of plants, including
aroma (acacia) and
guayacan (lignum vitae
- Latin for wood of life). One
guayacan is about 500-700
years old. The squat melon cactus and other cacti can be found here
along with 40 species of birds, including the
guabairo
(Puerto Rican Nightjar), found nowhere else. Also in the area are a
crested toad (Peltophryne lemur) and, sometimes on the beaches,
green and leatherback turtles, though their eggs suffer severe
predation from mongooses one time introduced to fight rats in sugar
cane fields.
The forest office can be reached at 787-821-5706. The view of the
bay and town from the stone tower at the top of Cerro Caprón make
it worth the hike up the hill. Thirty-six miles of trails and ten
miles (16 km) of undeveloped coastline, with peculiar
limestone caves along the western side of the harbor make it a
special place. Highway route 325 leads west to Point Jorobado and
good snorkeling. Route 333 leads east by a small but beautifully
situated park at the base of a cliff, and past the
Guánica Lighthouse, now in disrepair with
restoration plans ahead. Route 333 follows the coast, bordered with
mangroves, to Balneario Caña Gorda, by the Copamarina Resort. There
are several good seafood restaurants in town and at the end of this
road; the end of the road is also a favorite bird watching area.
Nearby are several mountain biking trails, fantastic beaches, and
the Ballena Bay refuge for turtles, birds, and other wildlife. This
refuge narrowly escaped Club Med's development plans. Its peculiar
though precarious natural state makes the region a place of great
beauty and scientific importance.
Economy
Agriculture
Industry
Tourism
Landmarks and places of interest
- Azul Beach
- Ballena Bay
- Caprón Fortress
- Cayo Aurora, Gilligan's
Island
- El Malecón (Boardwalk)
- Farmacia Quesada
- Guánica Bay
- Guánica Hacienda
- Manglillo Beach
- Mary Lee's By the Sea
- Mimi's Guest House
- Old Lighthouse
- [68269] Playa Santa Beach
- Playa Rosada Beach
- Punta de Brea
- Punta Jorobao
- Santa Rita Hacienda
- Serra Beach
- Central Guánica (Sugar Cane Refinery)
Festivals and events
- Fish Festival - April
- Patron Festivities - Julio
- July 25 Parade - July
- Juan Ponce de León Celebration - August
Notable "Guaniqueños"
- Agüeybaná and
Agüeybaná II, Taíno chiefs
- Primitivo Anglada, activist in obtaining Guánica’s municipal
independence; first secretary of the Town Council
- Domingo Bracero Hernández
- Jaime Cancel
- Rose Franco (1932- ), first Puerto
Rican woman Chief Warrant Officer in U.S. Marine Corps
- Luis A Nieves Lopez
- Miguel A Morciglio, member of the House of Representatives for
District 24 (1961-1964)
- Reynaldo
Rodriguez, Private First Class, U.S. Army, recipient of The
Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) Vietnam
- Dominga "Fidela" Olivera Martinez, Local Poet
- Julio Victor Ramirez Torres, journalist for El Vocero , radio and television producer
- Rubén del Rosario – Educator, writer, and linguist.
- Víctor Ángel Sallaberry Safini, first elected mayor and
principal founding father of the municipality
- Pedro Santana Ronda, writer, poet, and journalist published in
the weekly paper El Erizo
- Hilda Siurano, singer (Mingo and the Whoppie Kids, Famous Ponce
Orchestra)
- Domingo Suárez Cruz, civic leader, orator, writer, & keeper
of the Guánica Lighthouse; public library named in his honor
- Lolita (Carmen Ramirez) Vargas, singer-actress-educator,
daughter to Maria H Vargas
- Maria Heliodora Vargas (1908-1991), educator, author of poem
La Bandera de los Guaniqueňos, daughter to Pedro Vargas
Rodriguez
- Pedro Vinicio Vargas, musician and singer, composed songs about
Puerto Rico and Guánica, son to Pedro Vargas Rodriguez
- Pedro Vargas Rodríguez (1888-1930), secretary of the Separation
Committee that achieved the emancipation of the municipality; poet,
orator, musician, writer, journalist, & founder of El Fósforo
(1908) and Brisas del Caribe (1915), the first newspapers in
Guánica; also known as Vardriguez
- Pedro Juan Vargas Mercado, journalist and historian
- Víctor Guillermo "Yomo" Toro Vega (1933- ), is
noted for pioneering the use of the cuatro in salsa music, member
of the Fania All-Stars
- Rogelio "Kito" Velez-Feliciano, bandleader, composer, trumpet
player, member of "Cesar Concepcion Band", musical director of
"Cortijo y Su Combo", co-founder of the "El Gran Combo"; composer
of "Ojos Chinos", "Jala Jala Para Gozar", "Casabe Sabe".
- Jean P. Villa , New Progressive Party co-Founder
Books
- Torres, Angel Luis, Walter Torres, and Miguel Casals. En el
Bosque Seco de Guánica. San Juan, Puerto Rico: La Editorial
Universidad de Puerto Rico (Colección San Pedrito), 1995. ISBN
0847702073 - Children's picture book about a trip through the dry
forest of Guánica with a sea turtle.
References
External links
- Links to Guánica dry forest
- Maps of Guánica dry forest
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