Guaynabo (, ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

and municipality in the northern part of Puerto Rico, located in the northern coast of the island, north of

Aguas Buenas Aguas Buenas, (, ), popularly known as "''La Ciudad de las Aguas Claras''" or "''The City of Clear Waters''", is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range, north of Cidra, south of Bayamón, Guaynabo and San ...

, south of Cataño, east of Bayamón, and west of

. Guaynabo is spread over 9 barrios and Guaynabo Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the suburb). Guaynabo is considered, along with its neighbors – San Juan and the municipalities of Bayamón,

Carolina Carolina may refer to: Geography * The Carolinas, the U.S. states of North and South Carolina ** North Carolina, a U.S. state ** South Carolina, a U.S. state * Province of Carolina, a British province until 1712 * Carolina, Alabama, a town in ...

, Cataño, Trujillo Alto, and Toa Baja – to be part of the San Juan metropolitan area. It is also part of the larger San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area, (the largest MSA in Puerto Rico). The municipality has a land area of and a population of 89,780 as of the 2020 census. The municipality is known for being an affluent suburb of San Juan and for its former Irish heritage. The studios of WAPA-TV is located in Guaynabo.

History

The first European settlement in Puerto Rico, Caparra, was founded in 1508 by

Juan Ponce de León Juan Ponce de León (, , , ; 1474 – July 1521) was a Spanish explorer and '' conquistador'' known for leading the first official European expedition to Florida and for serving as the first governor of Puerto Rico. He was born in Santervá ...

in land that is today part of Guaynabo. Ponce de León resided there as first Spanish governor of Puerto Rico. This settlement was abandoned in 1521 in favor of

. The ruins of Caparra remain and are a U.S. National Historic Landmark. The Museum of the Conquest and Colonization of Puerto Rico, which features artifacts from the site and others in Puerto Rico, is located on the grounds. The municipality of Guaynabo was founded in 1769 by Pedro R. Davila (P.R.), after a struggle for division from the municipality of Bayamón. Previously, the municipality was known as Buinabo, a name that it is popularly said to mean in Taíno "''Here is another place of fresh water.''" Irish officer Thomas O'Daly and fellow Irishman Miguel Kirwan settled the area in the late 18th century and developed a farm and sugarcane plantation he named Hacienda San Patricio. The plantation no longer exists but the land on which it was located is now the central business district of Guaynabo and the San Patricio Plaza shopping mall. On September 20, 2017 Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico. In Guaynabo, where 26.9% of the population live below the poverty level, 2800 homes were destroyed. The hurricane triggered numerous landslides in Guaynabo. Then president Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump visited Guaynabo. Due to the municipality's fiscal difficulties, it was not until April 2, 2019, over a year and half later, that the overtime pay owed to municipal workers was paid. After 24 years as mayor,

Héctor O'Neill García Hector () is an English, French, Scottish, and Spanish given name. The name is derived from the name of Hektor, a legendary Trojan champion who was killed by the Greek Achilles. The name ''Hektor'' is probably derived from the Greek ''ékhein'', m ...

resigned in 2017 when allegations surfaced of sexual harassment toward a female municipal employee. He was replaced in a run-off election by

Angel Pérez Otero Ángel Pérez Otero (born September 18, 1970) is a Puerto Rican politician, and former mayor of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. He was a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives from 2005 to 2012. Pérez was first elected to the House of Rep ...

, who in turn was forced out due to his arrest for Federal corruption allegations in 2021. Héctor O'Neill's son Edward O'Neill Rosa won the following run-off election to succeed him as mayor in January 2022.

Geography

Guaynabo is on the northern side.

Barrios

Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Guaynabo is subdivided into

barrios Barrios is a Spanish surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Agustín Barrios (1885–1944), Paraguayan guitarist and composer *Ángel Barrios (1882–1964), Spanish guitarist and composer *Arturo Barrios (born 1962), Mexican athlet ...

. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located in a smaller barrio referred to as , located near the center of the municipality. # Camarones # Frailes # Guaraguao # Guaynabo barrio-pueblo # Hato Nuevo # Mamey #

Pueblo Viejo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

Río Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

# Santa Rosa # Sonadora
Panorama of Central Plaza of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

Sectors

Barrios (which are like minor civil divisions) in turn are further subdivided into smaller local populated place areas/units called sectores (''sectors'' in English). The types of ''sectores'' may vary, from normally ''sector'' to ''urbanización'' to ''reparto'' to ''barriada'' to ''residencial'', among others.

Special Communities

(Special Communities of Puerto Rico) are marginalized communities whose citizens are experiencing a certain amount of social exclusion. A map shows these communities occur in nearly every municipality of the commonwealth. Of the 742 places that were on the list in 2014, the following barrios, communities, sectors, or neighborhoods were in Guaynabo: Amelia, Buen Samaritano, Camarones barrio, Corea, El Polvorín, Honduras, Jerusalén, Los Filtros, Sector El Laberinto, Sector La Pajilla, Sector Los Ratones (Camino Feliciano), Sector San Miguel, Trujillo, Sector Tomé, Vietnam, and Villa Isleña.

Demographics

Tourism

Landmarks and places of interest

* Rancho de Apa (restaurant) *Centro de Bellas Artes (Guaynabo Performing Arts Center) * Caparra Ruins *Caribe Recreational Center *Iglesia Parroquial de San Pedro Mártir *La Marquesa Forest Park *Paseo Tablado * Mario Morales Coliseum * San Patricio Plaza *Caparra Country Club *Plaza Guaynabo * Museum of Transportation *Museo del Deporte * Fort Buchanan

Economy

Several businesses have their headquarters or local Puerto Rican branches in Guaynabo. El Nuevo Día,

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

, Santander Securities, Puerto Rico Telephone, and many sales offices for large US and international firms (such as

Total Total may refer to: Mathematics * Total, the summation of a set of numbers * Total order, a partial order without incomparable pairs * Total relation, which may also mean ** connected relation (a binary relation in which any two elements are comp ...

, Microsoft, Toshiba, Puma Energy and others) have their Puerto Rican headquarters in Guaynabo. WAPA-TV (Televicentro) and Univision Puerto Rico have their main studios in Guaynabo. Iberia's

-area offices are in Guaynabo.

Crime

Carjackings have been an ongoing problem in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico and in 2014 the FBI reported a carjacking that occurred in Camarones.

Climate

Culture

Festivals and events

Guaynabo celebrates its patron saint festival in April. The is a religious and cultural celebration that generally features parades, games, artisans, amusement rides, regional food, and live entertainment. Other festivals and events celebrated in Guaynabo include: * Three Kings Festival – January * Mabó Carnival – February * Mothers’ Day celebration – May * National Salsa Day – June * Fine Arts camp and recreation and sports camp – June * Bomba and Plena (folkloric music and dance) Festival – October * Official lighting of Christmas Lights – November

Sports

Guaynabo's old BSN team, the

Guaynabo Mets Mets de Guaynabo is a Puerto Rican professional basketball team of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional based in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. The team dissolved in 2015, but was reinstated with new ownership in 2019. The team was founded in 1935 as the ...

, won national championships in 1980, 1982 and 1989, commanded by the player whom the Mario Morales Coliseum was named after, Mario "Quijote" Morales. The Conquistadores de Guaynabo, or

Guaynabo Conquistadores Mets de Guaynabo is a Puerto Rican professional basketball team of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional based in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. The team dissolved in 2015, but was reinstated with new ownership in 2019. The team was founded in 1935 as the ...

, are the

replacement and still play in the Mario Morales Coliseum. The Mets de Guaynabo are the local women's volleyball team that play in the

Liga de Voleibol Superior Femenino The Liga de Voleibol Superior Femenino (LVSF) is a professional volleyball league in Puerto Rico. The competitions are organized by the Puerto Rican Volleyball Federation (Federación Puertorriqueña de Voleibol, FPV). Current teams League c ...

(LVSF). They have not won any championships yet. They also play in the Mario Morales Coliseum.

Guaynabo Fluminense FC Guaynabo Fluminense Futbol Club is an Association Football club from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. The team was a founding member of the Puerto Rico Soccer League. The club is affiliated with Fluminense Football Club, a leading team from Brazil. The tea ...

is Guaynabo's professional soccer team that plays in the Puerto Rico Soccer League. The league started in 2008 and Guaynabo's current position in the league is 4th place.

play their matches at the Jose Bonano Stadium that was originally made for baseball, but became a soccer arena after the Puerto Rico Baseball League was cancelled for the 2008 season. It was at the same year that the Puerto Rico Soccer League was starting to take place. In the 2009 season,

moved to the

Sixto Escobar Stadium Estadio Sixto Escobar is a multi-purpose stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The stadium was named after boxer Sixto Escobar, the first champion of Puerto Rico, in 1938. Originally built as a baseball venue, the stadium then became a frequent venue ...

. * Mets de Guaynabo (women's volleyball) -

(LVSF) * Mets de Guaynabo (men's volleyball) - Liga de Voleibol Superior Masculino (LVSM) *

(basketball) - Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) * Mets de Guaynabo (basketball) - Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) * Mets de Guaynabo (baseball) - Federación de Béisbol Aficionado de Puerto Rico (Béisbol Doble A) *

(soccer) - Puerto Rico Soccer League (PRSL)

Government and infrastructure

The United States Postal Service operates two post offices, Guaynabo and Caparra Heights, in Guaynabo. The Federal Bureau of Prisons operates the Metropolitan Detention Center, Guaynabo in Guaynabo. Some regions of the city belong to the Puerto Rico Senatorial district I while others belong to the

Puerto Rico Senatorial district II Puerto Rico Senatorial District II, also known as the Senatorial District of Bayamón, is one of the eight senatorial districts of Puerto Rico. It is currently represented by Migdalia Padilla and Carmelo Ríos Santiago (both from the New Progres ...

. Both of the Districts are represented by two Senators. In 2016,

Henry Neumann Henry Neumann Zayas is an attorney, and a former state senator for the District of San Juan (PNP-R) Former Secretary of Sports and Recreation of Puerto Rico. After finishing high school entered Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where ...

and

Miguel Romero Miguel Alberto Romero Lugo (born February 17, 1970) is a Puerto Rican lawyer, who is the current Mayor of San Juan. He was also Secretary of Labor and Human Resources of Puerto Rico (2009–2012) and former Chief of Staff of Puerto Rico dur ...

were elected as Senators for District I, while Migdalia Padilla and Carmelo Ríos have been serving as Senators for District II since being elected in 2004.

Mayors

Mayors of Guaynabo from 1969 to present

Mayors of Guaynabo from 1782 to 1969

Symbols

The has an official flag and coat of arms.

Flag

This municipality has a flag.

Coat of arms

This municipality has a coat of arms.

Health facilities

Professional Hospital Guaynabo Professional Hospital Guaynabo is a private general hospital in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. It encompasses the Vascular Institute of Puerto Rico—site where the first vascular stent in Puerto Rico was placed. The institution has been treating vascul ...

located on Felisa Rincón Avenue (formerly Las Cumbres Avenue), is the newest hospital infrastructure built in Puerto Rico. Guaynabo is the only city in Puerto Rico to have a hospital specialized in advanced vascular surgery. Some of the first and newest procedures performed in Puerto Rico during 2009 were done in Professional Hospital Guaynabo, including the first AxiaLIF surgery for

lumbar In tetrapod anatomy, lumbar is an adjective that means ''of or pertaining to the abdominal segment of the torso, between the diaphragm and the sacrum.'' The lumbar region is sometimes referred to as the lower spine, or as an area of the back i ...

fusion."Avanza la cirugía de la columna" Primera Hora Newspaper, Alejandra M. Jover Tovarra - 10/02/2009

Transportation

The Tren Urbano has only one station in the municipality, Torrimar Station. Guaynabo has a bus network called “Guaynabo City Transport”. There are 63 bridges in Guaynabo.

Notable people

Tomas Nido Tomas may refer to: People * Tomás (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese, and Gaelic given name * Tomas (given name), a Swedish, Dutch, and Lithuanian given name * Tomáš, a Czech and Slovak given name * Tomas (surname), a French and Croatian surna ...

, Baseball Catcher for the New York Mets * Iván DeJesús Jr., Baseball player infielder

Education

Guaynabo is home to

Atlantic University College Atlantic University College (AUC) is a private college in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1983 by Colonel Ramón M. Barquín. It is one of the only colleges or universities in the Caribbean specializing in digital arts education in a ...

, which specializes in new media art. The Japanese Language School of Puerto Rico (プエルトリコ補習授業校 ''Puerutoriko Hoshū Jugyō Kō''), a weekend Japanese school, previously held its classes in Guaynabo.北米の補習授業校一覧
(). MEXT. January 2, 2003. Retrieved on April 6, 2015. (Puerto Rico) "（学校所在地） CALLEDELFOS #2119 ALTO APOLO GUAYNABO P.R 00969,U.S.A." It closed in March 2006.関係機関へのリンク

. The Japan School of Doha. Retrieved on March 31, 2015. "ポート・モレスビー補習授業校（2009年8月休校）" and "（ニューメキシコ）アルバカーキ補習授業校（休校）" and "（プエルトリコ）プエルトリコ補習授業校（2006年3月閉校）"

International relations

Guaynabo serves as a host city to four foreign consulates with business in Puerto Rico: * *

* *

Gallery

City Skyline.jpg, Skyline of Guaynabo PR-1 and PR-8834 in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.jpg, PR-1 and PR-8834 in Guaynabo MDCGuaynabo.jpg, Metropolitan Detention Center in Guaynabo

References

External links

Guaynabo and its barrios, United States Census BureauHistoric Places in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary

Guaynabo Municipality on Facebook
{{Authority control Municipalities of Puerto Rico Populated places established in 1769 San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area 1769 establishments in the Spanish Empire