La Coloma is a

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n village and ''consejo popular'' ("people's council", i.e. hamlet) of the municipality of

Pinar del Río Pinar del Río is the capital city of Pinar del Río Province, Cuba. With a population of 139,336 (2004) in a municipality of 190,332, it is the List of cities in Cuba, 10th-largest city in Cuba. Inhabitants of the area are called ''Pinareños'' ...

, in

Pinar del Río Province Pinar del Río is one of the provinces of Cuba. It is at the western end of the island of Cuba. Geography The Pinar del Río province is Cuba's westernmost province and contains one of Cuba's three main mountain ranges, the Cordillera de Guanig ...

. In 2011 it had a population of about 7,000.

History

The settlement, founded in 1607 and used by the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

as a

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

, due to its natural

harbor A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

, was known as ''Partido San Rosendo'' until April 30, 1840, when it took the current name. Originally part of the municipality of San Luis, La Coloma passed under the adjacent administration of Pinar del Río in 1977, following the Cuban administrative reform. Prior to that, in the early 1900s, Spaniards began immigrating to Cuba, with some, mostly Galicians, settling in La Coloma. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, the village suffered from extreme poverty. Later, at the height of the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cou ...

, La Coloma served as a strategic location of the

26th of July Movement The 26th of July Movement ( es, Movimiento 26 de Julio; M-26-7) was a Cuban vanguard revolutionary organization and later a political party led by Fidel Castro. The movement's name commemorates its 26 July 1953 attack on the army barracks on San ...

and was used to smuggle in weapons to aid in the fight against

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (; ; born Rubén Zaldívar, January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as its U.S.-backed military dictator ...

, as well as other acts of sabotage to weaken the efforts of rural guards. This culminated in the takeover and occupation of its Military Naval Port by village residents on January 1, 1959. Today, La Coloma’s main economic driver is the industrial fishing complex building.

Geography

La Coloma is located on the

Gulf of Batabanó The Gulf of Batabanó ( es, Golfo de Batabanó; ),In isolation, ''de'' and ''Batabanó'' are pronounced and , respectively. also called the Batabanó Gulf, is an inlet or strait off southwestern Cuba in the Caribbean Sea, separating mainland Cub ...

, by the

Caribbean Coast Tung Chung, meaning " eastern stream", is an area on the northwestern coast of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. One of the most recent new towns, it was formerly a rural fishing village beside Tung Chung Bay, and along the delta and lower courses of T ...

and the western shore of La Coloma River mouth, in front of Cayo de San Felipe (

Canarreos Archipelago Canarreos Archipelago () is an archipelago of Cuba. It is located south of the main island of Cuba, in the Caribbean Sea, at . It is bordered to the east by the Gulf of Cazones, to the north by the Gulf of Batabano and to the west by the Los I ...

). Among the western Caribbean coast, from Cape San Antonio until

Surgidero de Batabanó Surgidero de Batabanó, also shortened as Surgidero, is a Cuban village and '' consejo popular'' ("people's council", i.e. hamlet) of the municipality of Batabanó, in Mayabeque Province. In 2011 it had a population of about 6,000. History The v ...

, in

Mayabeque Province Mayabeque Province is one of two new provinces created from the former La Habana Province, whose creation was approved by the Cuban National Assembly on August 1, 2010, the other being Artemisa Province. The new provinces came in to existence on J ...

, is one of the very few settlements and the largest one. The village lies 24 km south of

, 21 from San Luis, 32 from

San Juan y Martínez San Juan y Martínez () is a municipality and town in the Pinar del Río Province of Cuba. Overview Its economy is centered mainly on agriculture and the crop of its farmers, the largest of which being tobacco. In Cuba, San Juan y Martinez is kn ...

, 48 from

Consolación del Sur Consolación del Sur is a municipality and town in the Pinar del Río Province of Cuba. Also called the ''Athens of Vueltabajo'', it was founded in 1690. Geography It is located in a major rice-growing area; tobacco is also cultivated as in muc ...

, 52 from

Viñales Viñales is a town and municipality in the north-central Pinar del Río Province of Cuba. The town consists mostly of one-story wooden houses with porches. The municipality is dominated by low mountain ranges of the Cordillera de Guaniguanico su ...

and 83 from Sandino. Playa las Canas, a small village and beach, lies few km west of La Coloma's port.

Economy

The main economic activity of La Coloma is the

fishing industry The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products. It is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as including ...

. The ''Combinado Pesquero Industrial La Coloma'' complex, built in 1976, is located by the port.

Transport

La Coloma Airport La Coloma Airport ( es, Aeropuerto "La Coloma" ) is an airport serving the city of Pinar del Río, in Cuba. It is located near the village of La Coloma and has no regular flights. Facilities The airport resides at an elevation of above mean ...

lies 17 km north and serves Pinar del Río, replacing the abandoned

Pinar del Río Airport Pinar del Río Airport is an abandoned airport which formerly served Pinar del Río, the capital city of Pinar del Río Province in Cuba. Facilities The airport stands at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 08/26 ...

. The village has a seaport on the mouth of La Coloma River, mainly used for

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

activities and with some ferries to

Nueva Gerona Nueva Gerona is a Cuban city, capital of the Isla de la Juventud special municipality and province. As of 2012, its population was 59,049. History The city was founded in 1830 by Francisco Dionisio Vives, who was the Spanish governor of Cuba a ...

, in the

Isla de la Juventud Isla de la Juventud (; en, Isle of Youth) is the second-largest Cuban island (after Cuba's mainland) and the seventh-largest island in the West Indies (after mainland Cuba itself, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Andros Islan ...

. It is the southern end of 1-192 highway, crossed by the Carretera Central highway in Pinar del Río; and is 25 km from the A4 motorway Pinar del Río-

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

References

External links