Moca () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, located in the north-western region of the island, north of Añasco; southeast of

Aguadilla Aguadilla (, ), founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a city and municipality located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of Aguada, and Moca and west of Isabela. Aguadilla is s ...

; east of Aguada; and west of Isabela and

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

. Moca is spread over 12 barrios and Moca Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center). It is part of the Aguadilla-Isabela-San Sebastián Metropolitan Statistical Area. The name comes from the Moca tree ('' Andira inermis)'' which are very common in this region. The Moca tree was officially adopted as the representative tree of the town on February 19, 1972. Moca is famous for its Mundillo lace. Mundillo is a Puerto Rican-style of handmade

bobbin lace Bobbin lace is a lace textile made by braiding and twisting lengths of yarn, thread, which are wound on #Bobbins, bobbins to manage them. As the work progresses, the weaving is held in place with pins set in a lace pillow, the placement of the pi ...

. almost synonymous with the small town of Moca.

History

Moca, known as (The Mundillo Capital), is famous for its lace or '' Mundillo''. It was founded by Don José de Quiñones on June 22, 1772. Diverse versions exist on the date of its foundation. Manuel de Ubeda and Delgado, in his "''Isla de Puerto Rico. "Estudio histórico, geográfico y estadístico"'', published in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

in 1878, says Moca was founded in 1774. On the other hand, Cayetano Coll y Toste, in the "''Boletín histórico de Puerto Rico''", maintains it was founded on June 22, 1772. In 1841, construction of the main parish, “Parroquia Nuestra Señora de la Monserrate” began. Slavery was legal in Puerto Rico until 22 March 1873—and thus, Moca by extension is known to have had slave populations within its boundaries. The populations are recorded as such: * 1775: 48 (29 men and 19 women). * 1828: 625. Moca’s own founder Don José de Quiñones was also a slave owner, his slaves were known to have been baptized. In 1945, Leoncia Lasalle and Juana Rodríguez Lasalle who were 112 and 85 respectively, were recorded as having been slaves of Marcelino Lasalle. They recorded a powerful testimony regarding their time as slaves. In 1870, the Electoral Law stated that in order to be eligible to vote, the person must have: # Economic capacity: contribute to the economy. # Intellectual capacity: be able to read and write. # Employment capacity: be a public worker. or be a “Cura Ecónomo” of the town. Out of all the citizens recorded in 1891 in Moca, only 106 were “capable of voting”—and out of this number, only 86 were actually eligible. Puerto Rico was ceded by

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in the aftermath of the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

under the terms of the

Treaty of Paris of 1898 The Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain, commonly known as the Treaty of Paris of 1898, was signed by Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States on December 10, 1898, and marked the end of the ...

and became an unincorporated territory of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

.In 1899, the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, als ...

conducted a

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Moca was 12,410. On May 16, 2010, Moca was the epicenter of a strong 5.8

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

. The earthquake was felt in the entire island and also in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

and the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands () are an archipelago between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Caribbean Sea, geographically forming part of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, Caribbean islands or West Indie ...

. Damage was reported in various towns. On September 20, 2017

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is the ...

struck Puerto Rico. In Moca, landslides and the flooding of the Río Culebrinas caused major destruction to bridges, roads and homes. About 1300 homes were impacted by landslides and flooding, bridges collapsed, and residents were left without access to electrical power, telecommunication services and basic necessities. Close to a month and a half later, 25% of the 31,117 residents of Moca had electrical power and access to drinking water and 75% did not.

Geography

Moca is located on the northwest part of the island on the northern karst region of Puerto Rico. Climate: Tropical with hardly noticeable seasonal changes, temperatures in Moca range from highs of between and lows between . Hydrography: The Río Culebrinas crosses its territory from east to west, and its tributaries include the gorges of Los Gatos, Lassalle, de las Damas, Vieja, Los Romanes, the Morones, Higuillo, Chiquita, Yagruma, Echeverria, Aguas Frias, Las Marias, de los Méndez, La Caraíma, Grande, y Dulce. Cerro Moca, Monte El Ojo, Monte Mariquita of the Jaicoa Mountain Range.

Barrios

Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Moca is subdivided into barrios. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located in a barrio called Moca barrio-pueblo. # Aceitunas # Capá #

Centro Centro may refer to: Places Brazil *Centro, Santa Maria, a neighborhood in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro, Porto Alegre, a neighborhood of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro (Duque de Caxias), a neighborhood of Du ...

# Cerro Gordo #

Cruz Cruz is mostly a surname but is also used as a first name. It is of Iberian Peninsula, Iberian origin, first found in Castile (historical region), Castile, Spain, and later spread throughout the territories of the former Spanish Empire, Spanish ...

# Cuchillas # Marías # Moca barrio-pueblo #

Naranjo Naranjo (Wak Kab'nal in Mayan) is a Pre-Columbian Maya city in the Petén Basin region of Guatemala. It was occupied from about 500 BC to 950 AD, with its height in the Late Classic Period. The site is part of Yaxha-Nakum-Naranjo National Park. ...

# Plata #

Pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

Rocha Rocha may refer to: * Rocha (surname), a Portuguese surname * Rocha, Moca, Puerto Rico, a barrio in the municipality of Moca, Puerto Rico * Rocha, Rio de Janeiro, a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil * Rocha, Uruguay, capital city of the R ...

# Voladoras

Sectors

Barrios (which are, in contemporary times, roughly comparable to minor civil divisions) and subbarrios, are further subdivided into smaller areas called (''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

social exclusion Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. In the EU context, the Euro ...

. A map shows these communities occur in nearly every municipality of Puerto Rico. Of the 742 places that were on the list in 2014, the following barrios, communities, sectors, or neighborhoods were in Moca: Aceituna, Sector Isleta in Cruz barrio, Parcelas Acevedo and Parcelas Mamey in Moca barrio-pueblo, and Loperena.

Demographics

Historically, when Puerto Rico was part of the Spanish Empire the population of Moca is recorded as the following: * 1775: 1,051 souls. * 1828: 5,906 souls. * 1868: 10,924 souls. In 2020, the U.S. Census indicated that Moca had a total population of 37,012 inhabitants, a 7.7% decline from 2010.

Economy

* Agriculture: Fruits,

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

farming, cattle and bovine

ranching A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often applied to li ...

. * Business: *Industrial: Alarms, clothing, electronic machinery, footwear, plastic products. *Services: Lawyers, engineers, appraisers

Tourism

Landmarks and places of interest

* Palacete Los Moreau * Enrique Laguerre House *Hacienda Enriqueta Museum *Mundillo Museum * Our Lady of Monserrate Parish Church and Town Hall on the main ''plaza''

Culture

Festivals and events

Moca celebrates its

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

festival in late August or early September. The is a religious and cultural celebration that generally features parades, games, artisans, amusement rides, regional food, and live entertainment.

Sports

Moca has a

Double-A (baseball) Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each te ...

team called the that play in the Superior Baseball League. * Juan Sanchez Acevedo Coliseum Moca also had a volleyball team named , which played in LVS (Liga de Voleibol Superior) from 1998 to 2005. The team went to the post season every year, and obtained a controversial second place in its 1998 final with of Naranjito. In addition, were National Champions against in the 2000 final. swept the 4–0 in the finals.

Vampire myth

Moca is famous for (Spanish for "Moca

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

"), considered a predecessor to the

Chupacabra The chupacabra or ''chupacabras'' (, literally 'goat-sucker', from , 'sucks', and , 'goats') is a legendary creature, or cryptid, in the folklore of parts of the Americas. The name comes from the animal's purported vampirism the chupacabra is ...

urban legend. Although there have been reports of vampire-like attacks on farm animals from as early as the 1930s, legend officially began on February 25, 1975, when newspapers reported that fifteen cows, three goats, two geese and a pig were found with puncture marks on their blood-drained bodies in Rocha, Moca. These events were also connected to UFO sightings and other supernatural reports by residents of Moca. Similar events were reported throughout 1975 in the towns of Corozal,

Fajardo Fajardo () is a Fajardo barrio-pueblo, town and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality part of the San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area, San Juan-Caguas-Fajardo Combined Statistical Area in Puerto Rico. Fajardo is the hub of mu ...

and even rural parts of

. The legend resurfaced in the 1990s after similar reports came from Canóvanas.

Government

Like all municipalities in

, Moca is administered by a mayor. The current mayor is Efraín Franco Barreto from the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) was elected at the 2024 general election. The city belongs to the Puerto Rico Senatorial district IV, which is represented by two Senators. In

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, Jeison Rosa and Karen Michelle Román Rodríguez, both from the New Progressive Party (PNP), were elected as District Senators.

Mayors

Transportation

PR-462 between Moca and Aguadilla in Puerto Rico

There are 12 bridges in Moca. Moca, like the rest of Puerto Rico, had a public

share taxi A share taxi, shared taxi, taxibus, or jitney or dollar van in the US, or marshrutka in former Soviet countries, is a mode of transport which falls between a taxicab and a bus. Share taxis are a form of paratransit. They are vehicles for hire and ...

system or , with set routes.On becoming Nuyoricans
Angela Anselmo, Alma Rubal-Lopez. Peter Lang, 2005. 172 pp. 0820455202, 9780820455204. Rafael Hernández Airport in the neighboring municipality of

is a commercial airport which is nearby.

Symbols

The has an official flag and coat of arms.

Flag

Augusto Hernández Méndez designed Moca's flag. The rectangular flag consists of a magenta equilateral triangular field, the color of the Moca tree flower. In this field appear five-point stars, silver-plated, surrounding a greater gold star, also with five points.

Coat of arms

It has oblong form. Divided in a silver-plated field and blue sky united by a purple rhombus (diamond shape), the color of the Moca flower. The rhombus has religious symbolisms. The rhombus is surrounded, in its inferior part, by two branches of the Moca tree; in its superior part, an arc of eleven silver-plated five-point stars. Within the rhombus is a gold monogram (of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

) topped by a Christian crown of the same metal. A silver-lined crown in form of a three-tower castle crowns the shield. On the frontal portion of the crown, carved in gold, the word ''Moca''. The stones of the castle are lined in blue. The doors and windows are purple.

Gallery

Monumento a la Tejedora letra en Moca, Puerto Rico.jpg, plaque in Moca Monumento a la Tejedora, Moca, Puerto Rico.jpg, Monument to women from Moca who work in lace Old car in Moca barrio-pueblo, Puerto Rico.jpg, Old car in Moca barrio-pueblo Moca, Puerto Rico welcome with landscape.jpg, Moca in landscape

References

External links

Moca and its barrios, United States Census Bureau

Puerto Rico Government Directory - Moca
{{Authority control Municipalities of Puerto Rico Populated places established in 1772 1770s establishments in the Spanish West Indies 1772 establishments in the Spanish Empire 1770s establishments in Puerto Rico