Perico is a municipality and town in the

Matanzas Province Matanzas () is one of the provinces of Cuba. Major towns in the province include Cárdenas, Colón, Jovellanos and the capital of the same name, Matanzas. The resort town of Varadero is also located in this province. Among Cuban provinces, ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. It is located south of Marti, north of Colón and east of

Jovellanos Jovellanos is a municipality and town in the Matanzas Province of Cuba. Overview The municipality is divided into the barrios of Asunción, Isabel, Realengo and San José. It was founded in 1842 as Corral de la Bemba on the location of an old r ...

Geography

The municipality is divided into the

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

s of Altamisal, Norte, Quintana, Roque, Sur and Tinguaro. It counts the hamlets (''consejos populares'') of España Republicana, meaning ''

Republican Spain The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII. It was dissol ...

'', and

Máximo Gómez Máximo Gómez y Báez (November 18, 1836 – June 17, 1905) was a general of Dominican origin in the Cuban Wars of Independence (1868-78 and 1895–98). He was known for his controversial Scorched earth tactics, which entailed dynamiting pa ...

, named after the military commander in

Cuban War of Independence The Cuban War of Independence (), also known in Cuba as the Necessary War (), fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Litt ...

History

Perico was founded in 1874 near a garrison of the Spanish Colonial Civil Guard. The name was changed in 1885 to

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...

, then restored to Perico in 1899.

Demographics

In 2022, the municipality of Perico had a population of 29,746. With a total area of , it has a population density of .

Transport

Perico is crossed by the Carretera Central highway and counts a railway station of the main line from

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

Notable people

Félix Navarro Rodríguez Félix Navarro Rodríguez (born ) is a Cuban farmer, teacher, and dissident from Perico, Matanzas Province. On 18 March 2003, he was arrested as part of the Black Spring, a general crackdown by the Cuban government on pro-democracy groups. He w ...

, dissident He was later released. *

Minnie Miñoso Saturnino Orestes "Minnie" Armas Arrieta Miñoso (, ; November 29, 1924 – March 1, 2015), nicknamed "the Cuban Comet", was a Cuban professional baseball player. He began his baseball career in the Negro leagues in 1946 and became an All-Sta ...

, famed American League baseball player. *

Blanca Rosa Gil Blanca Rosa Gil (born August 26, 1937 in Perico, Matanzas, Cuba) is a famous Cuban Latin Bolero singer known as 'The Singing Dolly'. Singing career Blanca Rosa Gil's first album 'Shadows' was recorded in Venezuela in 1957. In the 1950s, 1960's ...

(1937-), famous Cuban bolero singer. *

Tony Martínez Gabriel Antonio Martínez Díaz (March 18, 1940 – August 24, 1991) was a Cuban-born Major League Baseball shortstop who played in parts of four seasons for the Cleveland Indians (1963–66), appearing in 73 career games. The native of Perico ...

, 1962

International League Most Valuable Player Award The International League Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual award given to the best player in Minor League Baseball's International League based on their regular-season performance as voted on by league manager (baseball), managers. Bro ...

References

External links

{{Authority control Populated places in Matanzas Province