Placetas () is a city in the

Villa Clara Province Villa Clara is one of the provinces of Cuba. It is located in the central region of the island bordering with the Atlantic at north, Matanzas Province by west, Sancti Spiritus Province by east, and Cienfuegos Province on the South. Villa Clara ...

in the center of

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 ...

; before the change in the country's government in 1959 the province was called Las Villas. The town is also known as ''La Villa de los Laureles'' because of its wild

laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

trees. Placetas is also a ''

municipio ' (, ) and ' () are country subdivisions in Italy and several Hispanophone and Lusophone nations, respectively. They are often translated as "municipality". In the English language, a municipality often is defined as relating to a single city or t ...

'', one of 13 subdivisions of the Villa Clara Province. Cuba's geographical center, Guaracabulla, is located in this municipality.

History

Placetas was founded on September 9, 1861 mainly due to the

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

production industry. Nowadays, the main produce of the area is

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

. The main contribution to its foundation came from Jose Martinez-Fortun y Erles, a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Marques and former colonel in the Spanish Army. The town is located on the Carretera Central road, which cuts through the town. The town's position on this road has allowed it to serve as a stop for many travellers. Placetas has grown considerably over the years, being declared a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in 1881 and 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 ...

in 1925. In 1879 it was established as its own municipality. Placetas is also known by the great carnavals which take place in July and Christmas and New Year's Eve. Until the 1977 administrative reform, Placetas was divided into the following

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, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...

s: Cabecera (Placetas town proper),

Guaracabulla Placetas () is a city in the Villa Clara Province in the center of Cuba; before the change in the country's government in 1959 the province was called Las Villas. The town is also known as ''La Villa de los Laureles'' because of its wild laurel tr ...

(or Guaracabuya), Hernando, Nazareno, San Andres, Sitio Potrero and Tibisial. Annual celebrations displaying the local pride of each barrio used to take place until the 1990s, when the government stopped them.

Geography

Placetas lies southwest of its province, next to the borders with the one of

Sancti Spíritus Sancti Spíritus () is a municipality and capital city of the province of Sancti Spíritus Province, Sancti Spíritus in central Cuba and one of the oldest Cuban European settlements. Sancti Spíritus is the genitive case of Latin language, Lat ...

. Nearest towns include Zulueta (to the north), Remedios (to the northeast),

Cabaiguán Cabaiguán () is a municipality and town in the province of Sancti Spíritus, Cuba. With an urban population of 30,135 is the 3rd largest town of the province. Overview It was founded in 1894, and established as a municipality in 1926. The munic ...

and

Fomento Fomento is a town and municipality in the Sancti Spíritus Province of Cuba. It was founded in 1864. Geography The municipality is divided into the barrios of Fomento (municipal seat) and the village of Jíquimas. Until 1976 the villages of Jua ...

(to the east), and Santa Clara and

Camajuaní Camajuaní is a municipality and town in the Villa Clara Province of Cuba. History In 1819 was decided the construction of a new port in near Caibarién to replace an old one located in Tesisco. From that moment, settlers established in the s ...

(to the west). The springs of

Zaza River Zaza may refer to: Ethnic group * Zazas, a group of people in eastern Anatolia (southeastern Turkey) * Zaza–Gorani languages, Indo-Iranian languages ** Zaza language, spoken by the Zazas People Given name * Zaza Sor. Aree (born 1993), Thai ...

, that runs from the outskirts of Placets to the sea, are located near the town. The river Zaza is currently an environmental preservation area. The municipality borders with

Manicaragua Manicaragua () is a municipality and mountain town in the Villa Clara Province of Cuba. It is located in the Escambray Mountains at the southern part of Villa Clara, bordering the provinces of Cienfuegos to the west and Sancti Spíritus to the ea ...

, Santa Clara,

, Remedios,

and

. Its territory includes the villages of

Báez Báez is a Cuban village and ''consejo popular'' ("people's council", i.e. hamlet) of the municipality of Placetas, in Villa Clara Province. In 2011 it had a population of around 7,000. History The village was founded in 1804 with the name ''Hat ...

, Benito Juárez, Carbó Serviá,

Falcón ) , anthem = , image_map = Falcon in Venezuela.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Venezuela , pushpin_map = , pushpin_map_alt = , pushpin_mapsiz ...

, Falero,

, Hermanos Ameijeiras, Manzanares, Máximo, Miller, Nazareno, Oliver and Suazo.

Demographics

In 2004, the municipality of Placetas had a population of 71,837. With a total area of , it has a population density of . The city proper has a population of 42,000.

Economy

The area is primarily a

producing region, with three "centrales" sugar producing factories. Placetas also has mayor

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

industries that operate from its area. Many Placetenos have emigrated to other countries and there are around 2300 people from Placetas residing in the United States, most of them in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. This contributes to the high amount of comunitarios that travel to Placetas every month from the United States. Nowadays the town also houses many aluminum factories and is known around Cuba as the capital of aluminum because of the export business. One of the main streets in Placetas is the Primera del Oeste street, because is the corner where Cuba's central road and the Parque Casallas meet and because it houses the popular Rumbos, one of the many touristic places recently opened. This street also houses the underground commerce and business of the town. It is referred to by Placetenos as La Calle 8 de Placetas, in reference to 8th St. in Miami.All sugar millas have closed down, there is no industry and the supermarkets are empty

Architecture

The main

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

in the town is called San Atanasio de Placetas, after the town's patron saint. As of 1996, it had one

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

, a main

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, three middle-high

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

s (13 de Marzo, Rodolfo Leon Perlacia and Julio Antonio Mella), one

police station A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...

and many recreational areas. Most of the downtown's structures were built before the 1959 government of

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

, and little of the town has been renovated since.

Notable people

Miguel Díaz-Canel Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel y Bermúdez (; born 20 April 1960) also known as MADCB, is a politician and engineer who is the third first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba. Díaz-Canel succeeds the brothers Fidel and Raúl Castro, making ...

(b. 1960), President of Cuba since 2018. *

Pepin Garcia Don José "Pepin" Garcia is the CEO of El Rey de los Habanos, Inc, a cigar company in Miami, also known as My Father Cigars. He is a noted cigar maker living in Miami, Florida. Born in Cuba, he is a master cigar roller and blender, and the creat ...

(b. 1950), Cuban-American businessman *

Emilio Mola Emilio Mola y Vidal, 1st Duke of Mola, Grandee of Spain (9 July 1887 – 3 June 1937) was one of the three leaders of the Nationalist coup of July 1936, which started the Spanish Civil War. After the death of Sanjurjo on 20 July 1936, M ...

(1887-1937), Spanish-born general and instigator of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

* La Chelito (1885–1959), Cuban-born Spanish

cuplé The cuplé was a popular risqué Spanish theatre song style in the late years of the 19th century. From 1893–1911 the songs were a feature of the "género ínfimo" (lowest type) cabaret theatre sung by solo female singers, or men in drag, and a ...

singer from the early 20th-century * Alberto Rojas Espinoza (1868-1912), colonel of Cuban Liberation Army during Cuba's 1895 War of Independence from Spain and major of the municipality in 1901 and 1912.

References

External links

*Encyclopædia Britannica
Placetas
{{Authority control Cities in Cuba Populated places in Villa Clara Province