Rincón () is a popular beach

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 ...

and

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

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

founded in 1771 by Don Luis de Añasco, who previously founded Añasco in 1733. It is located in the Western Coastal Valley, west of Añasco and Aguada. Rincón is spread over 9 barrios and Rincón Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the Aguadilla-Isabela-San Sebastián Metropolitan Statistical Area. The municipality is home to many of the

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

beaches in Puerto Rico, including

Domes A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

, Marias, Tres Palmas, Sandy Beach, Pools Beach, Córcega Beach and Rincón Town Beach. The word "Rincón" means "nook" in

Castilian Spanish In English, Castilian Spanish can mean the variety of Peninsular Spanish spoken in northern and central Spain, the standard form of Spanish, or Spanish from Spain in general. In Spanish, the term (Castilian) can either refer to the Spanish langua ...

. Rincón is in the north, on the westernmost tip of Puerto Rico.

History

Home in Rincón, Puerto Rico destroyed by Hurricane Maria (2017)

Rincón was founded in 1771 by Don Luis de Añasco. In 1885, Benito Cumpiano was mayor of Ríncon and in 1890, Victor Cumpiano was Ríncon's mayor. Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain in the aftermath of the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

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 ( fil, Kasunduan sa Paris ng 1898; es, Tratado de París de 1898), was a treaty signed by Spain and the United Stat ...

and became a territory of the United States. 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, a ...

conducted a

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Rincón was 6,641. On September 20, 2017

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Saffir–Simpson scale#Category 5, Category 5 Tropical cyclone, hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the wo ...

struck the island of Puerto Rico. In Rincón, infrastructure was damaged and about 400 homes were damaged or completely destroyed. Intense rainfall and winds triggered numerous landslides. The storm surge bought 4 feet of water into homes on the coast.

Geography

Rincón is located on the western coast of Puerto Rico, on the westernmost tip. Updated flood zone maps (as of 2019) show that Rincón is extremely vulnerable to

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

ing, along with

Humacao Humacao () is a city and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north of Yabucoa; south of Naguabo; east of Las Piedras; and west of Vieques Passage. Humacao is spread over 12 barrios and Humacao Pueblo (the ...

Toa Baja Toa Baja (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the northern coast, north of Toa Alta and Bayamón; east of Dorado; and west of Cataño. Toa Baja is spread over five barrios, including Toa Baja Pueblo (the downtown area and ...

, Barceloneta, and Corozal. For its high levels of erosion, Rincón is vulnerable in the case of a major

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

Barrios

Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Rincón is subdivided into barrios. The municipal buildings, main central square and large Catholic church are located in a downtown barrio referred to as . #

Atalaya Atalaya (Spanish for watchtower) may refer to: Places Spain * Atalaya, Badajoz, a municipality in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura * Atalaya (Madrid), a ward in Madrid * Atalaya del Cañavate, a municipality in the province of Cuenca, Castile- ...

# Barrero #

Calvache Calvache is a barrio in the municipality of Rincón, Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 2,222. History Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and became an ...

# Cruces # Ensenada # Jagüey #

Pueblo 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 ...

, (not to be confused with Rincón barrio-pueblo) # Puntas #

Rincón barrio-pueblo Rincon or Rincón (Spanish for ''corner'') may refer to: * Rincon (meadow) * Rincon (abandoned meander) People * Rincon (surname) * Rincón (footballer, born 1977), born Gilvan Santos Souza, Brazilian football striker * Rincón (footballer, 1 ...

Río Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

Sectors

Barrios (which are like

minor civil divisions A minor civil division (MCD) is a term used by the United States Census Bureau for primary governmental and/or administrative divisions of a county or county-equivalent, typically a municipal government such as a city, town, or civil township. MCD ...

) in turn are further subdivided into smaller local populated place areas/units called sectores (which means ''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 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. It is used across discipline ...

. 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 Rincón: La Playa Sector in Barrero, Cerro Los Pobres, El Pico in Atalaya, Hoyo Caliente, and Parcelas Stella.

Bodies of water

*Gorges: Caño García, Quebrada Grande de Calvache, Quebrada Los Ramos, Quebrada Piletas, Punta Ensenada. *River:

Economy

The 1968

World Surfing Championship The ISA World Surfing Games, formerly known as the ISA World Surfing Championships, are organized by world governing body of surfing, the International Surfing Association (ISA), which is recognized by the International Olympic Committee. Edition ...

was held at

Domes Beach Domes Beach () is on the northwest point of Puerto Rico, in Rincón and known for big wave surfing during the winter. It is also known as Lighthouse Beach and Maria's Beach. The beach is near a defunct nuclear facility called the Boiling Nucl ...

in Rincón. Since then, surfers from around the world have been visiting Rincón. Rincón has a tourism economy which also boasts scuba diving, snorkeling, and sunsets. Rincón has also been an area for internet-based companies to set up shop. In 2007, Rincón was the site for the

ISA World Masters Isa or ISA may refer to: Places * Isa, Amur Oblast, Russia * Isa, Kagoshima, Japan * Isa, Nigeria * Isa District, Kagoshima, former district in Japan * Isa Town, middle class town located in Bahrain * Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia * Mount ...

where local surfer Juan Ashton won first place in the Masters division.

Agriculture

Fruits and

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

are the primary sources of agriculture in Rincón. Cattle ranching also is popular.

Industry

The major industry of Rincón is tourism. The

Boiling Nuclear Superheater (BONUS) Reactor Facility The Boiling Nuclear Superheater (BONUS) Reactor Facility, also known to the locals as "Domes", or formally as Museo Tecnologico BONUS Dr. Modesto Iriarte, is a decommissioned nuclear plant in Rincón, Puerto Rico. It was listed on the U.S. Nation ...

, also known to the locals as "the Domes", is a decommissioned

nuclear plant A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces elec ...

. The construction of BONUS started in 1960, and the reactor had its first controlled nuclear chain reaction on April 13, 1964, achieving full power operation in September 1965. Operation of the BONUS reactor was terminated in June 1968 because of technical difficulties and the ensuing need for high-cost modifications. General decontamination of the reactor was performed with the goal of meeting unrestricted use criteria in all accessible areas of the building. Residual radioactive materials remaining in the structure were isolated or shielded to protect site visitors and workers. During subsequent years, more

radioactive contamination Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is unintended or undesirab ...

was identified in portions of the building, and additional clean-up and shielding activities were conducted in the 1990s and early 2000s. It was Puerto Rico's only nuclear reactor.

Demographics

Rincón reported the smallest decline in population of any Puerto Rican municipality between the 2010 and 2020 censuses (no municipality recorded an increase). The population fell by only 13, less than 0.1% of the overall population. As of 2020, 5.1% of the population is of non-Hispanic origin, making Rincón the least Hispanic municipality on the Puerto Rican mainland. This represents an increase from 2010, when only 3.6% of the population was non-Hispanic.

Tourism

"Art Walk", a community initiative to build the social fabric of Rincón, takes places every Thursday. Locals and tourists mingle in the main town square in downtown Rincón to enjoy food, drinks, music and local art.

Landmarks and places of interest

There are 53 beaches in Rincón. Main attractions of Rincón include: *La Bandera (Pico Atalaya) *

*Steps Beach * Balneario de Rincón *

Punta Higuero Light Punta Higuero Lighthouse, also known as Faro de Punta Higuero, is an historic lighthouse located in Rincón, Puerto Rico. The original building was built in 1892 by the Spanish government and was rebuilt in 1922 by the United States Coast Guard. ...

house *

Tres Palmas Marine Reserve Tres may refer to: * Tres (instrument), a Cuban musical instrument * Tres, Trentino, municipality in Italy * "Tres" (song) by Juanes * "Tres", a song by Líbido from their album ''Hembra'' * TrES, the ''Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey'' * Templi R ...

Culture

Surfing

Rincón is well known as a

destination. Rincón rose to international recognition through the 1968

, which was held at

and Maria's Beaches. The winter surf along Rincón's coast is some of the best in the region. Generally regarded as one of the best surf spots across the globe, Rincón draws surfers from around the world and is the center of the island's surf scene. Dubbed the "

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

's Hawaii," winter waves here can approach 25–30 feet (6.7m) in height, sometimes equaling the force of the surf on

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

's north shore. Famed surfing beaches in town include Little Malibu, Tres Palmas, Maria's, Indicators, Domes, Pools, Sandy Beach and Antonio's. The best time to surf is from November through March, but summer storms can also kick up the surf during the late summer.

Festivals and events

Rincón celebrates its

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

festival in September. 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 Rincón include: *

Whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins ( cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. 2 ...

– January and February *

Humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hump ...

Festival – March *

Surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

season – all year long * Ultimate Dirt Challenge – March * Rincón International Film Festival – April *

Coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

Festival – May * Rincon Triathlon – June

Government

Like all municipalities in

, Rincón is administered by a mayor. The current mayor is

Carlos López Bonilla Carlos D. López Bonilla is a Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican politician and the current mayor of Rincón, Puerto Rico. López is affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico, Popular Democratic Party (PPD) and has served as mayo ...

, from the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). López was elected at the 2000 general election. The city belongs to the

Puerto Rico Senatorial district IV Puerto Rico Senatorial District IV, also known as the Senatorial District of Mayagüez-Aguadilla, is one of the eight senatorial districts of Puerto Rico. It is currently represented by Evelyn Vázquez and Luis Daniel Muñiz (both from the New ...

, which is represented by two senators. In 2016, Luis Daniel Muñiz Cortés and Evelyn Vázquez were elected as district senators.

Transportation

There are 8 bridges in Rincón.

Symbols

The has an official flag and coat of arms.

Flag

Created and designed by Evaristo Cardona Moreno and art performed by Jose Luis Cardona Martinez (his eldest son). The colors of the Rincón flag are red, orange, yellow, green and white. The triangle has a five-pointed white star representing the urban zone. There are white stars of equal size which represent the 9 barrios. The red and orange symbolize the vitality and vigor of its people. The yellow symbolizes Christianity, the green symbolizes vegetation and hope for progress and the white symbolizes the integrity between its barrios and urban zone.

Coat of arms

Created and designed by Angel L. Cardona Moreno, the shield consists of a green and orange Spanish blazon, with a yellow band inclined left to right. To the right and on a green background a cross, symbol of Christendom. To the left and on an orange background a Spanish ship, symbol of the discovery of Puerto Rico, in the coasts of Rincón (this is greatly disputed, as the towns of Aguada, Rincón, and Añasco all claim entry-point status).

Notable people

Kiara Ortega Kiara Liz Ortega Delgado (born August 23, 1993) is a Puerto Rican dancer and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2018. She represented Puerto Rico at the Miss Universe 2018 pageant held in Bangkok, Thailand. She ...

–

Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2018 Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2018 the 63rd edition of Miss Universe Puerto Rico pageant. Danna Hernández of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan crowned Kiara Ortega of Rincón, Puerto Rico, Rincón as her successor at the end of the event who will repr ...

Gallery

Some of the scenes in Rincón: House on water in Rincón, Puerto Rico.jpg, House on water Steps Beach Rincon.JPG, Steps Beach 2015-361-291 Neapolitan Beach (21671419873).jpg, Domes Beach Flamboyan en Puerto Rico.jpg, Flamboyan Sunset at a beach in Rincón, Puerto Rico.jpg, Sunset 2015-365-290 The West Side (22272734161).jpg, South of Rincón Rainbow in Rincón, Puerto Rico.jpg, Rainbow over hills Sunset at Rincon, PR - panoramio.jpg, Sunset Rincón, Puerto Rico beach.jpg, Beach