São Miguel do Gostoso (previously known as São Miguel de Touros) is a

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 ...

in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Rio Grande do Norte Rio Grande do Norte (, , ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", re ...

in the Northeast region of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. São Miguel do Gostoso was founded on 29 September 1884.

History

On 16 July 1993, the beachfront town of São Miguel split from the municipality of

Touros Touros (lit. "bulls") is a municipality in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. It is known as "Brazil's Corner" because it is located at the northeast corner of the country, being the closest South American city to Africa (2,841 km from Kabrousse in ...

. The new municipality, São Miguel do Gostoso, held its first elections in 1996 and at this time it was decided that the town would retain its original name of São Miguel de Touros. On 19 November 2000, a local

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

was held and voters decided to change the town's name to São Miguel do Gostoso.

Name origin

According to legend, a town resident, Manoel Gostoso, provided accommodations to traveling salesmen. Gostoso became known for entertaining his guests with stories and jokes. The locals soon began to refer to the town as Gostoso, in honor of Manoel. On 29 September 1899, Miguel Félix Martins built the first Roman Catholic first church in town, in honor of Saint Michaell. The locals then joined São Miguel to the previous name of Gostoso to create São Miguel do Gostoso.

Access

São Miguel do Gostoso was accessible only by horseback, due to a lack of roads. In the 1960s the

BR-101 The BR-101 (also called ''Translitorânea'' (transcoastal), officially named ''Rodovia Governador Mário Covas''.Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Natal.. In the past the town houses were constructed mainly of "

taipa Taipa ( zh, t=氹仔, ; pt, Taipa, ) was a former island in Macau, presently united with the island of Coloane by reclaimed land known as Cotai. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil parish Freguesia de Nossa Senhora do ...

" but are today mostly constructed in bricks and cement.

Tourism

In 1989, the city only had one Pousada (local Bed & Breakfast). Today São Miguel do Gostoso has approximately 25 Pousadas, a variation of bars and restaurants and two kite and wind surf schools. The wind conditions attract many visitors for

kite surfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

and

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

The municipality, in partnership with EMBRATUR, opened the São Miguel do Gostoso Tourist Office.

General information

* Size: 345.9 km² (equivalent to 0.65% of the state of Rio Grande do Norte) * Rain: Average 1038.3 mm * Rainy Season: March to June * Average Annual Temperature: 26,5 °C * Average Annual

Humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity dep ...

: 68% * Population: Approximately 10.000 inhabitants * Economy: Tourism, Agriculture and Fishing * Electricity: 220 V * High speed internet: Yes * Cell phone coverage: Yes

References