San Sebastián (, ) is 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 ...

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 ...

located in the northwestern region of the island, south of Isabela, Quebradillas and

Camuy Camuy () is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, north of Lares and San Sebastián; east of Quebradillas; and west of Hatillo. Camuy is spread over 12 barrios and Camuy Pueblo (the downtown area and the admini ...

; north of Las Marías; east of Moca and Añasco; and west of

Lares Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ''Lar'') were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these. Lares ...

. San Sebastián is spread over twenty-four barrios and San Sebastián Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is a principal city of the Aguadilla-Isabela-San Sebastián Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The permission to found the town was officially granted in 1752, under the leadship of the founder, Captain Cristóbal González de la Cruz, who among other residents had an interest in converting some cow farms into an agricultural village. The foundation of the town from the religious aspect, was consummated in December 1762 by Mariano Martin, the island catholic bishop at that time. At the beginning, by 1700, San Sebastián was a conglomerate of a few cow farms, owned by some residents of the Partido de Aguada. Las Vegas was the former plain site of one of the first cow farms located by the Guatemala riverside at the north. Also, another of those cow farms was Pepinito (today's

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

) that was a prominent hill with a white calcium carbonate face. On the north side of the town it can be seen some of this ''pepinos'' (

cucumber Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated Vine#Horticultural climbing plants, creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical Fruit, fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.

s). These two cow farms gave the town its first name. From these geographical features come the first names of the new village: Las Vegas del Pepino (Cucumber Fields). In 1865 it is documented as San Sebastián de Las Vegas del Pepino. At the beginning of the 19th century, wealthy Spanish families arrived in El Pepino, fleeing the revolutions of

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. Later, by 1850, several families from

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

and the Basque Country in Spain joined the large number of ''

isleños Isleños (Spanish: ) are the inhabitants of the Canary Islands, and by extension the Kinship, descendants of Canarian people, Canarian settlers and immigrants to present-day Louisiana, Texas, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico ...

'' ( Canary Islanders) that had made El Pepino their home. These people, after taking over the local political power, developed a coffee industry and brought some material progress to the town.

Basques The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...

in the municipality, in remembrance of their home region and its religious patron, saw the need of updating old traditions used by the Canary Islanders and started to call the town ''San Sebastián'', and thus got the name formally changed by the central government authority. Nevertheless, the citizens of San Sebastián are popularly called ''pepinianos''. San Sebastián Mártir (Spanish for

Saint Sebastian Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Dioclet ...

the

Martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

) is the

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 ...

archers Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

and was chosen to be the patron saint of the town since its early history, first brought by the immigrants from the Canaries and later confirmed by the Basques, with the town name changed in 1869.

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 ...

on September 20, 2017, triggered numerous landslides in San Sebastián with significant amount of rainfall. The hurricane winds knocked all the power out and the town was left in the dark. The 40,000 residents of San Sebastián were left without electrical power. Two weeks after the hurricane decimated the island, Javier Jiménez, the mayor at the time, noticed that help was not on the way. He decided that San Sebastián would not wait for the AEE brigades to come. He assembled an ad hoc team of volunteers, some who were retired AEE electricians, set safety protocols, and their mandate was to get the electrical power back up and running for the people of San Sebastián. Four months after the hurricane, they had restored power to 2,500 homes and continued to do about 60 homes each day. A monument honoring the accomplishments of the ''Pepino Power Authority'', as they were quickly named, was erected in ''Plaza de la Identidad Pepiniana'' in

San Sebastián barrio-pueblo San Sebastián barrio-pueblo is a barrio and the administrative center ( seat) of San Sebastián, a municipality of Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 1,424. As was customary in Spain, in Puerto Rico, the municipality has a barrio called ' ...

Geography

San Sebastián is on the northwest.

Water features

Guajataca Lake Guajataca Lake, or Lago Guajataca, is a reservoir of the Guajataca River created by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority in 1929. It is located between the municipalities of San Sebastián, Quebradillas, and Isabela in Puerto Rico, and re ...

* Río Grande de Añasco * Río Culebrinas * Río Guajataca

Barrios

Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, San Sebastián is subdivided into barrios. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located in a barrio referred to as . # Aibonito # Alto Sano # Bahomamey #

Calabazas Calabaza is the generic name in the Spanish language for any type of winter squash. Within an English-language context it specifically refers to what is also known as the West Indian pumpkin, a winter squash typically grown in the West Indies, t ...

Cibao The Cibao, usually referred as "El Cibao", is a region of the Dominican Republic located at the northern part of the country. As of 2009 the Cibao has a population of 5,622,378 making it the most populous region in the country. The region constit ...

# Cidral # Culebrinas #

Eneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (, ; from ) was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons of ...

# Guacio # Guajataca #

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

# Hato Arriba # Hoya Mala # Juncal #

Magos Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin ''magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius th ...

# Mirabales #

Perchas 1 Perchas 1 is a barrio in the municipality of San Sebastián, Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 902. 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 be ...

# Perchas 2 # Piedras Blancas # Pozas # Robles # Salto #

# Sonador

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 San Sebastián: Guació barrio, Boquerón, Chinto Rodón, Estalingrado, Paralelo 38, Parcelas Perchas II, Pueblo Nuevo, and Tablas Astilla.

Demographics

Tourism

Landmarks and places of interest

Established in 2016 is the ''Veredas Sports Complex'' in barrio

. The complex which consists of a modern

skate park A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, qua ...

, a

sand volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

court, a

zipline A zip-line, zip line, zip-wire, flying fox, or death slide is a pulley suspended on a cable, usually made of stainless steel, mounted on a slope. It is designed to enable cargo or a person propelled by gravity to travel from the top to the bott ...

with four stations, a climbing and rappelling wall, an outdoor gym, a rope bridge, basketball and tennis courts, and walking paths, is set within an urban forest of about six thousand trees. ''Hacienda La Fe'', an agriculture museum is located at the complex. Other landmarks and places of interest in this municipality include: People at Gozalandia Falls in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico

People at Gozalandia Falls in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico

The ''Robles Waterfall'' (located within the Gozalandia waterfalls zone) – It is a favorite with the locals however, several deaths have occurred at Gozalandia, including tourists Church of Saint Sebastian the Martyr on the US National Register of Historic Places, is located in the Pueblo of San Sebastián. There is a

farmer's market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or o ...

held every Friday at the that sells local agriculture as well as souvenirs, for tourists. Museo de Historia - San Sebastian Puerto Rico

The ''Casa de Doña Bisa Museum'' located across from the main square in downtown features information on what life was like in the early 20th century. Other sites include: *

* Luis Aymat Cardona Coliseum * Collazo Waterfall * Hacienda El Jibarito * Hacienda La Fe * Juan Jose "Titi" Beniquez Stadium * Luis Muñoz Marin Ground *

Guajataka Scout Reservation Guajataka Scout Reservation or Camp Guajataka (Campamento Guajataka in Spanish), often simply referred to as Guajataka and nicknamed Santuario de Amistad ( en, Sanctuary of Friendship), is a Scout reservation of the Puerto Rico Council of the ...

Economy

Agriculture

San Sebastián is a producer of coffee, fruits, and has dairy farms. There is a coffee production plant called El Coquí located in

, a barrio of San Sebastián.

Government

Like all municipalities in

, San Sebastián is administered by a mayor. The current mayor is Javier Jiménez, from the New Progressive Party (PNP). Jiménez was elected at the 2004 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 2012,

María Teresa González María Teresa González is a Puerto Rican politician from the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). González was elected to the Senate of Puerto Rico in 2012. Professional career and public service González has worked as an administrative judge fo ...

and Gilberto Rodríguez were elected as District Senators.

Transportation

There are 30 bridges in San Sebastian. There is also an air strip in San Sebastian, near Culebrinas River, which is visible on Google Earth. The air strip is for the use of RC airplanes.

Culture

In the town is a Fine Arts and Convention Center called ''Centro de Convenciones y Bellas Artes'', which was in the last phase of its construction, as of February 2019.

Festivals and events

Festival de la Novilla, Hacienda La Fe, San Sebastián, Puerto Rico

San Sebastián celebrates its

festival in January. The is a religious and cultural celebration that generally features parades, games, artisans, amusement rides, regional food, and live entertainment. The ''San Sebastián Heifer Festival'' (Spanish: Festival de la Novilla), celebrated every year on the first Sunday during the patron saint festival, is San Sebastián's largest festival attracting thousands of people. The celebration features

carnival rides Amusement rides, sometimes called carnival rides, are mechanical devices or structures that move people especially kids to create fun and enjoyment. Rides are often perceived by many as being scary or more dangerous than they actually are. This ...

, the diverse

music of Puerto Rico The music of Puerto Rico has evolved as a heterogeneous and dynamic product of diverse cultural resources. The most conspicuous musical sources of Puerto Rico have included European, Indigenous, and African influences, although many aspects of P ...

, cows decorated with flowers, floats and

Puerto Rican cuisine Puerto Rican cuisine has its roots in the cooking traditions and practices of Europe (mostly Spain), Africa and the native Taínos. History Puerto Rican cuisine has been influenced by an array of cultures including Taino Arawak, Spanish, an ...

. In January 2016, the town celebrated its 40th Heifer festival. Other festivals and events celebrated in San Sebastián include: *

Three Kings Day Epiphany ( ), also known as Theophany in Eastern Christian traditions, is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation ( theophany) of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally (but not ...

Festival – January * Children's Festival – January *

Hammock A hammock (from Spanish , borrowed from Taíno and Arawak ) is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two or more points, used for swing (seat), swinging, sleeping, or Human relaxation, resting. It normally consists of one ...

Festival – July * Lighting of the

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...

– November * Cultural Evenings – third Thursday of the month *

Farmers' market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or o ...

– every Friday

Sports

Equipo de Volibol Los Caribes de San Sebastián, Puerto Rico

The Luis Aymat Cardona Coliseum is where the ''Los Caribes'' volleyball team plays their games. In amateur baseball or Double AA baseball, the city is represented by the ''Patrulleros de San Sebastián'', who play at the ''Juan Jose "Titi" Beniquez'' Stadium and became champions of the Northwest area in 2019.

Symbols

The has an official flag and coat of arms.

Flag

It consists of a rectangular flag of the usual proportions, crossed by a white waved band that separates its red superior part from the inferior one, which is green.

Coat of arms

The Mountains: With silver-plated borders, represent the characteristic mountains under which the vegetable namesake of the town grow (

s) The Crown: Is the heraldic standard used to identify towns, villas and cities. The sugar cane and coffee ranches represent main agricultural products.

Notable people from San Sebastián

Juan Beníquez Juan José Beníquez Torres (born May 13, 1950) is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, California Angels, Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals an ...

, a former center fielder in Major League Baseball * Ángel Mislan, (1862–1911) musician and composer of danzas "Sara" and "Tu y Yo". *

Nilita Vientós Gastón Petronila “Nilita” Vientos Gastón (June 5, 1903 – July 10, 1989) was an educator, writer, journalist and the first female lawyer to work for the Puerto Rico Department of Justice. Early years Vientós Gastón was born in San Sebastián ...

, (1903–1989) an educator, writer and journalist and the first woman president of the Puerto Rican Athenaeum. * Luis V. Gutiérrez, first

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

to be elected to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

from the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

. * Nathan Lebron, first

to run for mayor of

Albany, NY Albany ( ) is the State capital (United States), capital of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, also the county seat, seat and largest city of Albany County, New York, Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, abo ...

. * Abimelec Torres, contestant on the second season of

Idol Puerto Rico ''Idol Puerto Rico'' is a reality television competition to find new solo singing talent. Part of the ''Idol'' franchise, it is based on the British show ''Pop Idol'' created by Simon Fuller. The first season of the show debut on August 7, 2011 o ...

. * Oscar Lopez Rivera, political prisoner. * Luz Maria Villafañe, co-founder of the 'La Fogata Restaurant' franchise in Houston, Texas. * Andrés Méndez Liciaga, made the Boceto Histórico Del Pepino * Walter Cardona, wrote San Sebastián Del Pepino, Notas Para Su Historia * Eliut González Vélez, La Fundación De Las Vegas Del Pepino and La Formación De La Etnia Cultural Pepiniana *

Ismael Nunez Pratts Ismael may refer to: People * Ismael Balkhi, a political activist from Afghanistan * Ismael Blanco (born 1983), an Argentine professional footballer * Ismael Prego "Wismichu", a Spanish youtuber * Ismael Villegas, a Puerto Rican Major League ...

, Singer *

Edgar Arvelo Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval per ...

, Singer/Announcer * Marciano "Rocky" Duran, Singer * Pedro J. Toro, Singer/Manager * Altemio Sanchez, Rapist and Serial Killer *

Nena Rivera Gabriele Susanne Kerner (born 24 March 1960), better known as Nena, is a German singer and songwriter who rose to international fame in 1983 as the lead vocalist of the band Nena with the Neue Deutsche Welle song "99 Luftballons". In the same ye ...

, Singer/also did Theater * Junior Arroyo, Singer/Announcer * Raphet Rosado, Singer * Rosa Haydee Rosado, Singer/Actress * Margarita Castro Alberty, Opera Singer * Luz Odilia Font, Telenovela, theater and film actress * Estefania Soto Torres,

Miss Universe Puerto Rico Miss Universe Puerto Rico is a national beauty pageant in Puerto Rico, held annually since 1952. Currently, the pageant is responsible for selecting the country’s delegates to Miss Universe. Since 2018, the organization is owned by Hemisphere ...

2020

Gallery

Plaza de la Identidad Pepiniana (3).jpg, Centro de Bellas Artes, San Sebastián, Puerto Rico.png, Top of monument honoring Power Authority, San Sebastián, Puerto Rico.jpg, Pepino Power Authority in Bottom of monument honoring Pepino Power Authority, San Sebastián, Puerto Rico.jpg, Monument honoring Pepino Power Authority in Barandillo en Veredas complejo deportivo, San Sebastián, Puerto Rico.jpg, Rope bridge at Veredas Complejo Deportivo Welcome to St. Sebastian.png, Welcome to San Sebastián sign Hacienda la Fe museum at Veredas Sports Complex in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico.jpg, The Hacienda La Fe museum is at the Veredas Sports Complex Trees at Veredas Complejo Deportivo, San Sebastián, Puerto Rico.jpg, Trees at

References

External links

San Sebastián and its barrios, United States Census Bureau

Puerto Rico Government Directory – San Sebastián

San Sebastian Official Municipality page on Facebook

Discover Puerto Rico – San Sebastián
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Sebastian, Puerto Rico Municipalities of Puerto Rico Aguadilla–Isabela–San Sebastián metropolitan area Populated places established in 1752 1752 establishments in the Spanish West Indies 1750s in Puerto Rico