Peñuelas (, ) is a
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
and
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
in
Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
located in the Peñuelas Valley on the southern coast of the island, south of
Adjuntas
Adjuntas () is a small mountainside Adjuntas barrio-pueblo, town and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in Puerto Rico located in the central midwestern portion of the island on the Cordillera Central, Puerto Rico, Cordillera Central, no ...
, east of
Guayanilla, west of
Ponce and north of the
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...
. Peñuelas is spread over 12 barrios and
Peñuelas Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the
Yauco Metropolitan Statistical Area. Peñuelas is known as "" (The
Güiro
The güiro () is a percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines (see photo) along the notches to produce a ratchet sound.
The güiro is commonly ...
Capital) and "" (The Valley of the
Royal Poinciana trees). In 2020, Peñuelas had a population of 20,399.
History
In 1754, a group of workers had settled over the
Bay of Tallaboa. Later gradually retreated deeper into the valley, heading to the most fertile land which would then be part of the town of Peñuelas. For the year 1788, approximately 80 families inhabiting the valley, which focused mainly on agriculture and livestock.
Peñuelas Township was founded August 25, 1793 by Diego de Alvarado.
By 1874, the town had been developed and had a population of 9,206, according to a census of that year. The town had four main roads, some streets, a brick church and the town hall, which also served as a prison, barracks and a cemetery.
On March 1, 1902 the
Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico
The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico () is the territorial legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, responsible for the legislative branch of the government of Puerto Rico. The Assembly is a bicameral legislature consisting of an uppe ...
approved a law to consolidate certain municipal districts, so Peñuelas neighborhoods were attached to the municipality of
Ponce. In 1905, the same Assembly repealed the law and Peñuelas became once again a municipality.
The first incident of the
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolt of 1950 occurred during the early hours of October 29, 1950 in Peñuelas when the insular police of that town surrounded the house of the mother of Melitón Muñiz Santos, the president of the Peñuelas chapter of the
Nationalist Party in the ''barrio'' Macaná, under the pretext that he was storing weapons for the Nationalist Revolt. Without warning, the police fired upon the Nationalists in the house and a firefight between both factions ensued, which resulted in the death of two Nationalists and the wounding of six police officers.
[El ataque Nacionalista s La Fortaleza. by ]Pedro Aponte Vázquez
Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter.
The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meanin ...
. Page 7. Publicaciones RENÉ. Nationalists Melitón Muñiz Santos, Roberto Jaume Rodríguez, Estanislao Lugo Santiago, Marcelino Turell, William Gutiérrez and Marcelino Berríos were arrested and accused of participating in an ambush against the local insular police.''
[Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico-FBI files](_blank)
/ref>
On September 20, 2017 Hurricane Maria
Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is the ...
struck the island of Puerto Rico. In Peñuelas, an estimated 1,500 homes were completely destroyed and 500 were partially destroyed. With its winds and rainfall, the hurricane triggered numerous landslides in northern Peñuelas.
Geography
Peñuelas is located on the southern coast, slightly west of the center.
Rivers near Peñuelas include:
*Río Guayanés
* Río Macaná
* Río Tallaboa
Barrios
Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Peñuelas is subdivided into barrios. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located in a barrio referred to as .
# Barreal
# Coto
# Cuebas
# Encarnación
# Jaguas
# Macaná
# Peñuelas barrio-pueblo
# Quebrada Ceiba
# Rucio
#Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...
# Tallaboa Alta
# Tallaboa Poniente
# Tallaboa Saliente
Within barrios are communities: For example, the Santo Domingo ('community') in Santo Domingo barrio and the Tallaboa community in the barrio of Encarnación.
Sectors
Barrios (which are, in contemporary times, roughly comparable to minor civil divisions) and subbarrios, are further subdivided into smaller areas called (''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. In the EU context, the Euro ...
. 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 Peñuelas: Maldonado neighborhood (Los Chinos), Santo Domingo barrio, Comunidad Caracoles, and Comunidad La Moca in Tallaboa Alta.
Demographics
Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War
The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...
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, was signed by Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States on December 10, 1898, and marked the end of the ...
and became a territory of the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. 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, als ...
conducted a census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Peñuelas was 12,129.
Tourism
Landmarks and places of interest
There are 15 beaches in Peñuelas.
The main attractions in Peñuelas are:
*Charco La Soplaera (a natural water pool)
* El Convento Cave
*Don Angel Pacheco Monument
* Guilarte Forest
*Unknown Soldier's Monument
*Parque de Bombas (the old firehouse)
* is an 0-4-2T Baldwin Steam Locomotive on display in the main town square
A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...
*Peñuelas Museum of Art and History
*Cancha Carlos Rentas Gallardo ( Quebrada Ceiba)
Economy
Industry
Manufacturing, refinery.
Government
All municipalities in Puerto Rico are administered by a mayor, elected every four years. The current mayor of Peñuelas is Josean González Febres, of the New Progressive Party (PNP). He was first elected at the 2024 general elections.
The city belongs to the Puerto Rico Senatorial district V, which is represented by two Senators. In 2024, Marially González Huertas
Marially González Huertas (born August 16, 1981) is a Puerto Rican senator for the district of Ponce, Puerto Rico. She was born on 16 August 1981 in Utuado, Puerto Rico. She resides in the town of Jayuya, where she was raised with her parents, ...
and Jamie Barlucea, from the Popular Democratic Party and New Progressive Party, respectively, were elected as District Senators.
Symbols
The has an official flag and coat of arms.
Flag
It has a rectangular bottom in canary yellow and stands for the sun, symbol of the physical life. In the center it has a purple or violet cross: symbol of Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
and its ecclesiastical order; it represents the spiritual life. The cross purple extends to all the points of the yellow rectangle.
Coat of arms
The adornment above the shield, a stone wall, represents the perpetuity. The cross represents ''Santo Cristo de la Salud'' that "stopped the sea from flooding Peñuelas". The purple arm represents the priesthood and the town of Peñuelas. The canary yellow represents the sun. The blue and white symbolize the choppy sea and the regal ensign represents the faith in Christianity, "''In God We Trust''".
Culture
Festivals and events
Peñuelas celebrates its patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
festival in late October / early November. 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 Peñuelas include:
* Endless Fun Festival – April
* Festival of the Cross – May
* National Güiro
The güiro () is a percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines (see photo) along the notches to produce a ratchet sound.
The güiro is commonly ...
Festival – May
* Festival of the Flamboyan Tree – Summer
* Children's Festival – August
* Folk Festival – October
* The Cantatas – December
Sports
Peñuelas AA Amateur Baseball team is called Los Petroleros de Peñuelas (The Peñuelas' Oilers.) The origin of this name dates back to the days when Peñuelas was home to a major petro-chemical complex known as CORCO. Although CORCO closed operations in 1980, the name stuck throughout the years.
Also known as Luis "Tite" Arroyo's hometown, a baseball hero.
Another hometown hero is Ivelisse Echevarria, who was inducted into the International Federation Softball Hall of Fame in 2003 and is considered by many to be the greatest softball pitcher born in Puerto Rico. Myrian "Betty" Segarra, who was inducted into the International Federation Softball Hall of Fame in 2003 and the best first base in the woman softball in Puerto Rico.
Transportation
Peñuelas' public bus service ("la guagua") connects passengers to Ponce city (east) and Guayanilla (west).
There are 24 bridges in Peñuelas.
Education
6 Elementary schools, 4 Intermediate Schools, 1 High School
See also
*List of Puerto Ricans
This is a list of notable people from Puerto Rico which includes people who were born in Puerto Rico (Borinquen) and people who are of full or partial Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican descent. Puerto Rican citizens are included, as the governm ...
*History of Puerto Rico
The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the Ortoiroid people before 430 BC. At the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1493, the dominant indigenous culture was that of the Taíno. The Taíno people's num ...
* Did you know-Puerto Rico?
References
External links
Puerto Rico Government Directory - Peñuelas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penuelas, Puerto Rico
Municipalities of Puerto Rico
Populated places established in 1793
Yauco metropolitan area