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

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 the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

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", refe ...

in the Northeast region of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. 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, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

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, ; , ) is an area in Macau, connected to Coloane through the area known as Cotai, which is largely built from reclaimed land. Located on the northern half of the island, Taipa's population is mostly suburban. Administrativ ...

" 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, snow, sand, or other surface. It combines the aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snow ...

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 Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

The municipality, in partnership with

EMBRATUR Embratur, also known as the Brazilian Tourist Board, is a federal, state-owned agency reporting to the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism. It was formed in 1966 and works exclusively on the promotion, marketing and supporting to the trading of service ...

, 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 (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

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

List of beaches

These are the beaches of São Miguel do Gostoso: * Praia Ponta do Santo Cristo * Praia do Cardeiro * Praia da Xêpa * Praia do Maceió * Praia de Tourinhos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sao Miguel Do Gostoso Municipalities in Rio Grande do Norte Populated coastal places in Rio Grande do Norte