Añasco, Puerto Rico

Statue in the main plaza's fountain depicting the drowning of legendary conquistador Diego Salcedo, a story which gives the municipality one of its many nicknames.

The name Añasco comes from Don Luis de Añasco, former owner of the land where the town and municipality were founded. This family name is of Spanish origin from the province of Extremadura.[2]

Some of the municipality's nicknames include: La ciudad donde los dioses mueren ("The city where gods die") and Los nativos ("the natives") are a reference to the legend of Spanish conquistador Diego Salcedo who according to the story was drowned by the indigenous Taíno in order to prove that the European colonizers were not immortal deities; and Pueblo del Hojaldre ("Puff Pastry Town") after the hojaldre, a type of puff pastry the municipality is famous for.[3]

The town was founded on October 18, 1733, and named after Don Luis de Añasco, a colonist from the Extremadura region of Spain who came to Puerto Rico with Juan Ponce de León. Añasco was founded by the initiative of rich landowner Don José de Santiago, who wanted to establish the villa in properties owned by Don Luis de Añasco. The property was located on the margins of the río Guaorabo, as the Taínos called it.[4][5]

Añasco town was preceded by the first settlement of San Germán. In November 1511, Juan Ponce de León handed over governorship to Juan Cerón, a lieutenant of the viceroy Diego Colon (son of Cristobal Colon or Cristopher Columbus). Cerón ordered Miguel de Toro, a lieutenant of Juan Ponce de León, to create a "Christian Village" in western Borinquen, calling it San Germán. This was the second attempt of foundation given in 1511 at the mouth of the Guaorabo River (present day Rio Añasco), near the area known today as Añasco, Puerto Rico. This first settlement was attacked in 1528, 1538, and again in 1554. A fort to protect this town began in 1540, but its construction was suspended in 1546 when the people decided to move inland being tired of attacks. Attacks by Carib Indians forced the population to move south inland to the present site of the present town of San Germán.

The Añasco River is also claimed to be the site of the popular legend of the drowning of the Spaniard Diego Salcedo in 1511 at the hands of the Taínos, proving the Spanish soldiers were not gods and igniting a revolt. It is believed that the revolt was led by the cacique "Cacique Chayoán" (Uruyoán) and suppressed by Spanish soldiers.[6]

Many of the first settlers to the area came from the Canary Islands and the south of Spain. The 1918 San Fermín earthquake destroyed Añasco's parish church, the town hall and other buildings, almost eliminating most of the historic downtown structures.

Hurricane María on September 20, 2017, triggered numerous landslides in Añasco. In some areas of Añasco there were more than 25 landslides per square mile due to the significant amount of rainfall.[7][8] Barrio Playa was particularly affected with about 96% of the homes under water. Bridges in and around Añasco sustained extensive damage as a result of Hurricane María.[9]

Añasco is located in the Coastal Plains of the west, bordered by the Río Grande de Añasco. It is bordered in the north by Rincón, Aguada, and Moca; Mayagüez to the south; and San Sebastián and Las Marías to the east. The Mona Passage lies to the west of the town.[10] The Añasco terrain is mostly plain but features a series of hills and mountains like Canta Gallo (1,194 feet, or 364 meters), Gordo and Pichón (both at 1,115 feet, or 340 meters).[11] It is also crossed by several rivers like Icaco River, Caguabo River, La Balsa, and others.[10][12]

Barrios

Subdivisions of Añasco.

Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Añasco is subdivided into barrios. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located in a small barrio referred to as "el pueblo", near the center of the municipality.[13][14][15][16]

1. Añasco Abajo
2. Añasco Arriba
3. Añasco barrio-pueblo[17]
4. Caguabo
5. Caracol
6. Carreras
7. Casey Abajo
8. Casey Arriba
9. Cerro Gordo
10. Cidra
11. Corcovada
12. Dagüey
13. Espino
14. Hatillo
15. Humatas
16. Marías
17. Miraflores
18. Ovejas
19. Piñales
20. Playa
21. Quebrada Larga
22. Río Arriba
23. Río Cañas

Like most of the people of Puerto Rico, the Añasco population originated with the Taino Indians and then by immigrants from Spain that settled the central highland, most prominently the Andalusian and Canarian Spanish migration who formed the bulk of the jibaro or white peasant stock of the island.[22] The Andalusian and Canarian Spaniards also influenced much of the Puerto Rican culture which explains the Southern Spanish dialect, and the Spanish colonial architecture.

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 a territory of the United States. In 1899, the United States conducted its first census of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Añasco was 13,311.

• Mariana Bracetti - (1825–1903) was a patriot and leader of the Puerto Rico independence movement in the 1860s. She is attributed with having knitted the flag that was intended to be used as the national emblem of Puerto Rico in its attempt to overthrow the Spanish government on the island, and to establish the island as a sovereign republic.
• Ivy Queen - Singer
• Aristides Gonzalez - boxer, Olympic bronze medalist in 1984
• Young Miko- rapper and singer-songwriter.

In 2016 the municipal government reported a budget surplus of $1.3 million nonetheless the government also indicated that the municipal debt was $13 million.[36]

All municipalities in Puerto Rico are administered by a mayor, elected every four years. The current mayor of Añasco is Kabir Solares García, of the New Progressive Party (PNP). He was elected at the 2020 general elections and is currently serving his first term after defeating the incumbent mayor Jorge Estévez Martínez.

The city belongs to the Puerto Rico Senatorial district IV, which is represented by two Senators. In 2020, Ada García Montes and Migdalia González were elected as District Senators.

There are 22 bridges in Añasco,[37] and many sustained damages on September 20, 2017, when Hurricane María hit Puerto Rico.[9]

The Puerto Rico Department of Education operates several public schools in the municipality, including two bilingual schools, Antonio Gonzalez Suarez Regional Bilingual Elementary School and Sergio Ramirez de Arellano-Hostos Regional Bilingual Secondary School, the first public bilingual schools on the island. There are also private bilingual schools in the municipality, such as Colegio de la Salle and MAS Integrated School.

The municipio has an official flag and coat of arms.[38]

• History of Puerto Rico
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Añasco, Puerto Rico

• Añasco coastline on Gettyimages
• Welcome to Puerto Rico! Añasco
• "Añasco, Puerto Rico". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved May 7, 2008.