Sosúa

Sosúa is a beach town in the Puerto Plata province of the Dominican Republic approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) from the Gregorio Luperón International Airport in San Felipe de Puerto Plata.

Sosúa
Municipality
Puerto Plata
Sosúa beach
Sosúa beach
Official seal of Sosúa
Seal
Sosúa is located in the Dominican Republic
Sosúa
Sosúa
Sosúa in the Dominican Republic
Coordinates: 19°45′00″N 70°31′12″W
Country Dominican Republic
ProvincePuerto Plata
Government
[1]
 • MayorWilfredo Olivences[2] (Social Christian Reformist Party)
Area
[3]
 • Municipality276.89 km2 (106.91 sq mi)
Population
 (2010)[4]
 • Municipality49,593
 • Density180/km2 (460/sq mi)
 • Urban
7,713
Municipal districts2
Distance to
 – Santo Domingo
240 km (150 mi)

The town is divided into three sectors: El Batey, which is the main tourist section and on the east side of the main beach (Playa Sosúa); Los Charamicos, on the west end of the beach; north of them, toward the airport, is Sosúa Abajo.

Sosua is accessed primarily by Camino Cinco, or Highway 5, which runs the country's northern coastline.

History

The town of Sosúa was officially founded by Jewish settlers (see Dominican Jews) who were fleeing from Nazi Germany. At the 1938 Evian Conference, Rafael Trujillo offered to accept up to 100,000 Jewish refugees; about 800 German and Austrian Jewish refugees received visas issued by the Dominican government between 1940 and 1945 and settled in Sosúa.[5] An agreement was made between Trujillo and Jewish businessmen in New York City. The government provided the settlers with land and resources with which they created a food factory and company named Productos Sosúa[6] still in existence today.

Descendants of the original Jewish settlers still live in Sosúa, among them is the former mayor Ilana Neumann. They remain an important segment of the community and maintain a synagogue and a museum.

Most of the descendants of the refugees have migrated to the United States. Some families remained and established inns and bed and breakfasts which were first visited by former refugees.

Description
Aerial view of the town.

Sosúa Abajo, which translates roughly to "Lower Sosúa", is located on the western side of Sosúa in a valley nearby a river that flows into Sosúa Bay. Mainly a rural area of Sosúa, Sosúa Abajo houses many of the workers who commute to the El Batey area, nearby Cabarete Bay and Playa Dorada.

The Barrio of Los Charamicos, between El Batey and Abajo, is a densely-populated urban area known for its nightlife, dancing, and bar scene.

The bay and beach
Dominican ultra-distance swimmer Marcos Diaz off Sosúa beach

Sosúa Bay attracts many water sports enthusiasts, including snorkelers and divers because of its sheltered, calm waters, diverse species of fish and intricate reef structures. In the winter, whale watching is also a popular tourist activity in Sosúa Bay.

Plata Alicia in Sosua.

Recently, naturally occurring beach replenishment has created a new beach just north of Sosúa Bay, depositing sand where there were previously only sheer rock cliffs. The beach is called Playa Alicia.

There are several other beaches, Sosua Beach, which is a crescent-shaped bay protected by coral formations. Sosúa's other beaches are Waterfront (Playa Alicia), Paradise beach (actually shifts on and off every several months), Playa Imbert and Playa Chiquita. Waterfront beach is just 20–21 years old, created after a storm around 2002.

Sex tourism
Resort building in Sosúa, Dominican Republic.

Sosua became a popular tourist destination with the rise of the tourism industry in the Puerto Plata area during the 1980s. In the late 1990s and 2000s Sosúa also became a favorite destination of sex tourists from Europe and North America. Starting in the late 2000s there was an effort to crack down on this industry, which caused a decline.[7][8][9]

Sosua remains a destination for sex tourism, though with a poorer clientele.[10][11] Local women turn to prostitution as the town has fewer economic opportunities compared to larger cities of the country.[12][13] Haitian migrants also take part in the sex tourism business, with many of the prostitutes in some areas being of Haitian descent.[14][15] At sex tourism sites the lighter Dominicans are favored over darker Haitians,[16] who are forced to work in the streets or local bars rather than the more lucrative up-scale areas.[16]

  • Sosua street mural
    Sosua street mural
  • Jewish museum
    Jewish museum
  • Sosua resort area
    Sosua resort area
  • Los Charamicos
    Los Charamicos

References
  1. Taveras, Yamira (April 29, 2015). "Unidos por la amistad. Festejan 75 aniversario de la migración judía a RD" (in Spanish). Sosúa, Puerto Plata: Hoy. Retrieved August 30, 2016. El acto fue encabezado por el embajador de Israel, Bahij Mansour junto a la alcaldesa de Sosúa, Ilana Neumann de Azar, de descendencia judía, y la presidenta de la comunidad judía Ivonne Milzo, [...]. (Translation) The ceremony was led by the ambassador of Israel, Bahij Mansour along with the mayor of Sosúa, Ilana Neumann Azar, of Jewish descent, and the president of the Jewish community Ivonne Milzo, [...]
  2. "Wilfredo Olivences".
  3. Superficies a nivel de municipios, Oficina Nacional de Estadistica Archived 2009-04-17 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Pablo Tactuk, ed. (May 5, 2012). "IX Censo Nacional de Población y Vivienda 2010: Informe Básico" (PDF) (in Spanish). Santo Domingo: Oficina Nacional de Estadística. pp. 7–8. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 4, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
  5. Crassweller RD. Trujillo. The Life and Times of a Caribbean Dictator. The MacMillan Co, New York (1966). pp. 199–200.
  6. Hans-Ulrich Dillmann, Ein karibischer Ausweg. Die Siedlung Sosua in der Dominikanischen Republik, in: Heimat und Exil. Emigration der deutschen Juden nach 1933. Jüdischer Verlag, Frankfurt 2006 ISBN 3633542221, pp. 171 - 177, in German. E. g. Artur Kirchheimer. Cf. online, here max. 571 German refugees in total are counted for Sosúa
  7. "Avalancha de rechazo al turismo sexual en Sosúa y Cabarete", Periódico El Faro, June 7, 2013, http://periodicoelfaro.com.do/2013/06/avalancha-de-rechazo-al-turismo-sexual-en-sosua-y-cabarete/
  8. Antonio Heredia, "Deportan norteamericano arrestado en Sosúa acusado de promover el turismo sexual hacia RD", Puerto Plata Digital, July 3, 2014, http://www.puertoplatadigital.com/verNoticia.aspx?Id=15808
  9. "Apresan en Sosúa a alemán acusado de explotación sexual", Dominicano ahora, March 15, 2014, http://www.dominicanoahora.com/nacionales/region-norte/27513-apresan-en-sosua-a-aleman-acusado-de-explotacion-sexual.html
  10. "The Legal Status of Prostitution by Country". Chartsbin. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  11. Jennings, Kathleen M.; Nikolić-Ristanović, Vesna (September 2009). "UN Peacekeeping Economies and Local Sex Industries: Connections and Implications" (PDF). MicroCon. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 6, 2010. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  12. "100 Countries and Their Prostitution Policies". Procon. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  13. "2008 Human Rights Report: Dominican Republic". Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  14. Gerardo Reyes (October 24, 2010). "Sex tourism thrives on Dominican streets with Haitian girls". McClatchydc.com. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  15. "Latin American Herald Tribune - Dominican Republic Deports 163 Haitians". Laht.com. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  16. McCabe, Kimberly Ann; Manian, Sabita (April 12, 2010). Sex Trafficking: A Global Perspective. p. 124. ISBN 9780739147283. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
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