San Sebastián, Puerto Rico


San Sebastián is a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the northwestern region of the island, south of Isabela, Quebradillas and Camuy; north of Las Marías; east of Moca and Añasco; and west of Lares. San Sebastián is spread over twenty-four wards and San Sebastián Pueblo. It is a principal city of the Aguadilla-Isabela-San Sebastián Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The permission to found the town was officially given in 1752, under the leadship of the founder, Captain Cristóbal González de la Cruz, who among other neighbors 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 that was a low green mountain with a white calcium carbonate face. On the north side of the town it can be seen some of this "pepinos". These two cow farms gave the town its first name. From these geographical accidents come the first names of the new village: Las Vegas del Pepino. 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 Pepino, fleeing the revolutions of Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. Later, by 1850, several families from Catalonia and the Basque Country in Spain joined the large number of isleños 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. The resident Basques in the municipality, in remembrance of their home region and its religious patron, saw the need of upgrading the old traditional Pepino used by the Canary Islanders to the new and "up-dated" San Sebastián, promoted and thus got the name formally changed by the central government authority. Nevertheless, the citizens of San Sebastián are called "pepinianos".
San Sebastián Mártir is the patron saint of archers 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

on September 20, 2017 triggered numerous landslides in San Sebastián with the 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.

Geography

San Sebastián is on the northwest.

Water features

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 "el pueblo".
  1. Aibonito
  2. Alto Sano
  3. Bahomamey
  4. Calabazas
  5. Cibao
  6. Cidral
  7. Culebrinas
  8. Eneas
  9. Guacio
  10. Guajataca
  11. Guatemala
  12. Hato Arriba
  13. Hoya Mala
  14. Juncal
  15. Magos
  16. Mirabales
  17. Perchas 1
  18. Perchas 2
  19. Piedras Blancas
  20. Pozas
  21. Robles
  22. Salto
  23. San Sebastián barrio-pueblo
  24. Sonador

    Sectors

Barrios in turn are further subdivided into smaller local populated place areas/units called sectores. The types of sectores may vary, from normally sector to urbanización to reparto to barriada to residencial, among others.

Special Communities

Of the 742 places on the list of Comunidades Especiales de Puerto Rico, 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 Guatemala. The complex which consists of a modern skate park, a sand volleyball court, a zipline 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:
The Robles Waterfall - 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 held every Friday at the Centro Agropecuario that sells local agriculture as well as souvenirs, for tourists.
Other sites include:

Agriculture

San Sebastián is a producer of coffee, fruits, and has dairy farms. There is a coffee plant called El Coquí located in Perchas 1, a barrio of San Sebastián.

Government

Like all municipalities in Puerto Rico, San Sebastián is administered by a mayor. The current mayor is Javier Jiménez, from the New Progressive Party. Jiménez was elected at the 2004 general election.
The city belongs to the Puerto Rico Senatorial district IV, which is represented by two Senators. In 2012, María Teresa González and Gilberto Rodríguez were elected as District Senators.

Transportation

There are 30 bridges in San Sebastian.

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

San Sebastián celebrates its patron saint festival in January. The Fiestas Patronales de San Sebastián is a religious and cultural celebration that generally features parades, games, artisans, amusement rides, regional food, and live entertainment.
The Heifer Festival, 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, the diverse music of Puerto Rico, cows decorated with flowers, floats and Puerto Rican cuisine. In January 2016, the town celebrated its 40th Heifer festival.
Other festivals and events celebrated in San Sebastián include:
The Luis Aymat Cardona Coliseum is where the Los Caribes volleyball team plays their games.
In amateur baseball or baseball AA, 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

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
The Crown: Is the heraldic standard used to identify towns, villas and cities. The Sugar Cane and Coffee Branches: They represent main agricultural products.

Notable people from San Sebastián