page_title: Moca barrio-pueblo
section_title: The central plaza history
hierarchical_section_title: Moca barrio-pueblo / The central plaza history
caption_attribution_description: English: A photograph of Moca's town plaza from Calle Dona Magi. Summer 2008
context_page_description: Moca barrio-pueblo is a barrio and the administrative center of Moca, a municipality of Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 1,735.
  As was customary in Spain, in Puerto Rico, the municipality has a barrio called pueblo which contains a central plaza, the municipal buildings, and a Catholic church. Fiestas patronales are held in the central plaza every year.
context_section_description: The central plaza, or square, is a place for official and unofficial recreational events and a place where people can gather and socialize from dusk to dawn. The Laws of the Indies, Spanish law, which regulated life in Puerto Rico in the early 19th century, stated the plaza's purpose was for "the parties" (celebrations, festivities) (Spanish: a propósito para las fiestas), and that the square should be proportionally large enough for the number of neighbors (Spanish: grandeza proporcionada al
  número de vecinos). These Spanish regulations also stated that the streets nearby should be comfortable portals for passersby, protecting them from the elements: sun and rain.
caption: Catholic church in central plaza in Moca barrio-pueblo
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