As far as the settlement of São Miguel, the reports point to its beginning in 1444, by Gonçalo Velho Cabral, disembarking its settlers in the place of Povoação, mainly coming from Extremadura, Alto Alentejo, Algarve and even some foreigners, especially French, spreading and then, over the years, along the entire coastal zone of the island and fixing themselves in the places of better accessibility and that better conditions and facilities of life offered, essentially as far as the use of the ground. Its fertility, together with the privileged geographic position of the islands in the middle of the Atlantic, quickly contributed to a strong economic expansion of São Miguel through the production of wheat that was exported to supply the Portuguese garrisons of the North African squares, cane sugar and the export to Flanders of the dye plants of pastel and urzela. Later, the great proliferation of orange groves brings to the island significant wealth by the export of orange, whose main market was England. Stage at the end of the 16th century and early 20th century. In 1582 Sao Miguel was occupied by Spanish troops, after the defeat, in front of Vila Franca do Campo, of a French squadron in which also they fought Portuguese troops of support to D.António, prior of Crato, pretending to the throne of Portugal then vague, only recovering its condition of Portuguese territory free after the Restoration of the National Independence, in December of 1640. The first capital of São Miguel was Vila Franca do Campo, which lost this condition after being buried in the wake of a violent earthquake in 1522, resulting in its replacement Ponta Delgada, located about 25 km east, municipality and that, in 1546, would become the first city on the island. Already in our days, more precisely in 1981, Ribeira Grande, a village that in 1507 had received from D. Manuel the town charter and which is located on the north coast of São Miguel, 18 km from Ponta Delgada, is elevated to the category of city .