Los Hidalgos

**Los Hidalgos** (*English: "The Nobles"*) is a town in the Puerto Plata Province of the northwestern Dominican Republic.

## Los Hidalgos

### Region

 Puerto Plata Province
Cibao N

### Distance to:

Puerto Plata:
53 km (*33 mi.*)
Santo Domingo:
217 km (*135 mi.*)

## History

Its name originates from Christopher Columbus "Steps of the Hidalgos", in honor of the people who accompanied him on his first expedition to the interior of the country in March 1494. This route between the Isabela and the Fort Santo Tomás de Jánico was traveled by the admiral on his second trip.

This municipality is known under the brand “Tierra de las Poppolas” (The land of poppies), a tribute to its beautiful plants that is found throughout the entire route. Every year in April, the Poppies Fair is celebrated, inspired by the romantic value that it gives to this flower, including declarations of love, formalization of marriages and renewal of vows. A fable says that the woman who has no luck in love just has to sit on a poppy and her luck will change.

This municipality has numerous archaeological sites; in the place of Ranchete where Columbus was on March 13, 1494. In honor of the children of the Spanish Hidalguia who accompanied the Admiral is that he is given the name of Los Hidalgos.

Although no event is reported in history, it is claimed that this municipality was the scene of several clashes between jimenistas and horacistas that were the political parties that made public life at the beginning of the 20th century and at the end of the Second Decade, and that gave way to the dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina.

## Geography

The municipality is located at the foot of the central part of the Northern Cordillera, belonging to the province of Puerto Plata.

Its limits are:
• To the North: with the municipalities of Villa Isabela and Luperón.
• To the South: with the Northern Cordillera.
• To the East: with the municipality of Guananico.
• To the West: with the section of Gualete and the Cordillera Norte.

This municipality has 3 sections and a municipal district that is Navas, 51 places, the sections are El Mamey, Marmolejos and Unijica. The places of El Mamey are: Ranchete, Los Tres Pasos, El Rejón, Vuelta Larga, La Ceiba, El Pinto, Loma de Piedra and Piedra Gorda; The places of Marmolejos are: La Peña, Agua Clara, Agua Hedionda, Cambero, Los Altos, El Castillo, Los Bejucos and El Rejón. The places of the Unijica section are: Cañada Grande, Las Caobas, La Boca, La Luperona, La Piragua, El Talao, Agua Clara and Romerico. The places of the Municipal District of Navas are: Las Alforjas, Vista Alegre, La Sabana, Los Cedros, La Finca, Ruiseñor, Buenos Aires, La Peñita and Berraco Blanco.

## Economy

The main economic activity of this municipality is represented by remittances from abroad, especially from the United States, Spain, Italy, Puerto Rico, Germany, etc., and agricultural production, especially coffee, cocoa, avocado, orange, banana, cassava , yam, guineo, corn, guandul, coconut, mango, sapodilla, lemon, lemongrass, tangerine, etc.

In recent times, carpentry, painting, desbolladura, refrigeration, mechanics workshops stand out; There are also two feed factories for cattle, pigs and poultry. It has 8 cheese factories of different varieties, distributed nationally and internationally. It is characterized as a livestock municipality, has a tropical climate of humid forest and annual rainfall is 1,500 to 2,000 ml. The soil is mountainous with a varied vegetation of large trees, shrubs and herbs. Livestock, pigs and goats are abundant in livestock.

## Social

At present there are, although in a scattered way, institutions such as the “Club Luz del Porvenir”, “Nueva Senda”, “The Hidalgos Action Group” Among the prestigious institutions that stand out is the "Los Hidalgos Action Group", founded in **1972** that has impacted on the social development of the municipality with the construction of the Municipal Park, the Catholic Church, the construction of several streets, the play, the purchase of an ambulance, among other things.

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Among the characters that have stood out within the municipality are: Professor Tomasina Lithgow de Pérez, Isabel Luna de Gómez and Aminta Reyes.

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## References

Los Hidalgos [1], [2]

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