Luperón

**Luperón** is a town in the Puerto Plata Province of the northern Dominican Republic, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

## Luperón

### Region

 Puerto Plata Province
Cibao N

### Distance to:

Puerto Plata:
48 km (*30 mi.*)
Santo Domingo:
230 km (*143 mi.*)

## Etymology

In the beginning the town was called *Blanco*. Some say that it was due to the name of a prominent merchant in the area whose last name was used as a reference, since most of the merchants who bought the products of the town called it the *Town of Blanco*. Others appeal to saints and religion and affirm that the name was awarded because the patron of the town was San Antonio de Blanco. There really is no security by which the people will be named that way.

This town is named after the famous patriot Gregorio Luperón, first paladin of the National Restoration and a fierce patriot descendant of an Afro-Spanish-French family established in the province of Puerto Plata. The Dominican Congress, by law, designated this municipality with the name of the national hero in **1927**, at the time of Horacio Vásquez.

## History

The municipality is located in an imposing bay that once housed Admiral Christopher Columbus from the ravages of the typical storms in that area, which he called *Puerto de Gracias* or *Gracia*, for being the place where he sought refuge to save his fleet. The bay is surrounded by leafy and green mangroves.

After his second trip to the American continent, Admiral Christopher Columbus chose a site located east of the place that Luperón now occupies to found a villa for more than 1000 inhabitants, which he called **La Isabela**. It was founded at the end of **December 1493** and inaugurated on **January 6, 1494**. That population would then be the first of European origin in the entire continent, but it was abandoned two years later as a result of the hardships that its inhabitants had to suffer. At present, in that location, very close to the El Castillo / La Isabela Historica community there is an Archaeological Park.

According to some historians of the place the foundation of the Municipality of Luperón goes back to the year **1863**, without pointing out the exact day, as some writers argue, because exactly no one can highlight an exact date of its foundation, as the towns begin to form slowly and sometimes take time decades before becoming towns or cities.

During the time of the war, many Spaniards fled from the south to Puerto Plata and sought refuge in the leafy mahogany, cedar and pine forests of that area of ​​the province of Puerto Plata, where they began the felling of fine wood for sale in Puerto Plata and other regions.

The bay of Gracia was the ally for the merchants of the nascent town. Its facility to house and anchor schooners and ships of little draft that loaded the wood and other products to the city made a great trade flourish and at the same time many merchants and adventurers settled on the banks of the maritime entrance. It should be noted that one of the main production items was the red mangrove shell, an important coveted product that was used as a dye at that time, when there were no artificial ones. Also the production of corn and auyamas, which was exported in schooners to PR for years, given the ease offered by the Bay, although the precariousness of the port limited the arrival of larger vessels.

This trade attracted many natives and foreigners who managed to settle in the area, buying or usurping properties. Many of these herd owners, farms and farmers settled in neighboring Puerto Plata .

## Geography

Luperón is located at 19.8936° N, 70.9613° W. According to the ONE, the municipality has a total land area of 272.07 square kilometers (105.05 square miles). It is bordered by the city of Puerto Plata on the east, the town of Imbert on the southeast, the town of Los Hidalgos on the south, and Villa Isabela on the west. It is bathed by the Atlantic Ocean on the north.

Municipal districts

Luperon

Isabela

Belloso

El Estrecho de Luperón Omar Bross

### Demography

The municipality of Luperón has a population of 17,649 inhabitants which represent 5.64% of the total population of the Province of Puerto Plata, the population of the municipality is distributed in 4,183 inhabitants in the urban area for 23.70% of the population and the The remaining 76.30% is rural, which represents some 13,466 inhabitants.

## Hydrography

Its main rivers are: Bajabonico, Caonao, and Lorán, which flow into the Atlantic Ocean. In its hydrography it also has some streams and important lagoons such as the Laguna de Puerto Caballo.

## Economy

The economy of the Municipality of Luperón revolves around three activities which are: agricultural and livestock production throughout the interior geography of the municipality, tourism mainly in the urban area of ​​the municipality and a commercial sector basically of suppliers of merchandise and articles of consumption and fishing in the coastal area near the bay. In addition to these sectors, a small service business has been developed, mainly oriented towards tourism that arrives at the bay or escapes from the large hotel complexes that operate with the “all-inclusive” model, when weather conditions make it difficult for tourists go to the beaches of these complexes they occupy massively the town of Luperón, demanding meals and recreational activities different from those offered in hotel complexes, this causes that for seasons tourism has a great specific weight on the economy of the populated. Although not so in the interior of the municipality which depends mainly on agricultural production and an important and booming livestock production, fundamentally constituted the same of cattle, within which there is an important production of milk and cheese.

The tourism that has the greatest economic impact is the tourism of yachts and sailboats or yatism that annually produce around 500 arrivals of both national and international vessels in the bay. This tourist modality leaves about 100 thousand pesos per month as benefits to the Municipality. A significant number of people in the municipality are dedicated to providing mechanical and electrical repairs, fuel, water, as well as cleaning and painting services to vessels that arrive at the marina in Luperón. Today tourism has become one of the main sources of the economy of the municipality, which has 2 large hotels and more than 10 micro hotels in the community, more than 24 restaurants and 28 establishments dedicated to tourism services.

The statistics of the local weekend vacationers who come from the Central Cibao to visit the Luperón Beaches are not known, but if the spas are equipped with adequate infrastructure, it will represent an important share of the local economy, since about six buses a month visit the zone, which represents approximately 420 visitors.

## References

Luperón [1]

Michael Vedrine est la mejor