Las Marías, Puerto Rico


Las Marías is a municipality of Puerto Rico located north of Maricao; southeast of Añasco; south of San Sebastián; east of Mayagüez; and west of Lares. Las Marías is spread over 13 barrios and Las Marías Pueblo.

History

Las Marías was founded on July 1, 1872. Don Benito Recio and Moreno were the acting mayor during the founding of Las Marías.
When after the Treaty of Paris of 1898, the U.S. conducted its first census of Puerto Rico, the population of Las Marías was 11,279.
Hurricane Maria on September 20, 2017 triggered numerous landslides in Las Marías. In some areas of Las Marías there were more than 25 landslides per square mile due to the significant amount of rainfall.

Geography

Las Marías is located on the central western side of Puerto Rico. According to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau, the municipality has a total area of, of which is land and 0.11 square mile is water.
Río Grande de Añasco is located in Las Marías.

Barrios

Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Las Marías is subdivided into barrios. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located near the center of the municipality, in a small barrio referred to as "el pueblo".
  1. Alto Sano
  2. Anones
  3. Bucarabones
  4. Buena Vista
  5. Cerrote
  6. Chamorro
  7. Espino
  8. Furnias
  9. Las Marías barrio-pueblo
  10. Maravilla Este
  11. Maravilla Norte
  12. Maravilla Sur
  13. Naranjales
  14. Palma Escrita
  15. Purísima Concepción
  16. Río Cañas

    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 7 sectors were in Adjuntas: Sector La Josefa in Bucarabones, Sector Bryan in Cerróte, Sector Chamorro in Cerróte, Sector Palo Prieto in Palma Escrita, Sector Plato Indio in Río Cañas, Las Juanitas in Furnias, and Sector Santa Rosa in Furnias.

Demographics

Tourism

Paradise Camping Coffee Farm is a place for ecotourism and camping in Las Marías.

Landmarks and places of interest

Agriculture

Festivals and events

Las Marías celebrates its patron saint festival in December. The Fiestas Patronales Inmaculada Concepción de María is a religious and cultural celebration that generally features parades, games, artisans, amusement rides, regional food, and live entertainment.
Other festivals and events celebrated in Las Marías include:
Like all municipalities in Puerto Rico, Las Marías is administered by a mayor. The current mayor is Edwin Soto Santiago, from the New Progressive Party. Soto Santiago was elected during the 2016 general election, having previously served office from 1997 to 2013.
The municipality belongs to the Puerto Rico Senatorial District IV, which is represented by two Senators. In 2016, Luis Daniel Muñiz Cortés and Evelyn Vázquez were elected as District Senators.

Transportation

There are 13 bridges in Las Marías.

Symbols

Flag

The flag is divided by an imaginary diagonal line whose ends are the superior left angle of the flag and the opposite lower angle. The superior part is yellow and the lower half is green. The yellow portion represents the sun bathing the town and the green portion represents the nature and vegetation of the municipality.

Coat of arms

The shield is divided into six parts with three in silver and three in blue. A "María" tree, with a pair of coffee tree branches to the sides of its trunk, adorns each silver part. The monogram and crown of Nuestra Señora la Santísima Virgen de Plata is placed in the top center portion of the shield. The shield's border is red with a broken chain at the bottom. Above the shield resides three tower crown in gold.