| Canóvanas, Puerto Rico | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Municipality — | |||
| Aerial view of PR-3 passing through Canóvanas | |||
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| Nickname(s): Pueblo Valeroso", "Ciudad de los Indios", "La Ciudad de las Carreras", "El Pueblo del Chupacabras | |||
| Anthem: "Canóvanax" | |||
| Location of Canóvanas in Puerto Rico | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| Territory | Puerto Rico | ||
| Founded | 1909 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | José R. Soto Rivera (PNP) | ||
| • Senatorial dist. | 8 - Carolina | ||
| • Representative dist. | 37, 38 | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 28.2 sq mi (73.12 km2) | ||
| • Land | 28.2 sq mi (73 km2) | ||
| • Water | 0 sq mi (.12 km2) | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • Total | 47,648 | ||
| • Density | 1,687.7/sq mi (651.6/km2) | ||
| Demonym | Canovanenses | ||
| Time zone | AST (UTC-4) | ||
| Zip code | 00729, 00745 | ||
Canóvanas (Spanish pronunciation: [kaˈnoβanas]) is a municipality in Puerto Rico, located in the northeastern region, north of Juncos and Las Piedras; south of Loíza; east of Carolina; and west of Río Grande. Canóvanas is spread over 7 wards and Canóvanas Pueblo (The downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.
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Canóvanas was formerly a "barrio" (ward) of Loíza for 200 years. In 1909, the Municipal administration was transferred to the new town of Canóvanas, with Juan R. Calderón as its first mayor.
The name of Canóvanas comes from a local Taíno cacique called Canobaná (Canovanax). According to history, this Cacique did not join the Taíno rebellion against Spain and remained an ally.
Barrio Canóvanas was for two centuries an agricultural zone where sugar cane was cultivated and sugar produced in mills belonging to several local families; the Zequeira, Gambaro, Calderón, and later, families of Irish origin; the Seary, Quidgley, Soegard, Skerret, and others.
Other wards of Loíza (which later became part of Canóvanas) were those in the rural, mountainous parts of the municipality; Hato Puerco, Cubuy and Lomas. Hato Puerco is mentioned in Municipal Protocols as early as 1827.
The 20-acre (8.1 ha) plot of land where the city of Canovanas was constructed was purchased by Don Luis Hernaiz Veronne, a townhall Senator and local farmer. The site location was strategic, to intercept traffic on the old Spanish Road #7 (then Road #3 from San Juan to Fajardo), and from Loíza to the towns of the Caguas Valley (Caguas, Gurabo, Juncos), through the actual Road #185. This allowed Canóvanas access to commerce and communication networks and the city rapidly developed and progressed.
In 1970, Loíza and Canóvanas were separated as municipalities and the old rural wards of Hato Puerco, Cubuy and Lomas, as well as Torrecilla Alta, a former sugarcane workers colony next to the old Central Canovanas, were all incorporated into the new municipality.
Canóvanas combines flat alluvial plains, areas with gentle hills made up of volcaniclastic rocks, and rugged mountainous areas made up of volcaniclastic and volcanic rocks (lava flows and exposed intrusive igneous rocks).
Much of the flat plains are part of the flood-prone alluvial valley of the Río Grande de Loíza and its main tributaries, the Río Canóvanas and Río Canovanillas. Floods are typical during the storm season, between June and November.
The urban center of Canóvanas is located along Road PR-3, historically the main road between San Juan and Fajardo.
Some of the landmarks of Canóvanas are:
Canóvanas professional sports teams have traditionally been nicknamed the "Indios". In 1983, BSN's Indios won Puerto Rico's national basketball championship and they repeated in 1984, but they eventually disappeared during the 1990s. The Indias women's volleyball team has also won a number of championships.
In Horse-racing, Canóvanas is home to Hipodromo Camarero, formerly named El Nuevo Comandante, Puerto Rico's only horse racetrack, since 1972.
Canóvanas agriculture relies primarily on minor vegetable and fruit cultivation; It also has a minor cattle and poultry industry. Most of Canovanas flat areas are subject to occasional flooding and are used as pastures for cattle. Many of these lands were previously used for sugar cane cultivation, but sugar cane is no longer harvested in most of Puerto Rico.
Most of Canovanas commerce is driven by retail businesses. There are three main shopping malls, located along Road PR-3, which is the main roadway between San Juan and the east coast. These malls are the location of main stores like Wal-Mart , Marshall's, Burlington, Nike, Gap, and many outlet stores.
Other typical businesses in Canovanas are pharmacies, liquor stores and bars, restaurants, cafeterias, gasoline stations, auto repair shops, supermarkets and bakeries.
Canovanas is considered the "Door to the East" due to its closiness to Metro San Juan and its privileged location in the rapidly developing northeast of Puerto Rico. Also the expansion of route 66 has placed the City of Canovanas on the spot for new industrial, commercial and high income residential projects.
The most growing sector is the industrial zone where large international pharmaceuticals like AstraZeneca, IPR, QBD, among others have established their manufacturing plants. An PRIDCO industrial zone has many lots available for new industries looking to establish their plant operations near Metro San Juan and the northeast of the island.
The city belongs to the Puerto Rico Senatorial district VIII, which is represented by two Senators. In 2008, Héctor Martínez and Lornna Soto were elected as District Senators.[1] In 2011, Martínez had to resign, and was replaced by Roger Iglesias.[2]
The Coat of Arms today contains the following symbolisms: The colors gold and violet taken from the banner of the "Hijos y Amigos Ausentes de Canóvanas" (Absent Children and Friends of Canóvanas), The crown symbolizing municipality, the broken chain symbolizing the discontinuation of Canóvanas as a district of Loíza. The crown in the center symbolizing and recalling the supreme hierarchy of the Cacique Canobaná, The laurels indicating the 23 consecutive wins (one leaf for each win) of the "Loíza Indians" basketball team, establishing a record in Puerto Rico. The basket in the middle of the leaves represents the team and its accomplishments. The rising sun and its 16 rays of light indicating the sprouting of a new municipality in Puerto Rico and the number of the incumbent mayors, respectively, before Canóvanas was separated from Loíza. The inscription in the banner recalls: the name of the Cacique and the dates of the installation of the municipal seat of Loíza in Canóvanas, November 30, 1909; and its creation August 15, 1970.