Hualaihue

Hualaihué is a commune in southern Chile located in the province of Palena, Los Lagos Region. It limits to the north and northeast with the Reloncaví estuary and the Cochamó commune, to the east with Argentina, to the south with Chaitén and to the west with the Relóncaví Sound and the Gulf of Ancud. According to the 2017 Chilean census, it has 8,944 inhabitants. Its capital is the town of Hornopirén. This commune is a place of gaucho and huasas traditions.

As part of northern Patagonia, it stands out for its mixture of mountainous and coastal landscapes, as well as for its natural attractions.

History

In pre-Hispanic times, the eastern coast of the Reloncaví Sound and the Ancud Gulf, including the Comau Fjord, would have been transit areas for indigenous peoples such as the Cuncos and Poyas. After the Spanish conquest of the Chiloé archipelago in the second half of the XVI century, only two centuries later Chilotes and foreigners began to explore the Andean coasts between the Comau fjord and the peninsula de Huequi, attracted to discover the mythical City of the Caesars. On this mission, between 1872 and 1786, the Franciscan friar Francisco Menéndez made several trips to the valley of the Vodudahue river, arriving in the last one as far as the Argentine lake that today bears his name.

Also during the 18th century, the Andean territory of Chiloé began to be visited by the inhabitants of the district of Calbuco and de Castro for the extraction of larch; The explorer José de Moraleda recorded at the end of the century that the Contao shipyard—the name given to the places where wood was worked—was one of the most frequented, along with the Cayenel and Coihuín/Chamiza river shipyards. The growth of the timber business meant that by the middle of the XIX century the number of shipyards in the mountain range of the Chiloé province exceeded the dozen: between the mouth of the Reloncaví estuary and the Cholgo channel, around 1851 there were the shipyards of Puelche, Mañihueico, Contao, La Poza, Quetén, Lleguimán, Hualaihué, Pichicolo, Río Negro and Cholgo.

After the creation of the province of Llanquihue in 1861, the territory of what would be the future commune of Hualaihué was integrated into the political-administrative division as the 4th subdelegation "Borodahue" of the department of Carelmapu, made up of the districts "Contao", "Lenquimán" and "Hualaihué" (plus the district of Isla Queullín). According to the 1865 census, the first three districts had 453 inhabitants at that time.

In 1885 the sub-delegation changed its name to "Gualaihué" and in 1891 it became part of the commune of Calbuco, but as of 1928, after the dissolution of the department of Carelmapu, the territory between the mouth of the estuary of the Reloncaví and the Vodudahue river came under the administration of Puerto Montt.

After the regionalization process promoted by the military dictatorship, the commune of Hualaihué was finally created on September 21, 1979 by Decree Law 2868, from the districts of Contao, Hualaihué, Lleguimán and Río Negro, which until then They belonged to the commune of Puerto Montt. At the same time, the new commune became part of the newly created province of Palena.

Administration

The Municipality of Hualaihué is directed by the mayor Cristina Espinoza Ojeda

Mayors of Hualaihué

Parliamentary representation

Hualaihué belongs to the XIII Senatorial Circumscription —which represents all the communes of the Lakes Region— and to the 26th electoral district, together with all the communes belonging to the provinces of Chiloé and Palena, Puerto Montt, Maullín, Calbuco and Cochamó.

In the Senate —for the period 2014-2022— it is represented by Iván Moreira (UDI) and Rabindranath Quinteros (PS).

She is represented in the Chamber of Deputies —for the period 2018-2022— by Gabriel Ascencio (PDC), Jenny Álvarez Vera (PS), Alejandro Bernales Maldonado (PL), Carlos Kuschel Silva (RN), Alejandro Santana Tirachini (RN).

As for the Regional Government, it is represented by the regional councilors of the province of Palena, Fernando Hernández Torres (RN) and Roberto Soto Escalona (PS).

Localities of the commune

Carretera Austral

Nearby towns

Coastal route

Islands

Comau Fjord

• Caleta Loncochalgua
• Huinay
• Vodudahue

Tourist attractions

• Hornopirén National Park. Protected wild area, created in 1988. It has an area of 66 195.78 hectares. The only enabled access is located in the Chaquihua Alto sector, 10 km northeast of Hornopirén. The main attraction of the park is the Lake Pinto Concha, which is accessed by a trail of 9.7 km of extension. The visitor can see flora such as the maple, lenga and coigüe of Magellan, and fauna such as pudú, güiña, zorro chilla, quetru volador and carpintero negro. From Lake Pinto Concha you can also ascend to the top of the Yates volcano.

• Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park. Protected wild area of 402 392 hectares, created in 2018, covering the communes of Cochamó, Hualaihué and Chaitén. While most of the enabled paths are located in Chaitén, in Hualaihué you can visit fiordo Cahuelmó, where the natural thermal baths of the same name are located, and a trail of 2.3 km that leads to the Abascal lagoon. You can only access by sea.

Media

Radio stations

FM

• 88.5 MHz - Radio Nuevo Amanecer
• 89.1 MHz - Radio Hualaihué Puerto

Gallery

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  The White River.

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  Church of Contao.

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  Caleta El Manzano.

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  Hornopirén Volcano seen from Hornopirén National Park. To the right of the volcano the Cabrera Lake.

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  Alerces at Hornopirén National Park.