Portoviejo
Portoviejo, also known as San Gregorio de Portoviejo, is an Ecuadorian city; cantonal head of the Portoviejo Canton and capital of the Province of Manabí, as well as the second most populated city of the same. It is crossed by the Portoviejo river, in the center of the coastal region of Ecuador, in an extensive plain, at an altitude of 53 m a.s.l. no. m. and with a warm semi-arid climate of 25.5 °C on average.
It is called the "City of the Royal Tamarindos" since colonial times, when King Felipe II ordered the creation of a shield for the city that contained the phrase "To the very noble, very loyal Villa Nueva de San Gregorio de Portoviejo, city of the Royal Tamarindos", since he came to know the production of this fruit in the lands where the city was located. In the 2010 census it had a population of 206,682 inhabitants, which makes it the eighth most populous city in the country. The city is the core of the Manabí Centro metropolitan area, together with Manta; the conurbation is also made up of cities and nearby rural parishes. The conglomerate is home to 686,154 inhabitants, and occupies the fourth position among the conurbations of Ecuador.
It was founded on March 12, 1535 by the Spanish Francisco Pacheco, but it is in the middle of the XIX century, when recovers the capital of the province, when it presents an accelerated demographic growth until positioning itself as one of the main urban centers of the nation. It is one of the most important administrative, economic, financial and commercial centers of Ecuador. The main activities of the city are trade, agriculture and transport. Through the Valley of San Gregorio de Porto Viejo or Puerto Viejo crosses a river full of history which dates back to the early days of that valley, people from all over the river arrived there and trade was established in the area, forming a port, hence the name Puerto Viejo, an old port on this river.
Toponymy
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In the first Chronicles and minutes that talk about the city before, during and after its foundation, it is specifically written and called Puerto Viexo. Around the beginning of the XVII century, the x was clearly replaced by the j, calling it Puerto Viejo or with the referent of b in the orthographic composition of Puerto Biejo. For the XVIII century the Acts of the colonial Cabildo of Guayaquil name it as Puertoviejo, but it is At the end of this century, it already appears as Portoviejo, acquiring a spelling whose change is perceived in everyday life until today. However, historians have composed their theories with their own arguments due to the problems that arose with the name of the original tenure that was called Puerto Viejo, thus transcending this writing to a plural concept of territory delimited and fixed by the city administration, giving it to be understood that due to this confusion the now city took the name of Portoviejo definitively and the territories adjudicated to its jurisdiction were left with the primitive words separated Old Port.
It is enriching to clarify that the first Habsburgs never officially called it that, or in their correspondences they selectively used the conceptual name of Puerto Viejo to the urban situation of the current city as it is now cited, Rather, this terminology was applied at the same time to the city and to the names of the towns of all the territorial tenure of which the current city-seat had the power to administer them as head of the party and council, using the other royal official denomination for the current one. city, which was objectively designated as Villa de San Gregorio or City of San Gregorio del Perú. Another confusing theory at the geographical and paleographic level about the Gregorian city arises in the colonial acts within the jurisdiction of the Presidency of Quito, in which it is understood that since the middle of the century XVIII the city was recognized as Puertoviejo and the territories related to its legal belonging are described as Partido de Puerto Viejo or Towns of Puerto Viejo, including the city. Concluding that the original name of Puerto Viejo was always subject to the relativity of concepts aimed at specifying not only the city but also the Indian towns that were subject to its political domain, mainly the coastal and fluvial. The last spelling reformation of the name Portoviejo corresponds to the change of the Spanish word puerto for the italic name porto, which is argued to derive from a possible and dubious combination that the Milanese chronicler and traveler from Spanish Italy Girolano Benzoni made when contrasting the terms in two different Latin languages, transcribing the noun port in Spanish by the Italian porto which came from the translation Porto Vecchio and keeping the same adjective in Spanish, an issue that led to the result of the combination of the Italo-Castilian word for Portoviejo, coming from its similarities Puerto Viejo in Spanish and Porto Vecchio in Italian.
History
Background of the founding process
Although the Villa itself was already planned to be founded before 1534 and it was already during the ephemeral stays of Francisco Pizarro in the territory that was already known as Puerto Viejo (from Coaque in the north, to Tosagua in the east and the Isla de la Plata in the south around 1527), it had been thought of reducing the population of rebellious indigenous people without having chosen the appropriate place on their way to the conquest of Peru and nor without having dealt adequately with the caciques who had declined to be put under the yoke as a priority project; It was Diego de Almagro, who had initially made better routes inside the valleys, various paths to the mountains were discovered, determining many fluvial accesses on the east side, since months before March 1535 initially it was ALREADY vox populi among the conquering and bureaucratic elite who had thought to call it Villa Nueva de Almagro, in honor of the Castilian town of Almagro, where he was a native, attracted by the fresh winds that were around the current Portoviejo river in summer and wanting to leave a simple mark that reminds him as a conqueror. But it was evident that Pizarro's hierarchy to authorize the foundation of a town was above his. In addition, Almagro's interests were bothering Pizarro's by that time, once the concern over the presence of Pedro de Alvarado had disappeared. This is confirmed according to the study that the historian Dora León Borja makes about the events before and after the founding process of Guayaquil; and among them locating those related to the foundation of Portoviejo. Therefore, that name was not accepted, Pizarro was silently annoyed by that boast, and to antagonize him due to the first differences of opinion that arose between the distance of both conquerors before the start of the conquest of Chile and once that of the Kingdom of Quito had been consolidated in those months, the name Almagro was abolished and discarded, since Pizarro had already had a slight dislike for it with what happened at the founding of Santiago from Quito that came to show distrust, Pizarro also knew of the wide sympathy he had with many captains and the incredible ability that Almagro possessed to travel the roads of the current territories of continental Ecuador that Pizarro barely traveled superficially. Impetus that would lead Almagro to discover but not conquer Chile. Almagro was the only marshal of Francisco Pizarro who was in the north of the coast of the Governorate of Nueva Castilla, and despite having previously been infatuated with the foundation, he could not have been oblivious to it and he was the only military personality who could ratify orders, which they transmitted it to Francisco Pacheco. Therefore, the city was founded on March 12, 1535 by Captain Francisco Pacheco, under the orders of Diego de Almagro and with the name suggested and modified by Francisco Pizarro of Villa de Villa Nueva de Puerto Viejo swearing fidelity to King Carlos I of Spain, who later learned that the town had been founded in his name, it is also surprising to learn that in the context of its foundation it was curiously the town that did not preserve its entirety or the name of its indigenous locality, that of the cacique where the population settled or that of some famous deity of the population, unlike Quito with Guayaquil with Santiago del Quito, Pasto, Cali, Piura, Arequipa, Lima and many others. The name Puerto Viejo was very Castilian, but of shipping and colloquial origins, which had become official. In addition, its foundation was resolved from the consolidation of the first, an oversight that Francisco Pacheco resorted to pacifying the authority of the Caciques who were deceived by the first Councilors for the Cabildo, and of whom there is no record because the first Books of the Cabildo de Puerto Old disappeared in the same century that they were written.
Foundation
The city was originally founded approximately 25 km from the current location in the sector known as El Higuerón, and served as an outpost for the Spanish conquistadors to stop the mantas and picoazá. This original settlement of Portoviejo was repeatedly attacked and set on fire by English and French pirates, so little by little it moved to its current location. It was founded to guard the northern border of the Governorate of Pizarro, supply corn, water and food to Spanish ships. Shortly after, Santiago de Guayaquil was consolidated, which would henceforth be the main port of the Royal Audience of Quito. Portoviejo later received the title of Very Loyal and Noble City of San Gregorio de Puerto Viejo, and was especially esteemed by Carlos I of Spain, who knew of this feat and that it was done in his name. After its foundation it was moved two more times inland. In 1605 it was already probably close to the present place. The area was attacked several times by pirates and it is known with certainty that the city was invaded in 1628 by Jacobo Hermita Clerk.
The city was the seat of Mayors, councilors of the Cabildo and encomenderos of the place, and also of the convent of La Merced, where the Mercedarian friars in charge of the doctrines resided. Its antiquity and category of City made its people have an air of nobility, for which they protested several times against the lieutenants appointed by the governors who resided in Guayaquil. At the end of the XVIII century, the city began to expand because the economy of the Puerto Viejo Party was growing due to the production of groceries and toquilla straw hats. Puerto Viejo was a party, which was part of the old entities of the Corregimiento de Guayaquil and later in 1764 to the Province of Guayaquil. Within this party was the city of Spaniards that according to Cieza de León, was originally called Villa de San Gregorio de Puerto Viejo. Around it there were several Indian towns or reductions, among them "Picoazá".
Long before the Spanish settled, the area of the current Portoviejo Canton was occupied by a small but very complex state, which in turn was part of other lordships of the northern Andean coast. This dominion was identified with the name Cancebí, a word with which the towns of these territories were designated in a general way, and which was collected by the first Chroniclers of the Indies who traveled this area.
This manor of Cancebí was also a conclave and a meeting and deliberation area for several hierarchs of other nearby manors, who had among themselves pacts and agreements of a commercial and political order, very comparable with agreements that nations currently have. The meeting center or center of power was in Cerro de Hojas, close to the current Picoazá, and the ceremonial or religious center in the adjacent hill called Jaboncillo.
The lordship of Cancebí was made up of a network of chiefdoms, each of which was probably integrated by networks of relatives and dedicated to specialized tasks, such as agriculture, pottery production, stone work, fishing, navigation, treatment and exchange of products and weaving of cotton fabrics. The entire society was organized into strata, presided over by the priests, the caciques and the Principal Lord, who maintained their political power due to the control and collection of certain products of great value for long-distance exchange and which in some cases also had a great sacred value. Two examples of these products were the spondylus shell and the emeralds, found by the Spanish in large quantities in the territories of Cancebí, one of whose deities was, in turn, a large emerald stone the size of a pigeon's egg, according to the Chronicles.
The proximity of the current city of Portoviejo, with Cerro de Hojas and Cerro Jaboncillo, allows us to establish that it has been a center of power through time, and also a center of agricultural and manufacturing production.
Near where Portoviejo is today there were some chiefdoms. In fact, it should have been so, because the Spanish settled cities in places where they had access to labor and human strength, the basis of the encomiendas and justification for evangelization. There is archaeological evidence that the settlement of Cerro de Hojas and its surroundings had about 30,000 inhabitants; there are vestiges in some nearby places and the existence of the town of Charapotó is a fact. Some chroniclers and documents mention names of towns that are still valid in the canton, such as Picoazá, as mentioned by Cieza de León; or Pinpaguaci. The pacification and subsequent foundation of Portoviejo was planned both from San Miguel de Piura by sea aboard two ships as it was in the case of Francisco Pacheco; and from Quito by land with the provision delivered to Captain Pedro de Puelles by Sebastián de Benalcazar.
One of the conquerors, Pedro de Alvarado, in an old letter mentions that the indigenous town of Puerto Viejo existed. Near the place was the town of Marchán, which the conqueror Benalcázar and Catarama found. This shows that the birth of Portoviejo can be understood without knowing its aboriginal history.
Portoviejo Foundation
The Spaniards who invaded America were legally backed by the Crown of Castile, but in reality they were private companies that also sought private profit. The Crown authorized the founding of cities and created administrative bodies that governed the social, religious, and economic life of emigrant Europeans and indigenous people. The cities, as in Spain, were governed by the Cabildo, which used to be made up of Spaniards, who governed the city and the surrounding territories. This organization allowed directing from there the conquest of new territories, exploiting natural resources and spreading the Catholic faith.
Portoviejo was founded to serve as a supply center for the Spanish who came to conquer Peru, who had an abundance of corn, an easy product to preserve but lacked manufactured products. It was also founded to control the great Señorío de Cancebí and become a border landmark of the Governorate of Pizarro, which Pedro de Alvarado, another conqueror, tried to limit.
Pedro de Alvarado reaches an agreement for Diego de Almagro, during the meeting in the inter-Andean zone near current Quito. So, he decides to send Captain Francisco Pacheco to Cancebí to found the seat of Spaniards and try to pacify the aborigines who were in open rebellion due to the aggression of different groups of invaders, including Alvarado, who had also captured several indigenous people, which Pacheco would now bring back as a sign of his desire for peace agreements. Despite the foundation, various groups of indigenous people maintained their resistance until 1564 and others adapted to preserve some elements of their ancestral culture, keeping beliefs, gastronomic recipes, forms of community organization, craftsmanship and still retaining their phenotypic traits. Francisco Pacheco had arrived by sea from the Villa de San Miguel de Piura to the territories of Puerto Viejo to carry out the final assignment ordered by Diego de Almagro under a pedimento de valor in a letter sent, when he was close to his retirement and final return to Cuzco and the subsequent discovery of the Kingdom of Chile.
Shortly before the legal act of founding the Villa was carried out, the delimitation of spaces, the allocation of lots, the creation of the council and the election of authorities, there was a controversial episode due to another member of the pizarrista group At the same time, Sebastián de Benalcazar ordered Pedro de Puelles to create the city in the Cancebí area, without clear legal support to do so. Pizarro settled the dispute and authorized Pacheco to do so. Thus was born the first council created on the Ecuadorian coast, the third city founded in what was later the Royal Court of Quito and later Ecuador, and the first city settled on the Ecuadorian coast.
It is interesting to note that Tomás de Berlanga communicated in a letter to the King of Castile the discovery of the Galapagos Islands from Portoviejo.
Transfers from Portoviejo
It is decisive that the Emperor Carlos V had already established “that to found a town a healthy place should be chosen, neither too high nor too low due to the humidity and sickness, there should be copious amounts of water, nearby woods and pastures abundant”. Already in 1535, when the Spaniards under the command of Pacheco were sailing through the Pacific Ocean, they entered Manabí through what is now known as La Boca de Charapotó, there they recognized that the place did not have the conditions that The king demanded, so they entered 2 leagues in their ships and reached the site now Correagua de Charapotó and there they disembarked and walked until they found the ideal place. On Friday, March 12, they arrived at the area of El Higuerón de Rocafuerte, the captain carried out the orders of Marshal Don Diego de Almagro when he had the banner of Castile, the cross of Christianity, planted in that place, the sword of power, the gallows and the pillory, then founded the Villa Nueva de San Gregorio de Puerto Viejo. The superior authorities of the governorate determined that Francisco Pacheco was the first Lieutenant Governor of Puerto Viejo.
The first move from Puerto Viejo occurred almost three years after the town was founded in the current area of El Higuerón de Rocafuerte, going exactly on June 11, 1538 when by order of the Then Lieutenant Governor Gonzalo de Olmos, the aforementioned city was relocated four leagues further inland to the current site of El Higuerón de Picoazá, without changing its official name. Portoviejo lasted on this site until August 18, 1565, the date on which the President of the Royal Court of Quito, Don Hernando de Santillán, ordered the visitor Bernardo de Loaysa to move Puerto Viejo one league further inland, exactly to the now sector where today is Colón street, close to the river, there arose what is now the capital city of Portoviejo and included from its beginnings the current Rocafuerte, Olmedo, Bolívar, Sucre and Córdova streets. It was in this conjugation of streets that the houses and administrative buildings were grouped in front of the layout of the Plaza de Armas that currently bears the name of Vicente Amador Flor.
Colonial Shield of Portoviejo
Carlos V Emperor of Germany who by Royal Decree of October 17, 1540 granted a coat of arms to the Castilian nobleman Don Baltazar García, resident of the Villa Nueva de San Gregorio de Puerto Viejo who performed functions in the town council as Mayor Bailiff, received the coat of arms for his family's lineage in the lands of New Castile for the services rendered to the crown during his exercise of command, since his appointment was granted to him by Governor Francisco Pizarro in the name of the King. This Spaniard living in Portoviejo arrived with Gonzalo de Olmos, who was lieutenant corregidor of Villa Nueva. The Shield is described thus:
ARMS FOR BALTAZAR GARCY
Don Carlos, etc. Because by you Baltazar García Vezino de la Villa de Villa Nueba de Puerto Viejo ques en la provincia del Perú de las Yndias del Mar Oceano, nos a sydo rrelación que puede ser veynte y cinco años little más o menos que vos con desea de nos, supe pasaieron a la dicha provincia donde nos aveis servydo con tus persona, armas y cavallo years in our Rereal Council of the Yndias on your part was made the rerelaçion and was begged us in the remembrance of the sayings your servizios and because of you and of them remains perpetual memory you let us give for arms a shield that is in it a faucet with its alaz; the mytad of the middle up in the form of a black eagle with the hands and beak of coloured and gold; and the other mytad of the middle of the abbex body as a lion of gold with the gold in the blue field and the other mytad of the middle up in the field of gold, Let's go, let's go. Given in the Villa de Madrid ten and zyete days of the month of October of myll e quenyentos e quarenta años. Fr. Cardenalis Hispalensis. I, Francisco de los Covos. Secretary of His Caesarean and Catholic Magestad, the fize escrevir by his command the Governor in his name and signed by the Dotor Beltrán, the Bishop of Lugo, and the Dotor Bernal and the Gutierrez Velázquez.General Archive of Indias, PATRONATO,169,N.2,A.1540,R.3
The colonial coat of arms of the Novo-Castilian Villa Nueva de San Gregorio de Portoviejo was adopted by that city as its own after it disintegrated first as an Indo-Hispanic dominion and later as a province, by obtaining a minor category of party in the same colonial period, although The main reason why Portoviejo adopted a coat of arms that was not his own was because there was even a disastrous fire in 1541 that left the city in ashes and where the Green Book of its foundation, council and the coat of arms that the king had already granted it as a Spanish city. Although the neighboring city of Santiago de Guayaquil would take the highest title as corregimiento after the inhabitants of that port had consolidated faster after the repeal of the Capitulation of Toledo. So this shield is older than the same shield of Quito, since it was assigned to that city with the royal decree of March 14, 1541 in Talavera de la Reina, Spain.
Currently the Portoviejo coat of arms is also used as the city coat of arms, although the only thing that remains of the colonial coat of arms is the griffin in flight and the two square quarters of gold and blue respectively that are found on the eastern side of the coat of arms, this design, which is used mainly by the mayor's office and the municipality, has become an emblem, whose three quarters (one rectangular and two quadrangular) and three entities (the tamarind tree, the key and the tap) have merged a true consolidation of heraldic characters, whose nobility was typical of the most notable cities and families in Spain, as if there were a lineage of noble blood whom the shield represents in general.
A small colonial city
Despite being one of the first cities founded in the territory of the former Governorate of Nueva Castilla, its foundation was a necessity for the conquering companies to safeguard the interests of the pizarrista campaigns, the storage of food and, finally, to take evidence that these lands already formed a jurisdiction of the Spanish crown in the New World. So Portoviejo was firstly a spanish town, created for spaniards because at the beginning, even before its foundation there would be no other ambition than gold, but with the existing rivalry between the spaniards themselves who never even left After thinking of making these lands their own and not paying any favors or tribute to the King of Spain, it later consolidated itself as a Spanish town created to solve the ambitions of the conquerors.
The true Plaza de Armas of colonial Portoviejo occupied double or triple the space of the one that is located there today, very similar to the dimensions of the Plaza Grande in Quito, or to the Plaza de Armas in Lima.
In 1605 the following description of the territory of the Province of Puerto Viejo was made:
The territory includes fertile lands from which algarrobos, morals, caimitos, pincaes, palo santo, willows, laureles, guanábanos, cerezos, ovos, ciruelos spring, and easily to these lands are adapted the fruits of Spain such as grapes, figs, quinces, grenades, oranges, limes, lemons and ciders.Fruits of mansas such as bananas, avocados, pineapples, zapotes, anones, papayas, nisperos, guayabas, plums, one that they call from Nicaragua and others from the earth: vegetables such as lettuce, radishes, carrots, seeds, onions, melons, cucumbers, squash, parsley, herbsley
The birds that are of land are the pavas of two genres, some that call paugies and other graznaderas, the males are black and the female bermejas; there are wild ducks, pigeons, torches, tortoles, halcons, gavilanes, faisanes and minor and perdices. There are also parrots, parrots, macaws and other different genres of very Galan and colorful birds with feather and soft singing: in the river shrimps and fishes are grown that call sardinillas and mojarras. The animals that are hunting are the venados, less than those of Spain, pigs of herd like the wild boars of Spain and other zainos and rabbits. There are fiery animals like lions, browns and bermes, tigers, hormigueros bear, foxes, armadillos, squirrels and primates. There are many snakes and a genus of very ponzoan snakes, called sangas, of a long rod and eight very sharp fangs, when they bite the man or animal they deprive him of sense, and he evacs blood by ears, nose, mouth, eyes and nails of hands and feet; six to twenty-four hours lasts the martyrdom and heals the bite and puts on the same tobacco. There are also scorpions and wasps whose itching causes swelling and warmth.Anonymous description of the Province of Puerto Viejo, 1605
Politics
Territorially, the city of Portoviejo is organized into 9 urban parishes, while there are 7 rural parishes that complement the total area of the Portoviejo Canton. The term "parish" It is used in Ecuador to refer to territories within the municipal administrative division.
The city and canton of Portoviejo, like other Ecuadorian towns, are governed by a municipality as provided in the Constitution of the Republic. The Gobierno Autónomo Descentralizado Municipal de Portoviejo, is a sectional government entity that administers the canton autonomously from the central government. The municipality is organized by the separation of powers of an executive nature represented by the mayor, and another of a legislative nature made up of the members of the cantonal council.
The city of Portoviejo is the capital of the province of Manabí, which is why it is the seat of the Governor's Office and the Prefecture of the province. The Government is headed by a citizen with the title of Governor of Manabí and is elected by designation of the President of the Republic himself as representative of the executive power of the state. The Prefecture, sometimes referred to as the Provincial Government, is led by a citizen with the title of Provincial Prefect of Manabí and is elected by direct suffrage in a single formula together with the vice-prefect candidate. The functions of the Governor are mostly of a representative nature of the President of the Republic, while the functions of the Prefect are oriented to the maintenance and creation of road, tourist and educational infrastructure, among others.
The Municipality of Portoviejo is governed mainly on the basis of what is stipulated in articles 253 and 264 of the Political Constitution of the Republic and in articles 1 and 16 of the Municipal Regime Law, which establishes functional autonomy, economic and administrative of the Entity.
City Hall
The executive power of the city is held by a citizen with the title of Mayor of Portoviejo Canton, who is elected by direct suffrage in a single electoral round, without formulas or binomials in municipal elections. The vice mayor is not chosen in the same way, since once the Cantonal Council is installed, a manager for that position will be chosen from among the mayors. The mayor and vice mayor hold office for four years, and in the case of the mayor, he has the option of immediate or successive re-election. The mayor is the highest representative of the municipality and has the casting vote in the cantonal council, while the vice mayor performs the functions of the mayor in a substitute manner while the incumbent mayor cannot exercise his functions.
The mayor has his own municipal administration cabinet through multiple advisory, support and operational level directorates. Those in charge of those municipal addresses are appointed by the mayor himself. Currently, the mayor of Portoviejo is Javier Pincay, elected for the period 2023 - 2027.
Cantonal Council
The legislative power of the city is exercised by the Portoviejo Cantonal Council, which is a small unicameral parliament that is constituted as in the other cantons by the provision of article 253 of the National Political Constitution. In accordance with the provisions of the law, the number of council members proportionally represents the population of the canton.
Portoviejo has 13 councilors, who are elected by suffrage (D'Hondt System) and last four years in office and may be reelected indefinitely. Of the thirteen councillors, 9 represent the urban population while 2 represent the 7 rural parishes. The mayor and vice mayor preside over the council in its sessions. When the cantonal council is newly installed for the first time, the members elect from among themselves a designated person for the position of vice mayor of the city.
Political Division
The canton is divided into urban and rural parishes that are represented by the Parish Governments before the Mayor's Office of Portoviejo. The city has 9 urban parishes.
Urban Parishes
- 12 March
- 18 October
- Andrés de Vera
- Columbus
- Francisco Pacheco
- Saint Paul
- Simón Bolívar
- Picoazá
- Portoviejo
Tourism
In Portoviejo, where you live with pure nature, we find the Mamey Ecological Park (very visited by athletes and children who play in its interiors) located next to the Portoviejo River. This is also the park of the UTM, formerly called the Botanical Garden and later another of the busiest such as El Parque Forestal. But one of the many parks that the capital of Manabita has is the Central Park or also called Vicente Amador Flor, whose interiors are full of history, culture, politics, among others.
There is an enchanted place full of culture, history and it is Cerro Jaboncillo, where remains of handicrafts, rubble or objects used by ancestors are presented, as well as enjoying a view of the city far away. In 2017, La Rotonda park was built, on an abandoned property called by the population with the same name; and in 2018 the new one was inaugurated las vegas park
Climate
According to the Köppen climate classification, Portoviejo's climate can be considered transitional between the warm semiarid climate (BSh) and the typical savannah climate (Aw), tending more to the former. It is characterized by high temperatures, its average annual temperature is 25.5 °C; with an average of 26.7 °C, April is the warmest month, while August is the coldest month, with 24.2 °C on average. Although the actual temperature is not extremely high, the humidity causes the wind chill to rise towards 36°C or more. It is an isothermal climate, with an annual thermal amplitude of less than 3 °C between the coldest and warmest months. The rains reach 692.7 mm per year, with a difference of just 160.6 mm of precipitation between the driest and the most humid months; March (18 days) has the rainiest days per month on average, while the fewest rainy days are measured in August (3 days). Relative humidity is also constant, with an annual average of 79%. The seasons of the year are not sensitive in the equatorial zone, however, its proximity to the Pacific Ocean means that the Humboldt (cold) and El Niño (warm) currents mark two well-differentiated climatic periods: a rainy and warm winter, which it goes from December to June, and a "summer" drier and slightly cooler, between July and November.
 Average climate parameters of Portoviejo, Ecuador | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Ene. | Feb. | Mar. | Open up. | May. | Jun. | Jul. | Ago. | Sep. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | Annual |
| Average temperature (°C) | 31.9 | 31.5 | 32.5 | 32.7 | 32.1 | 31.2 | 30.6 | 30.8 | 31.1 | 31.1 | 31.2 | 31.8 | 31.5 |
| Average temperature (°C) | 26.2 | 26.2 | 26.6 | 26.7 | 26.3 | 25.2 | 24.5 | 24.2 | 24.5 | 24.7 | 24.9 | 25.8 | 25.5 |
| Temp. medium (°C) | 22.5 | 22.9 | 22.8 | 22.6 | 22.3 | 21.6 | 20.8 | 20.3 | 20.5 | 21.0 | 21.1 | 21.9 | 21.7 |
| Total precipitation (mm) | 94.3 | 160.1 | 167.7 | 99.7 | 58.9 | 22.5 | 7.3 | 7.1 | 7.2 | 5.9 | 18.4 | 43.6 | 692.7 |
| Precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 14 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 109 |
| Hours of sun | 148.8 | 156.8 | 182.9 | 159 | 117.8 | 87 | 93 | 105.4 | 96 | 93 | 108 | 124 | 1471.7 |
| Relative humidity (%) | 81 | 86 | 85 | 85 | 83 | 80 | 77 | 74 | 74 | 74 | 73 | 76 | 79 |
| Source: NOAA Climate-data.org | |||||||||||||
Demographics
It has a population of 206,682 inhabitants. It is the second most populated city in Manabí, after Manta and the eighth in Ecuador. Population made up mostly of whites and descendants of Spanish, Italian, Lebanese, German and descendants of the native cultures of the area.
It should be noted that Portoviejo is the head of the aforementioned Manabí Centro Conurbation. Adding the other residents of cantons merged in this metropolitan entity, it is possible to count 686,154 inhabitants. Thus, it is the 3rd most populous metropolitan area in the country.
Ethnic Composition
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses of Ecuador, in the census carried out in 2010, the ethnographic composition of the Portoviejo canton is:
| Mestizos | Whites | Afro-Ecuadorians | Indigenous peoples | Montubio | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 67.924% | 05,670% | 05,265% | 01.65% | 22.7% | 0.2 per cent |
Culture
Gastronomy
It has one of the richest and most varied cuisines in the country, and Manabi is also the most important province in terms of gastronomy. Among the typical foods we have: - Fish or shrimp viche - Corviche - Bolones de verde (with cheese or mixed) - Fish soup with onions - Ceviche - Chicken stew - Chicken soup - Rice with breaded fish - Rice with shrimp - Crabby - White whey or curd - among other.
In 2018, Portoviejo gastronomy was declared as intangible heritage of Ecuador, certificate granted by the Ministry of Culture and the National Institute of Cultural Heritage on October 18, 2018 to commemorate the 198 years of independence of Portoviejo. This statement refers to the gastronomic culture of the entire territory that comprises the Portoviejo canton, which has played an important role in the post-earthquake recovery of 2016.
In 2019, the seasoning of the Manabita capital was recognized as part of the Creative Cities Network, by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Last October 2019, when World Cities Day was commemorated, Portoviejo received this recognition, as reported by the Municipal Autonomous Decentralized Government of Portoviejo. The Manabitas inhabitants recover their culture, through gastronomy and the conservation of ancestral recipes; points considered to be part of the Creative Cities, in the Gastronomy category. This city is the first in Ecuador to obtain this recognition. (Ministry of Tourism)
Portoviejo Rock City
One of the most emblematic points of interest in Portoviejo is the sign at the entrance to the city. But beyond being a symbol of irreverence and love of rock, the well-earned adjective of the city that inspired this sign has a story that takes us back to the eighties, when Pancho Jaime, known as "la mama of rock" and satirical writer from Guayaquil at the time, came to the city to cover an event in Las Vegas in Portoviejo. At first, Pancho Jaime expected to find the typical atmosphere of a provincial city, which, because it was not Quito or Guayaquil, did not know the musical genre. But when he arrived in Las Vegas, he was impressed by the reception of the public, and also surprised by the quality of local bands; and for the emotionality and spontaneity that the public showed. It was thus that in his press releases the pseudonym of Portoviejo Rock City, the city of rock, was born.
Julian Vera, vocalist of the rock band La Rola, took up this episode from the collective memory of Manabita and in 2009 together with the members of the band, they ordered the construction of the first sign of Portoviejo Rock City to Patricio Loor left with the objective of promoting an album, however, Portovejenses and visitors took it as a real part of the road signs. Vera, says that the sign cost $35 and that it arose as a project of friends to generate visual material. After a few months the sign disappeared from the place.
During the filming of the movie Better not to talk about certain things, by Portovejense director Javier Andrade, the sign was rebuilt for a scene and since then, the sign has remained in place and is now part of the city's heritage.
Economy
Portoviejo is located 30 km from the sea of Ecuador (Pacific Ocean) and 35 km, on a modern and safe highway, from the city of Manta, the main port of the province.
The Portoviejo River valley in which the city is located is rich in the production of vegetables, legumes and tropical fruits for domestic consumption.
The industrial sector is incipient and the most developed line is agribusiness with processing plants for refined brandy, tomato sauce and sliced banana, popularly known as chifles. Another support of the economy with which they want to gain ground is tourism, since this canton has a beach, city and countryside. The city has three campus universities and two distance ones.
Transportation
Most important avenues
- José María Urbina (University)
- Pedro Gual
- Real Tamarindos
- America
- Manabí
- 15 April
- 5 June
- 15 April
- Army
- Metropolitan
2016 earthquake
On April 16, 2016, Portoviejo suffered a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that devastated a large part of the city and left deaths, damaged and collapsed thousands of buildings.
In addition, the city experienced the first demolitions by controlled blasting in the country's history. Overthrowing emblematic buildings, icons of the city, with a height of 9 stories, such as:
- Municipal Shopping Centre: (1980 - 2016)
- Pacific Medical Center: (He suffered a slope from the fifth floor) (1997 - 2016)
- Álava Building: (1979 - 2016)
Parks
- The Rotonda
- Parque de la Madre
- Vegas
- Parque del Niño
- Vicente Amador Flor (Parque Central)
- Botanical Garden
- Eloy Alfaro
- Mamey
- Andrés de Vera
- Jorge Cevallos Galero
- Cayambe
- Juan Montalvo
- Forestal
Sports
The city has one of the largest infrastructures in the province and the country: the La California Sports Complex, which is run by the Manabí Sports Federation. The sports practiced are: Athletics, swimming, judo, boxing, tennis, baseball, skating, basketball, climbing, triple jump, javelin throw, chess, wrestling, table tennis, weight lifting, taekwondo, cycling, gymnastics, High jump, long jump, etc.
The main soccer team in the city is the Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Portoviejo, known as "La Capira", which currently plays in Serie B of Ecuadorian soccer, it is highly followed within the province whole. The Reales Tamarindos Stadium is a multipurpose stadium located on Urbina Avenue and César Chávez Cañarte Street in the city of Portoviejo. It was inaugurated on June 7, 1970. It is used mainly for soccer practice, and the city teams play there as locals. Its capacity is approximately 25,000 spectators.
Predecessor: Barquisimeto | Bolivarian City (Ambato and Cuenca) 1985 | Successor: Maracaibo |
Twinnings
Baracaldo, Spain
