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PONCE
- PUERTO RICO Ponce, the city named
after the great Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León, is a touristic and
historic site in South Puerto Rico.
Ponce, nicknamed The City of Los Leones after Ponce de León, has one of
Puerto Rico's richest histories, dating back to the 19th century.
In 1883, Ponce was ravaged by an enormous fire.
The fire was threatening to destroy all of Puerto Rico's South, but thanks
to the brave firemen of Ponce, after an historic and dramatic battle with
the fire, Ponce and the South were saved. The fire station where these
firemen came from has since become a museum and touristic attraction to all
Puerto Ricans and tourists from abroad, while still serving the Ponce
community.
Ponce, a place that welcomed thousands of Black immigrants in the earlier
centuries, also became the birthplace of La Plena, a music rhythm that was
the precursor of Salsa music. La Plena combines the sound of la pandereta,
la conga and las maracas, which combined with dances by women and their
couples, makes for a very sweet music to hear.
In 1937, Ponce was the scene of an incident dubbed the "Ponce Massacre" in
which unarmed Nationalist protesters were shot by police.
Ponce's touristic appeal did not go unnoticed, and since the 1960s, the
Holiday Inn Hotel branch located there has become almost as famous as
Ponce's touristic attractions. International flights were once flown there
into Mercedita Airport by Eastern Airlines and later by American Airlines,
while domestic operations were overseen by Prinair. Nowadays, Mercedita is
strictly a domestic airport, with Cape Air dba Continental Connection flying
from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Connections from SJU are easily available.
Ponce is also the home of El Museo de Arte de Ponce, which was operated by
Puerto Rico's former Governor Luis A. Ferré until his death at the age of
99, the Don Q liquor manufacturer and the Leones de Ponce, Puerto Rico's
national basketball champions eleven times.
Ponce in October 1985 suffered a great tragedy, when at least 129 people
lost their lives to an avalanche in an area known as Mameyes. International
help was needed to rescue people and corpses. The United States and many
foreign countries, such as Mexico, France, and Venezuela, sent economic,
human, and machinery relief. Ponce, and all of Puerto Rico, has always been
thankful of the countries that helped.
Famous Ponceños include former world boxing light heavyweight champion José
Torres, former world champion Carlos Ortiz, international singer Ednita
Nazario, former governors Luis A. Ferré, Dr. Pedro Rosselló, and Rafael
Hernández Colón, former Menudo Roy Rosselló, Ferré's sister, Sor Isolina
Ferré, and teacher Lourdes Pamela Pop.
Ponce's mayor for fifteen years (since 1989), Rafael Cordero, died on the
morning of January 17, 2004, as a consequence of three brain strokes.
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