Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
visitors who share affection for this place have come to call Vieques 'Isla Nena,' a term of
endearment meaning 'Little Girl Island.'
These days Vieques is synonymous with its gorgeous beaches, semiwild horses and un-
forgettable bioluminescent bay.
History
When Columbus 'discovered' Puerto Rico on his second voyage in 1493, Taíno people
were living peacefully (save for the occasional skirmish with Carib neighbors) on Vieques.
With the expansion of Puerto Rico under Ponce de León, more Taíno fled to the island;
Caribs joined them and the two groups mounted a fierce resistance to Spanish occupation.
It failed. Spanish soldiers eventually overran the island, killing or enslaving the natives
who remained.
Even so, Spanish control over the island remained tentative at best. In succeeding years,
both the British and French tried to claim the island as their own. In reality, Vieques re-
mained something of a free port, thriving as a smuggling center.
Sugarcane plantations covered much of Vieques when the island fell to the Americans in
1898 as spoils from the Spanish-American War, but during the first half of the 20th century
the cane plantations failed. Vieques lost more than half its population and settled into near
dormancy; the remaining locals survived as they always had, by subsistence farming, fish-
ing and smuggling.
Shortly after WWII broke out, the US Navy showed up on Vieques and grabbed about
70% of the island's 33,000 acres to build military bases (
Click here
). They held onto it
until May 2003 when, after four years of peaceful protests, the land was ceded to the US
Fish & Wildlife Refuge. In the years since, Puerto Rican, US and international developers
have been salivating at the prospect of building mega hotels and more. But for the time
being, ecotourism, construction, cattle raising, fishing, ordnance clearing and some light
manufacturing (such as the General Electric assembly plant) bring money and jobs to the
island.
Sights
With about 10,000 people, Vieques is considerably more populated than its sleepy sister is-
land, Culebra. Consequently, it has two towns to Culebra's one. The main settlement, Isabel
Segunda (Isabella II), is on the north side where the ferry docks. Most people run through
Isabel Segunda en route to Esperanza, on the Caribbean side. Esperanza is indisputably
prettier, with a public beach, and a
malecón
(waterfront promenade) lined with numerous
attractive and entertaining restaurants and guesthouses.
