One of Rincon’s famous sunsets –La ciudad de los bellos atardeceres

Rincon for better and worse has become a special hot spot on the island of Puerto Rico. It is a relatively (for now) unspoiled surfing haven known for lots of beaches, snorkeling and the most lovely sunsets. Unlike many cities and towns, it has a thriving tourism economy and the secret is out about its beauty and unique, laid back ways. With this, of course, comes a lot of interest from all corners of the globe. When people from the states visit, they often look at the prices in comparison and think, “Wow, that’s a lot more affordable. Wouldn’t it be great to live there?” (We did!) As this continues to happen, Rincon struggles to keep up. Here are some of the themes of Rincon’s growing pains. Many of these issues intermingle, but at its core is change! And change is often hard!

Beware of Falling Almonds and Iguanas! Rincon

Gentrification/Xenophobia
Unlike in other parts of the country, gentrification in this case takes a different twist in that it is the minority population (namely mainland Americans) buying up large swathes of property and changing the character (and cost) of the area. For many years this has been slow and steady and just part of Rincon as “gringolandia” but as it continues to gain steam, many locals are selling out and the feel has changed quite a bit. When this happens there can be an ugly backlash and resentment that people cannot even afford to live in their own town. And this is not without merit either. Rincon has the highest concentration of Airbnb rental units in the Caribbean and it makes much more financial sense to rent out units short term than long to locals. Prices in general are much higher in Rincon than even in the neighboring towns of Anasco and Aguada and we often find ourselves shopping or eating out of town for this reason.

A snippet of a social media conversation about a “gringo” threatening the driver of a (very LOUD, very early) speaker truck

Horses in a truck

Changing Identity and the Old Ways Vs the New
Rincon is still a small town. There are only about 15,000 residents total, with maybe 1,000 full-time “gringos.” It may feel like more, but that is because it often gets crowded with visiting tourists. These people don’t live here though. Still, this contributes to the sentiment that Rincon is “getting taken over” by “Americanos” or that it is “lost” to the gringos. (I have heard these comments myself.) It is still a rural country town, but with the changing times and demographics (and yes, gentrification) some of the identity is changing too. Some people want the loud speaker trucks to go away. Some are glad cockfighting is now illegal (in a shady Federal deal done without the knowledge or input of Puerto Rico). Even taking your dog or horse to the local chinchorro is getting cracked down upon. More and more stray dogs and cats get spayed and neutered. Where it was once the “wild west” of Puerto Rico, it is now much more controlled and calm (though still wild by state standards).

Random street jam in Rincon

It is also changing its identity to be more modern and hip(ster). This is both an influence from the states as well as Puerto Rico’s larger areas in general. There are gastroparks, tons of coffee shops, yoga galore and an oil to water look of “gringos” in swimsuits or shorts and flip-flops walking around (if any shoes at all) and local Puerto Ricans in collared shirts, pants and shoes. There are also many people of both cultures sporting long beards and man-buns. Rincon, in particular, especially flavors the ‘granola’ culture of all things natural and organic. Many local Puerto Ricans are not against this and it usually blends well with the agricultural, laid back attitude here.

Horse tied up outside a grocery store in Mayaguez

Community turnout for questions/protests of the Blue Water Project -credit Jim Crotty/FB

Marina Beach won’t be the same if there is a huge hotel

Rapid Growth/Large-Scale Projects
One of the most recent and controversial projects is the Blue Water Casino and Hotel that is projected/proposed to be built in the Rincon Marina area. This is an especially fragile area to build because it is right next to the Tres Palmas Marine Reserve and would be the first casino in Rincon. Many fear it would change the identity of Rincon permanently for the worse. People are mobilizing to fight this behemoth with signage, campaigns to politicians and even (ironically?) using the speaker trucks around town to play this song.  And one of biggest issues with this project is that Rincon’s infrastructure can hardly handle the current growth rate, let alone what a Mega Hotel is likely to bring to the town.

Signs like these are posted all over Rincon right now

Crime
During tourist season (winter months) there always seems to be a jump in crime. Criminals take advantage of naive tourists who leave expensive items like cameras, phones and even purses in their cars as they go out to enjoy themselves at restaurants or the beach and break in and steal these items (and sometimes even the car itself). The infrastructure, including the police resources, has not grown in step with the needs of the community to help solve these crimes. So instead, the overwhelmed municipal government passed a law against parking in the dark! Instead of actually dealing with the criminal behavior, they made the victims the criminals for going out in the first place! Talk about bad policy in action. And yet, the casino rolls full steam ahead.

Lack of Resources/Poor Infrastructure esp in Puntas
Overall, nearly all of these issues could be handled with the proper infrastructure and planning. But that is just not going to happen until the money is allocated there. The roads are pitted with potholes, there are not enough police or fire resources, some electrical lines have not been repaired since Maria and there is now water rationing due to the damage to the Guajataca Dam. What’s more is that the most expensive, desirable -and arguably gentrified- neighborhood in Rincon, Puntas, still has some of the most frequent water and power outages on the island. The residents have banded together to try to form their own initiative to bring consistent water to the area. You can read about the issue here, A Rinconvenient Truth.

It may look nice, but it has insidious implications on the town

National Promotions -Coca Cola
And last, but not least, is a sign of the times when Coca Cola has bought out most of Rincon with its promotions. Many businesses were approached as part of a music festival weekend to film a commercial. Their business would be featured and they would even get new signs (letreros) and swag (T-shirts, in-store promotions, coolers, etc). It would cost nothing. All they had to do was go along with the fun. Unfortunately, this is the standard playbook of the tobacco industry. The soft drink industry is under tremendous pressure to stay normalized because even one can of soda is now considered to have more than the healthy limit of added sugars. What is more, Puerto Ricans have already struggled with an overweight and diabetes epidemic and this only adds fuel to the fire.  And while Coca Cola has always had a presence in Puerto Rico, it has never been so blatant as painting murals and buying out businesses in the past as it has often done in places like Mexico. I hope it is not a sign of things to come where the town becomes completely bought out by corporate and big-money interests at the cost of the individual people.

Gas stations and even the smallest food stop were tagged by Coke

Overall, Rincon has many challenges to overcome from these issues as it develops its identity even through these growing pains. One hopes that its character doesn’t transform so much that we lose the Rincon that we know and love, while allowing for smart growth to accommodate the evolving times and demographics. Change will happen whether we like it or not, but we all can help guide it to be healthy, cooperative and beautiful! Good job to all the residents and visitors who care enough about Rincon to help it become its best!

Enjoying a nice brunch at the English Rose in Rincon