San Antonio Oeste
San Antonio Oeste is a port city in southern Argentina. The capital of the department of San Antonio is located on the Atlantic coast of the province of Río Negro on the Golfo San Matías and has 21 643 inhabitants ( 2010 census of INDEC ). The urban area is spread out, one of the district is the popular seaside resort of Las Grutas.
- 6.1 Economic Activities
- 6.2 traffic
- 6.3 Water supply
Location
The Golfo San Matías, a wide bay on the Atlantic coast, forms on its northern tip of the Bay of San Antonio, which is bounded on the south by two headlands. On the western headland is San Antonio Oeste, on the east ( Punta Villarino ) the lesser of San Antonio Este. The area is characterized by the Patagonian steppe, there are isolated mesas and salt lakes.
Climate
The climate is warmgemäßigt and has an average of 23 ° C in January, the warmest summer of the entire Argentine Atlantic coast, acting through the often waving Pampero wind but very rough. The rainfall is about 250 millimeters falling distributed throughout the year.
Districts
The city is divided into three districts: the actual San Antonio Oeste ( 16,265 inhabitants according to the 2010 census ), which lies on the west coast of the bay of Puerto San Antonio Este on the opposite eastern side of the bay ( 381 inhabitants) and the seaside resort of Las Grutas, 7 km south-west ( 4,807 inhabitants). The three parts are in the statistics of INDEC as separate Localidades ( places ) because the buildings between them is not continuous. The remaining inhabitants live in the country. Another district, which, however, not the status of such has is the area surrounding the intersection of Ruta Nacional 3, three kilometers north of the center, where some service providers for travelers ( gas stations, restaurants, shops, entertainment places ) are located.
San Antonio Oeste
The actual San Antonio Oeste refers to the Punta San Antonio peninsula about 5 km along the railway line along. The center is located about 1 km west of the tip of the peninsula, the oldest buildings, fishermen's houses made of wood and corrugated iron from the early 1900's, but will be right on the harbor, where a beach was created. The port used today almost exclusively by fishing boats, is only at high tide in operation since at low tide dry lies the bay. In the south of the peninsula, the alkali factory Alpat lies with a small harbor and railway links.
Large parts of the western part of the village are determined from the station, which has a large, but now almost disused warehouse. The route is now used by only a few trains.
San Antonio Este / Las Conchillas
San Antonio Este is located on the north side of Punta Villarino peninsula that is bordered to the bay of San Antonio in the southeast and moved about one kilometers to Punta San Antonio to the south, about 3 km from the tip of the peninsula itself. The port facilities account for the major part of the town. In recent years the town has expanded to the south coast, where the yet small tourist resort of Las Conchillas is built on the same beach. At the tip of the peninsula is a nature reserve with a mane seal colony.
Las Grutas
Main article: Las Grutas
Las Grutas was in 2013 with 38,000 beds, the most important seaside resort in Patagonia and was visited in the peak season in January and February of around 320,000 tourists. The district stretches four kilometers along the coast, almost without exception, the character of a cliff assumes there with caves, among which are partly sandy, partly rocky beaches. Las Grutas, established in 1964 was initially a weekend resort, transformed but from the 1980s in a tourist -oriented seaside resort with a very lively center in the season. Numerous buildings of traditional Arab architecture has been modeled, such as the commercial complex in Casablanca. The number of permanent residents who had quadrupled between 1991 and 2001 increased from the 2,700 in 2001 up to 2010 up to 4800 and did so this year for about one- fifth of the total population of San Antonio Oeste.
History
1779 a Spanish expedition explored the coast of the Golfo San Matías, and as they reached the place on the anniversary Anthony the Great (Spanish San Antonio Abad ), the name stuck ever since for the Bay exist. However, it took until 1898 until after the annihilation campaign of General Julio Argentino Roca against the Indians a port settlement on the east side of the bay created, which was called Puerto del Este and quickly developed into a major export port. Established on the west side, from 1905 also a settlement. As the paths for Westort were shorter in 1905, the port was moved here, so that today's San Antonio Oeste arose. After connecting to the railway network (1908 ) was the San Antonio port, were supplied from which the materials for the further construction of the railway line to San Carlos de Bariloche, which was completed in 1934. Thereafter, the port lost its importance.
Due to the creation of new industries and the development of tourism, the population of the city increased between the censuses of 1991 and 2001 to 34.7 percent.
Culture and sights
The city has a few architectural attractions. There are a few huts that are made of corrugated iron and early 20th century were the predominant house form. Worth seeing is the residence of Ingeniero Jacobacci and the fishing port. Modeled on the English architecture is the building of the Banco Nación, still there is a neo-classical Town Hall ( municipalidad ). There is also a historical museum. The city is also known for its seafood restaurants.
In San Antonio there is the Institute of Marine Biology Alfonsina Storni. In Las Grutas, there is also a convention center.
Economy and infrastructure
Industries
San Antonio is the most important port city of the province of Río Negro. The largest port is opened in 1983, designed for overseas ships Eastern Harbour (Puerto de San Antonio Este ). From there, fruits and other agricultural products that are produced in the valley of the Río Negro, shipped. The older West Port, which is usable only at high tide, is now used to a small extent of the fishery that has only regional importance. Furthermore, there is a bigger fish factory. The economy is supplemented since the late 1990s by the alkali factory Alcalís de la Patagonia ( Alpat ).
Since the 1980s, tourism is gaining in Las Grutas and since the early 2000s in San Antonio Este important. Also, the city is a local service center for sheep breeding farms around. The shipment of wool, in the beginning the main activity of the port, but no longer has any meaning.
Traffic
The Aeropuerto Antoine Saint- Exupery Airport, named after the famous French writer and pilot, who made numerous flights in the area, located between the actual San Antonio and Las Grutas. By 2009, the airport was served by LADE schedule. Since this year, the operation is limited to general aviation ( private and commerce) and on government flights.
The public long-distance transport is mainly handled by buses. San Antonio has a central bus station in the west of the urban area as well as two breakpoints near the harbor and right in the center; the various bus routes are spread over these three stops. There is also a bus station in Las Grutas. There are daily a variety of bus services to the south ( to Río Gallegos ), west ( Neuquén, Mendoza), north ( Córdoba, to Jujuy ) and northeast ( Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Rosario ), and a Mittelstreckenbus after Valcheta inland.
The town lies on the railway line between Buenos Aires and San Carlos de Bariloche, whose operation is interrupted, however, between Bahía Blanca and Viedma because of the bad road condition. The station is located in the west of the city.
In public transport, there is a closely timed service between San Antonio and Las Grutas, continues to be a less frequent transport to San Antonio Este, where the traffic is mainly handled by private boat, because the land is 60 kilometers five times as long as the sea. A regular boat service but there is no, which is related to the influence of the tides, because at low tide the boat connection is almost drained.
Water supply
San Antonio Oeste has no natural access to fresh water. The drinking water was originally brought from the nearby village Valcheta by truck and rail. In 1972 the channel was Pomona - San Antonio Oeste inaugurated, which supplies the city with drinking water since then. He takes the water to the Río Negro at Pomona in the vicinity of the city Choele Choel.