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Regla Municipality. Characterization.
Regla Municipality is composed geographically by two well-defined regions linked by land and by sea: Casablanca and Regla. It has a total territorial extension of 9.2 km², and from the political point of view, it is divided into three Popular Councils: Guaicanamar, Loma – Modelo and Casa Blanca.
The indigenous name of the town later called Nuestra Señora de Regla, is Guaicanamar, whose meaning is “facing the sea.”
This is the second municipality with greater economic weight in the province of Havana, in Cuba. It is committed to more than 50% of the activities of the capital port, as well as all development investments in that Havana cove.
Among its fundamental productions are: oil refining, liquefied gas, aluminum production, gross catch of frozen fish and wheat flour, as well as shipyards and construction industries. The main economic objectives of the municipality are: The Cuban Fishing Fleet, the Gulf Fleet, the Fishing Terminal, the Heavy Construction Brigade and the Dikes.
The territory has many interesting traditions, for example feasts such as the “Flower Dance” (May) and the “Blue Night” (September). The festivities of the Regla Foundation, the Saint Patron of the Virgin of Regla, the Saint Patron of the Virgin of Carmen, the Pilgrimage to the Lenin Hill, the Feast of the Sea, among others.
At the same time, Regla is one of the most well-known populations in Cuba, especially because of its extraordinary religious heritage. It is one of the strongholds of African-American religions. It is also a territory of syncretism between these cults and those of Catholic dogma. The image of its church, the Virgin of Regla, is venerated by hundreds of thousands of faithful. People come to the town, above all because of the famous boat of Regla, which crosses Havana Bay. The church is built just outside the whereabouts.
Regal Municipality. History.
The history of Casablanca and Regla goes back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries respectively, which shows in both cases the existence of a personality of its own. Casablanca has an indefinite origin. Its town began to be fomented from 1589, when in that part of the coast of the bay, was constructed by the Real Estate, a deposit to store the objects that did not fit in the warehouses of Havana. According to the story, the building was always painted white and by force of habit and custom, that “white house” (CasaBlanca) baptized that region. Those who traveled by sea there told the boat man to take them to CasaBlanca, which has reached today with its name more than 4 centuries.
Regla, whose native name was Güaicanamar, which meant “facing the sea”, belonged to the Indian village of Guanabacoa (place of waters). From the 27 of February of 1573 the existence of a village of Indians was known, nevertheless it is taken as reference when talking about its emergence the 3 of March of 1687, when the Marquis of the Real Proclamation, Don Pedro Recio de Oquendo, donates to the pilgrim Manuel Antonio, native of Peru, a piece of land for the construction of a Hermitage to the Virgin of Regla. Later, around it, the human settlements began, that in their constant enlargement and development in the time, gave origin to our current patrimony. That is why this date is considered as the starting point of its foundation.
This town had a cultural development along with its neighbor “across from”, Havana.
Geographical Location of Regla Municipality.
Regla limits to the north with East Havana, to the south with San Miguel del Padrón, to the east with Guanabacoa and to the west with Old Havana.
Number of Inhabitants in Regla Municipality.
Regla has an approximate population of 44 501 inhabitants and a population density of 4837.1 hab / km².
Regla Municipality. Landmarks.
Regla has three national monuments: The Sanctuary of Regla, the Municipal Palace and the Lenin Hill. The Artistic and Literary Lyceum founded in 1878 is considered as Local Monument.
The Municipal Museum called “Eduardo Gomez Luaces”, inaugurated on December 29th, 1982, preserves in its archives numerous and important documentary sources of the history of Regla and the Havana´s Port.
Regla Municipality. Health Institutions.
Despite having no hospital, more than 80 family doctors, 30 stomatologists and 170 nurses work in the municipality. Also in this locality is the polyclinic “Lidia and Clodomira” and a stomatologic clinic, institutions that have subsidiaries in Casablanca. It also has a community mental health center that includes a hospital during the day.
Regla Municipality. Educational Centers.
In Regla, the educational system relies on 28 school institutions of general polytechnic and labor education: six kindergartens, four kindergartens, ten elementary schools, four basic secondary schools, a polytechnic, three special schools of delay and conduct, an EOC -SOC-FOC and a language school.
