Corozal
Named for the grugru palm (palma de corozo) that once dominated here, Corozal was founded 1795 and formalized 1804 in Puerto Rico's central mountains. Hurricane Maria (2017) devastated the interior, and as of 2025 only $26.7B of $72.1B obligated FEMA funds have reached the island while power outages rose 19% in 2024.
Corozal takes its name from the grugru palm (palma de corozo, Acrocomia media) that once dominated the central Puerto Rican landscape. Founded in 1795 by Joaquín Marrero and José de Rivera Ortiz, the municipality became an official town in 1804. It sits in the central-eastern region of the island, part of the Cordillera Central where coffee, tobacco, and livestock ranching historically sustained mountain communities.
The municipality followed Puerto Rico's familiar agricultural trajectory. Spanish colonial administrators created territorial divisions; the hacienda economy extracted agricultural products; and the 20th-century shift to manufacturing drew labor toward the coast. Like other interior municipalities, Corozal experienced population stagnation as young people sought factory jobs in coastal cities or migrated to the mainland.
Hurricane Maria in September 2017 devastated Puerto Rico's interior municipalities with particular intensity. The mountain terrain that once provided agricultural microclimates became a liability: landslides blocked roads, power lines through remote terrain proved impossible to restore quickly, and federal relief arrived slowly. As of 2025, only $26.7 billion of the $72.1 billion FEMA has obligated for Puerto Rico recovery has actually reached the island. Power outages increased 19% between 2023 and 2024.
The economic fragility extends beyond infrastructure. Puerto Rico's GDP contracted 0.7% on average year-over-year in fiscal year 2025, with island-wide power cuts affecting all sectors. For interior municipalities like Corozal, distant from the San Juan-Caguas metropolitan area that represents 75% of Puerto Rico's economy, the combination of unreliable electricity and slow reconstruction creates compounding disadvantages.
By 2026, Corozal will likely continue grappling with recovery that remains incomplete eight years after Maria. The grugru palms still grow, but the economic foundation beneath them has not rebuilt.