Florida

Florida is Puerto Rico's youngest municipality—and its story of becoming one reveals how administrative boundaries follow economic logic. In 1881, Father Carrión, the mayor of Barceloneta, and other dignitaries visited a four-acre tract and established a new barrio called Florida Adentro. The landowner Don Manuel Cintrón granted the land while retaining a portion for himself. The name comes from the Spanish florido—'flowery'—describing the lush landscapes that made pineapple cultivation possible.

For nearly a century, Florida Adentro remained a barrio of Barceloneta. Attempts to separate in 1949 and 1960 failed. Only in 1974, when Governor Luis A. Ferré and the Puerto Rican Senate acted, did Florida become Puerto Rico's 78th and final municipality. This makes it one of the few places whose founding within living memory allows precise documentation—no legends about colonial governors or contested founding dates.

Geography defines Florida's character. At just 10 square miles, it is Puerto Rico's second-smallest municipality. More distinctively, it is the only municipality with its urban area situated within the northern karst region—surrounded by mogotes, the distinctive limestone haystack hills that define Caribbean karst topography. The 'Tierra de los Mogotes' (Land of the Haystack Hills) also calls itself 'Pueblo de la Piña Cayenalisa' (Town of the Cayenalisa Pineapple), honoring the agricultural specialty that shaped its identity.

Pineapple economics built Florida's early prosperity. The Cayenalisa variety became synonymous with the municipality. But the same forces that transformed Puerto Rico's broader economy—Operation Bootstrap's industrialization, urbanization, competition from Hawaii and elsewhere—pushed the fruit industry toward near-extinction. Manufacturing moved in: rubber and plastic products replaced pineapple as economic drivers. Some agriculture persists—coffee, plantains, bananas—but the pineapple fields that justified independence have largely vanished.

The 2022 Census of Agriculture showed Puerto Rico's agricultural production reaching $703 million—up 45% from 2018. But the gains came from milk, poultry, and field crops rather than the specialty fruits that once defined municipalities like Florida. The 'Tierra del Río Encantado' (Land of the Enchanted River) now positions itself around natural beauty and karst landscapes rather than agricultural exports. By 2026, Florida embodies the tension in Puerto Rico's smallest communities: too young to have colonial heritage, too small to diversify fully, and too specialized in a crop that globalization made uncompetitive.