Patillas
Named for abundant watermelons, founded 1811 around sugar mills—'La Esmeralda del Sur' now grows plantains where cane cutters once worked and tourists fish in the 1914 reservoir.
Patillas exists because watermelons grew abundantly here—and because sugar mills needed workers concentrated in one place. The name comes from the indigenous word for a native watermelon variety; the fruit that carpeted these lands before European settlement gave the municipality its identity. When Doña Adelina Cintrón donated eight acres of 'La Finca Patillas' in 1811, the town that formed carried the fruit's name into permanence.
Sugar cane mills drove the settlement. Local landowners petitioned Spanish authorities for pueblo status on December 4, 1811, arguing that centralized milling required centralized labor. The valley's plantation economy shaped everything: the flag's crossed machetes honor the cane cutters who built the town's prosperity, while the watermelon leaf acknowledges what grew before sugar dominated. A fire in 1841 destroyed much of the original settlement; what was rebuilt reflected the valley's dual identity.
Modern Patillas calls itself 'La Esmeralda del Sur'—the Emerald of the South—for the green mountains that glow when sunlight hits them. Both beach and mountain municipality, Patillas occupies the southeastern coast while rising into the Cordillera's foothills. Lago Patillas, a reservoir built in 1914 by damming the Patillas and Marín rivers, now serves recreation and fishing alongside water supply.
Today the economy has shifted: Patillas is a major plantain production center, replacing the sugar that created it. Tourism draws visitors to beaches, forests, and the lake. By 2026, the Emerald tests whether plantains and eco-tourism sustain what sugar and watermelons began.