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Mar del Plata

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For the capital of the Province of Buenos Aires, see La Plata.
Mar del Plata
City
Varese beach at dusk
Varese beach at dusk
Coat of arms of Mar del Plata
Coat of arms
Official logo of Mar del Plata
Nickname(s): 

La Ciudad Feliz (The Happy City), Mardel, La Perla del Atlántico (The Pearl of the Atlantic)
Country Argentina
Province Buenos Aires
PartidoGeneral Pueyrredón
FoundedFebruary 10, 1874
Government
 • IntendantGustavo Pulti
Area
 • Total79.48 km2 (30.69 sq mi)
Elevation
38 m (125 ft)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total614,350
Time zoneUTC-3
Postal code
B7600
Phone code+54 223
Websitewww.mardelplata.gov.ar Template:Es icon

Mar del Plata is an Argentine city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, 400 km (249 mi) south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" has the meaning of "sea of the Plate region" or "adjoining sea to the (River) Plate region".[1] Mar del Plata is one of the major fishing ports and the biggest seaside beach resort in Argentina. With a population of 614,350 as per the 2010 census [INDEC], it is the 7th largest city in Argentina.

Economy

One of the beaches of Mar del Plata during summer tourism season.

As part of the Argentine recreational coast, tourism is Mar del Plata's main economic activity with seven million tourists visiting the city in 2006. Mar del Plata has a sophisticated tourist infrastructure with numerous hotels, restaurants, casinos, theatres and other tourist attractions. Mar del Plata is also an important sports centre with a multi-purpose Olympic style stadium (first used for the 1978 World Cup and later upgraded for the 1995 Pan American Games), five golf courses and many other facilities.

As an important fishing port, industry concentrates on fish processing and at least two large shipyards.[2][3]

The area is also host to other light industry, such as textile, food manufacturing and polymers. There is a well-developed packaging machines industry, its quality being recognized in international markets.[4] One of these companies was one of the pioneers in the automatic packaging of tea bags,[5] exporting its original machine-designs abroad. Another company also exports its products and sold royalties to other countries.[6]

During the mid-1980s, Mar del Plata saw the birth of electronics factories, focused mostly on the telecommunications field, with two of them succeeding in the international market.[7][8]

Since the 2000s, a local company builds and develops oil industry equipment, with customers in the United States, Russia, Oman and Egypt.[9][10]

Located southwest of the city there are quartzite quarries. The stone is traditionally used in construction. There is a huge area of farms in the rural areas surrounding the city, specialized mostly in the cultivation of vegetables.

Although the area had suffered from a high rate of unemployment from 1995 to 2003, Mar del Plata has seen 46,000 new jobs created from the third quarter of 2003 to the third quarter of 2008, representing an increase of 22%.[11]

The 2008 Davis Cup Final was held in Mar del Plata and, after being shut for a decade the Gran Hotel Provincial (one of the largest hotels in Argentina) was reopened by the Madrid-based NH Hotels, in 2009.

Mar del Plata continues to lead Argentina's room availability: of 440,000 registered hotel rooms nationwide in early 2009, the city was home to nearly 56,000 (5,000 more than Buenos Aires).[12]

Transportation

Mar del Plata is served by Astor Piazzolla International Airport (MDQ/SAZM) with daily flights to Buenos Aires served by Aerolíneas Argentinas and Sol Líneas Aéreas and weekly flights to Patagonia served by LADE.

Since 2010, the city has a bus and train station serving most cities in Argentina. There are two daily trains to Buenos Aires' Estación Constitución.

Highway 2 connects Mar del Plata with Buenos Aires and Route 11 connects it through the coastline, ending at Miramar, 40 km (25 mi) south of Mar del Plata. Route 88 connects to Necochea and Route 226 to Balcarce, Tandil and Olavarría.

History

Main article: History of Mar del Plata
Vacationers enjoy Bristol Beach, circa 1910

Pre-Spanish era: The region was inhabited by Günuna Kena nomads (also known as northern Tehuelches). They were later (after the 11th century) strongly influenced by the Mapuche culture.

1577–1857: First European explorers. Sir Francis Drake made a reconnaissance of the coast and its sea lion colonies; Don Juan de Garay explored the area by land a few years later. In 1742, during the War of Jenkin's Ear, eight survivors of HMS Wager, part of Admiral Anson expedition, and led by Isaac Morris, lived through a ten-months ordeal before being decimated and captured by the Tehuelches, who eventually handed them to the Spaniards. After holding the Englishmen as prisoners, they returned Morris and his companions to London in 1746.[13] First colonization attempt by Jesuit Order near Laguna de los Padres ended in disaster (1751).

1857–1874: The Portuguese entrepreneur José Coelho de Meirelles, taking advantage of the country's abundance of wild cattle, built a pier and a factory for salted meat, but the business only lasted a few years.

1874–1886: Patricio Peralta Ramos acquired the now abandoned factory along with the surrounding terrain, and founded the town on February 10, 1874. Basque rancher Pedro Luro bought a part of Peralta Ramos land for agricultural production. First docks also erected around this time.

1886–1911: The railway line from Buenos Aires, built by the Buenos Aires Great Southern reached Mar del Plata in 1886; the first hotels started their activity. The upper-class people from Buenos Aires became the first tourist of the new born village. They also established a local government that reflected their conservative ideals. Build-up of a French style resort.

1911–1930: The residents, mostly new arrived immigrants from Europe, demanded and obtained the control of the Municipality administration. The socialist were the mainstream political force in this period, carrying out social reforms and public investment. The main port was also built and inaugurated in 1916.

1930–1946: A military coup reinstated the Conservative hegemony in politics through electoral fraud and corruption, but in the local level they were quite progressive, their policies viewed in some way as a continuity of the socialist trend. The seaside Casino complex opened in 1939, was designed by architect Alejandro Bustillo, and Highway 2, the main road to Buenos Aires, also dates from this period.

1946–1955: Birth of the Peronist movement. A coalition between socialists and radicals defeated this new party by a narrow margin in Mar del Plata, but by 1948 the Peronism will dominate the local administration. The massive tourism, triggered by the welfare politics of Perón and the surge of the middle class marked a huge growth in the city's economy.

1955–1970: After the fall of Perón, the socialists regained the upper hand in local politics; the city reached the peak in activities like construction business and building industry. Massive immigration from other regions of Argentina.

1970–1989: Slight decline of tourism demand, counterbalanced by the increasing of other industries such as fishing and machinery. General infrastructure renewal under the military rule. The centrist Radical Civic Union becomes the main political force after the return of Democracy in 1983.

1989–present: Though the Peronism replaced the radicals in central government amid a national financial crisis, the latter party continued to rule in Mar del Plata. Some resurge of mass tourism in the early '90s was followed by a deep social crisis in town, with an increase of poverty, jobless rate and emigration. By contrast, the first decade of the 21st century shows an amazingly quick recovery in all sectors of the ailing economy.

In November 2005 the city hosted the 4th Summit of the Americas.

Culture

Mar del Plata is the most popular destination for conventions in Argentina after Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata has a wide range of services in this sector. The summer season hosts over fifty theatrical plays.

Shows and festivals

The local Government sponsors a Symphonic Orchestra, as well as a two Conservatoriums (Classical and popular music) and a School of Classical and Modern Dance.

Nightlife

The Museum of the Sea opened in 2000, and it holds a collection of over 30,000 sea shells, among other specimens.

Mar del Plata has a wide variety of clubs located by district: the area of Alem street and Irigoyen (known for its quantity of pubs and nightclubs) and the coast and Constitution Avenue.

Museums

Personalities

Alberto Bruzzone's workshop
Guillermo Vilas near the peak of his career in 1975

Architecture

See also: Mar del Plata style
Villa Normandy, built in 1919
An example of "Mar del Plata Style"

The development of the city as a seasonal summer resort in the early 20th century led upper class tourists from Buenos Aires to build a European-inspired architecture, based mainly on the picturesque and later on the art deco styles. This gave Mar del Plata the nickname of the Argentine Biarritz. The building industry became the main non-seasonal activity of the town by 1920.

During the '30s,'40s, and beyond, local architects and builders, like Auro Tiribelli, Arturo Lemmi, Alberto Córsico-Picollini and Raúl Camusso recreated and transformed the picturesque values into a middle-class scale, marking the beginning of a vernacular architecture, called Mar del Plata Style, consisting in small samples of the luxury-laden summer residences of high society, built for the summer visitor as well as for the local resident.

These chalets were built with stone façades, gables roofs covered with Spanish or French tiles, prominent eaves and front porches. This gives the town some distinctive urban character compared with other Argentine cities, despite the fact that the growing mass of tourists in the '60s imposed the construction of large apartment buildings and skyscrapers as the predominant architectural style downtown.[28]

Climate

Mar del Plata has an oceanic climate (Cfb, according to the Köppen climate classification), with humid and moderate summers and relatively cool winters, although polar air masses from Antarctica are frequent. The average temperatures for January reach 20 °C (68 °F) and 8 °C (46 °F) for July. The West-Southwest winds bring down the temperature below 0 °C (32 °F), while the Southeast ones (the so-called Sudestada) are stronger, producing coastal showers and rough seas, as well as strong squalls, but the cold is much less intense.[29]

A snowy dawn at Playa Grande, July 10, 2004

The city's summer maximum temperatures fluctuate broadly around the average of [convert: invalid number]: while there are many days between [convert: invalid number] and [convert: invalid number], strong on-shore or southerly winds can also keep temperatures closer to [convert: invalid number], and nights can sometimes be very cool even in midsummer (falling below [convert: invalid number] sometimes). This means that tourists on a beach holiday generally always need to have a "plan B" in Mar del Plata. Traditionally, Easter is seen as the "last" weekend to go to the beach in the Argentine Atlantic coast, and average maximum temperatures are around [convert: invalid number] at that time. While some years can have the last few days of [convert: invalid number] to [convert: invalid number] around that time, it is also entirely possible to experience daily highs of [convert: invalid number]. Winter temperatures average [convert: invalid number] during the day and [convert: invalid number] at night; they sometimes climb to [convert: invalid number] for a couple of days, but there are also days where highs stay around [convert: invalid number] and temperatures fall a few degrees below [convert: invalid number] at night.

Spring brings the most variable weather, with heat waves bringing highs of {convert|35°C|0|abbr=on}} followed by highs of {convert|10°C|0|abbr=on}} to {convert|15°C|0|abbr=on}} and perhaps a late-season frosty night all perfectly possible in October and November.

There are about 20 days of frost each year, and almost 60 in the west hills area (some 300 mts above the sea level). Snowfall is not uncommon, but snow accumulation on the ground is rare, a phenomenon that takes place every 6 years or so, according to the last 40 year's data.

Among the most best known such occurrences in the latest decades were the 1975 and 1991 snowstorms, but there were also snow accumulations in 1994 and 1997, in the highest hills area of Sierra de los Padres, in 1995 along the southern coast, and other two during the first hours of July 10, 2004 and July 15, 2010.[30] There were flurries in September 1986, June 2007, July 2011 and August 2013.[31] There is fog in the last days of fall, and springtime is often marred by sea winds and sudden temperature's changes. There are some ten days of 30 °C (86 °F) each summer, certainly milder values than the rest of the pampas region. Usually, the summer nights are cool and pleasant, with values between 13 °C (55 °F) to 17 °C (63 °F). The record high is 41 °C (106 °F) on January 1957. The wet season occurs during spring and summer, especially in January, with values between 70 millimetres (3 in) and 80 millimetres (3 in). The average annual rainfall is 780 millimetres (31 in).[29]

Climate data for Mar del Plata
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 39.3
(102.7) 		38.1
(100.6) 		36.3
(97.3) 		32.5
(90.5) 		27.4
(81.3) 		22.2
(72.0) 		27.7
(81.9) 		24.7
(76.5) 		28.8
(83.8) 		34.4
(93.9) 		35.7
(96.3) 		39.4
(102.9) 		39.4
(102.9)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 26.8
(80.2) 		26.3
(79.3) 		24.1
(75.4) 		20.7
(69.3) 		16.8
(62.2) 		14.3
(57.7) 		12.9
(55.2) 		14.3
(57.7) 		16.0
(60.8) 		19.0
(66.2) 		22.2
(72.0) 		24.3
(75.7) 		19.8
(67.6)
Daily mean °C (°F) 20.9
(69.6) 		20.4
(68.7) 		18.1
(64.6) 		14.7
(58.5) 		11.0
(51.8) 		8.3
(46.9) 		7.7
(45.9) 		8.9
(48.0) 		10.5
(50.9) 		13.3
(55.9) 		16.2
(61.2) 		18.6
(65.5) 		14.1
(57.4)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 15.0
(59.0) 		14.7
(58.5) 		12.7
(54.9) 		9.4
(48.9) 		6.0
(42.8) 		3.6
(38.5) 		3.1
(37.6) 		4.0
(39.2) 		5.2
(41.4) 		7.7
(45.9) 		10.5
(50.9) 		12.8
(55.0) 		8.7
(47.7)
Record low °C (°F) 4.7
(40.5) 		1.2
(34.2) 		1.9
(35.4) 		−1.0
(30.2) 		−3.0
(26.6) 		−5.5
(22.1) 		−9.3
(15.3) 		−6.4
(20.5) 		−5.5
(22.1) 		−3.0
(26.6) 		−2.0
(28.4) 		−0.2
(31.6) 		−9.3
(15.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 110.6
(4.35) 		67.6
(2.66) 		98.9
(3.89) 		76.2
(3.00) 		80.0
(3.15) 		40.9
(1.61) 		55.8
(2.20) 		54.8
(2.16) 		54.3
(2.14) 		90.2
(3.55) 		81.7
(3.22) 		110.0
(4.33) 		921.0
(36.26)
Average precipitation days 9 7 9 10 9 8 9 8 7 10 9 10 105
Average relative humidity (%) 75 76 79 81 83 84 84 83 81 80 78 77 80
Mean monthly sunshine hours 288.3 234.5 232.5 195.0 167.4 120.0 127.1 164.3 174.0 210.8 222.0 269.7 2,405.6
Percent possible sunshine 63 60 54 58 51 41 42 46 47 51 52 59 52
Source 1: Servicio Meteorologico Nacional,[32] NOAA (extremes)[33]
Source 2: UNLP (sun only)[34]

Government

City Hall

Mar del Plata is the head of the department of General Pueyrredón. The current Mayor of the city and department is Gustavo Pulti, of the local party Acción Marplatense.

The town council has some legislative powers. The term of office for both the Mayor and council members is four years.[35]

In 1919, Mar del Plata became the first town in South America to have a Socialist Mayor, a son of Italian Immigrants, Teodoro Bronzini. The Socialist Party would dominate the city political landscape for most of the 20th century.

Mar del Plata has had 108[36] Mayors and Commissioners from 1881 to the present.

There is an extensive but interesting work by the American sociologist Susan Stokes[37] about the democratic process in Mar del Plata since 1983 in comparison to other regions of Argentina.[38][39] One of the main thesis of her articles is that the social and economic development of Mar del Plata was quite atypical, with a strong prevalence of middle-class values that discouraged the policy of clientelism that is the common background in other urban environments of Argentina.[40]

Sport

Mar del Plata hosted six matches in the 1978 FIFA World Cup.

Mar del Plata's most popular football teams are Aldosivi, Alvarado and Kimberley. Aldosivi plays in Primera division, Alvarado and Kimberley in the Torneo Argentino B.[41]

Peñarol and Quilmes de Mar del Plata are the most popular basketball teams. Peñarol have won eight official tournaments (Súper 8, FIBA Americas League, five National Leagues, InterLigas, and Copa Argentina).[42]

The city is home to Argentine Bandy Union.[43]

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Argentina

Twin towns – Sister cities

Mar del Plata is twinned with:

  • Mar del Plata's view at night from La Perla beaches
    Mar del Plata's view at night from La Perla beaches
  • A two-story Mar del Plata style chalet
    A two-story Mar del Plata style chalet
  • Snow on La Perla beach, August 1, 1991
    Snow on La Perla beach, August 1, 1991

References

  1. ^ Creemos, sin embargo, que por ser el primer contacto que los hombres del Río de la Plata tomaron con el mar se llamó a este punto precisamente mar "del Plata". Cova, Roberto Osvaldo:Síntesis histórica de Mar del Plata: notas para el conocimiento del origen, evolución y desarrollo de la ciudad y de la zona. 1969, p. 8 Template:Es icon
  2. ^ Astillero Naval Federico Contessi Template:Es icon
  3. ^ Bienvenidos a SPI Template:Es icon
  4. ^ TECMAR
  5. ^ Mai S.A
  6. ^ Orengia y Conforti Ind. y Com. S.A
  7. ^ Ninatec S.A.
  8. ^ DelSat Group
  9. ^ Hacemos Ingeniería de Primera Línea La Capital, 9 May 2011 Template:Es icon
  10. ^ QM Equipment Template:Es icon
  11. ^ INDEC Template:Es icon
  12. ^ Argentina Municipal: La ciudad de Mar del Plata lidera la oferta hotelera del país Template:Es icon
  13. ^ Historical Materials from Southern Patagonia
  14. ^ Welcome Argentina: Museo Castagnino
  15. ^ Cleto Ciocchini Harbor Man's Museum
  16. ^ [1]
  17. ^ Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales Lorenzo Scaglia
  18. ^ Museo del Mar Template:Es icon
  19. ^ Villa Victoria Ocampo Cultural Center
  20. ^ Aplicaciones biológicas de la investigación en física de altas energías Template:Es icon
  21. ^ Visita a la “máquina de Dios” Página 12 newspaper, 16 June 2009 Template:Es icon
  22. ^ CERN document server: "Three Presidents in one day"
  23. ^ La Capital newspaper, 5 July 2009 Template:Es icon
  24. ^ Argentine scientist gets L'Oreal-UNESCO award
  25. ^ Prize-Giving Ceremony for 2003 L’ORÉAL-UNESCO 'Women in science' Awards
  26. ^ Unidos por el sur: Ricardo Piglia Template:Es icon
  27. ^ Murió el arquitecto Auro Tiribelli, creador del chalet marplatense Template:Es icon
  28. ^ Cacopardo, Chapter VII (by Javier Sáez)
  29. ^ a b Roccatagliata, pp. 167–174
  30. ^ Una ola de frío invade a todo el país La Nación, 15 July 2010 Template:Es icon
  31. ^ Retrieved from the following editions of La Capital newspaper:
    • 17 July 1975
    • 17 September 1986
    • 2 August 1991
    • 5 August 1995
    • 27 June 1997
    • 11 July 2004
    • 26 June 2007
    Clarín, June 28, 1994 and 3 July 2011 Video files from Channel 8, Mar del Plata, TN news and Crónica TV
  32. ^ "Datos Estadísticos (Período 1981-1990)" (in Spanish). National Meteorological Service of Argentina. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
  33. ^ "Mar del Plata Aero Climate Normals 1961-1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  34. ^ "Datos bioclimáticos de 173 localidades argentinas". Atlas Bioclimáticos (in Spanish). Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
  35. ^ Municipalidad de General Pueyrredón - Honorable Concejo Deliberante Template:Es icon
  36. ^ List of Mar del Plata mayors since 1881 Template:Es icon
  37. ^ Susan Stokes - Department of Political Science - Yale
  38. ^ Helmke and Levitsky, Chapter 6
  39. ^ PDF-2
  40. ^ Shapiro and Bedi, pp. 191–195
  41. ^ "El Equipo de la Ciudad" by Gastón Julián Gil Template:En icon
  42. ^ Miguel Romano (2010-10-10). "Cartón lleno para el gran campeón". Cancha Llena (in Spanish). Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  43. ^ Federation of International Bandy
  44. ^ "Tianjin Sister-City Council for the Promotion of Enterprises". Tianjin Sister-City Council for the Promotion of Enterprises. Retrieved 2013-06-24.

Further reading

  • Cacopardo, Fernando A. & others: Mar del Plata, Ciudad e Historia. Alianza Editorial S.A./UNMDP, Madrid/Buenos Aires, 1997. ISBN 950-40-0155-6. Template:Es icon
  • Rocatagliata, Juan A. & others: Mar del Plata y su Región. Sociedad Argentina de Estudios Geográficos, Buenos Aires, 1984. Template:Es icon
  • Anniversary Editions of La Capital newspaper: 1955, 1980, 1985, 2005. Template:Es icon
  • Barili, Roberto T.: Mar del Plata, Reseña Histórica. Published by the Municipality of Gral. Pueyrredón, Mar del Plata, 1964. Template:Es icon
  • Zago, Manrique: Mar del Plata, Argentina. Manrique Zago Ed., 1997. (Bilingual Edition)
  • Stokes, Susan C.:Do Informal Institutions Make Democracy Work? Accounting for Accountability in Argentina. University of Chicago. Prepared for presentation at the conference, "Informal Institutions in Latin America". University of Notre Dame, April 23–24, 2003.
  • Shapiro, Ian and Bedi, Sonu : Political Contingency: Studying the Unexpected, the Accidental, and the Unforeseen. New York University Press, 2007. ISBN 0-8147-4044-8
  • Helmke, Gretchen and Levitsky, Steven: Informal Institutions and Democracy:Lessons from Latin America. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-8018-8351-2
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