Current Time in Portoviejo, Ecuador

Portoviejo is a city in western Ecuador and the capital of the province of Manabí. It stands in a broad river valley about thirty kilometres inland from the Pacific, surrounded by low dry hills that turn brilliantly green in the rainy season. The Portoviejo River runs through the centre, and the coast at Crucita and Bahía de Caráquez is close enough for a short drive to the beach.

The population is around three hundred thousand, and Portoviejo is one of the larger cities of the Ecuadorian coast. Its importance is administrative and agricultural. The surrounding province is a major producer of coffee, cacao, maize, cotton, plantains and above all tuna and fish landed at the nearby port of Manta, and Portoviejo serves as the market, government and services centre for that whole region.

The city was founded in 1535 by Spanish settlers under Francisco Pacheco, making it one of the oldest towns in Ecuador. Its original site near the coast proved unsuitable and it was moved inland to escape pirate raids and flooding. Colonial Portoviejo grew as a farming centre known for its tamarind and ceiba trees, which gave rise to its old nickname, the city of the royal tamarinds. It played a part in the independence movement and was declared free of Spanish rule in 1820. The most dramatic event of recent times was the earthquake of April 2016, which struck the province with great force, destroyed much of the city centre and killed hundreds of people. Reconstruction has since reshaped the downtown with new public buildings and open spaces.

The most visited places are the cathedral and the central square, the Parque Las Vegas along the river, and the modern civic buildings raised after the earthquake. The Museo Portoviejo displays archaeological material from the Valdivia, Jama-Coaque and Manteño cultures, which flourished on this coast for thousands of years and produced some of the earliest ceramics in the Americas. Outside the city, the beaches at Crucita are known for paragliding on the reliable coastal updraughts, and the dry forest of the Pacoche reserve shelters howler monkeys and rare birds.

Manabí has one of the strongest regional identities in Ecuador, expressed above all through food. The province is celebrated for its use of peanut sauce, green plantain and fresh fish, and dishes such as ceviche, viche and corviche are points of local pride. Traditional straw hat weaving, amorfino verse duels and the montubio cowboy culture of the inland farms are all part of the heritage, and the local rodeo festivals draw large crowds.

Transport relies on the road network, with good highways to Manta, Guayaquil and Quito, and long-distance buses departing frequently. The international airport at Manta is about forty minutes away.

The Technical University of Manabí, founded in 1952, is one of the leading public universities of the coast, and several other institutions give the city a substantial student population.

Portoviejo is significant as the capital of a distinctive coastal province, a city rebuilding with confidence after disaster and offering visitors ancient archaeology, dry forest and some of the best food in Ecuador.