Mar del Plata, Argentina

Mar del Plata (population 550,000) is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the Buenos Aires Province.

Located 400km south of Buenos Aires, is one of the major fishing ports of Argentina, and the biggest seaside beach resort in Argentina.

Economy

As a big fishing port, there are fish processing centres, but has also clothes and food factories. Nearby there are stonemasons wich are exploited for construction.

As part of the Argentine recreational coast, tourism is one of its main economic activities. Between 4 and 6 million tourist visit Mar del Plata every year (quadruplicating sometimes the number of inhabitants). It has a complex tourist infrastructure to hold such crowds, casinos, theatres and other tourist attractions.

History

In 1746, by order of the Spanish Kingdom, a Jesuit Order order was installed near what is now Laguna de los Padres, but it was abandoned after a series of indian attacks. It was not populated again by Europeans until 1856, when a meat-salting facility was built, and a stable population remained there. On February 10, 1874, by governmental decree and under the name of "Pueblo Balcarce", the city is officially founded. But it was not until 1961 that it acquired its current name of Mar del Plata.

Culture

The city is home to the International Mar del Pata Film Festival since 1954, the most important film award in South America, that different international celebrities visit every year.

There are also a number of theatres with plays and artists that work in Buenos Aires the rest of the year. Mar del Plata also has its local festivities, such as National Sea Festivity and Fishermen's Feast.