Santa Maria, Cape Verde
| Santa Maria | |
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| Settlement | |
Typical street in Santa Maria
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 Santa Maria
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| Coordinates: 16°35′56″N 22°54′14″W / 16.599°N 22.904°WCoordinates: 16°35′56″N 22°54′14″W / 16.599°N 22.904°W | |
| Country | Cape Verde |
| Island | Sal |
| Municipality | Sal |
| Civil parish | Nossa Senhora das Dores |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 6,258 |
Santa Maria (Portuguese for Saint Mary) is a fishing town situated in the southern part of the island municipality of Sal, Cape Verde. Santa Maria is located about 16 km south of the Amílcar Cabral International Airport, and 20 km south of the island capital Espargos. Until 2007, its geography only parts are composed of small barren grasslands surrounding the town and Ponta de Leme Velho, sand dunes with saline marshes dominated the rest of the area. The duneless part of Sal is more than 2 km northwest. The length of the portion of the island around the city for 4 km is no longer than about 3.5 km.
The church of Nossa Senhora das Dores is located in town and serves as the seat of the parish. The main square is named Marcelo Leitão. Rua Amílcar Cabral is its main street.
It has two points, Ponta do Sinò in the southwest which is also the island's southernmost point with its own lighthouse and the in the southeast side known as Ponta Preta do Sul. Around its shores, sharks and sea turtles are found. Around a kilometer north of the center is the Santa Maria Saltpans, tracks are in grid plan running 75 degrees towards the east, it is also a protected countryside Further north, made in the late 2000s, is the solar electricity generating station and serves the whole island, since the early 2010s, it is the only source of electricity on the island.
The only foreign consulate in Santa Maria is the French consulate of the island of Sal.
Santa Maria was founded in 1835 for the production of sea salt, in its early years, 30,000 tons of salt were shipped from Santa Maria. Most of the product was exported to Brazil, which was halted in 1887 when Brazil imposed a high tax on imported salt to protect its own salt production. The town went into a deep decline, only to recover in 1920 when Portuguese and French investors resumed salt production, one of them J.A. Nascimento and the companies the Cape Verdean Salt Company (Compagnie Salines du Cap-Vert) and the Societé Salins Sal (SSS). During that time, a lighthouse was built in 1892 at Ponta do Sinó. In the 1990s, magnesium was its second producer on the island which lasted to 1907. In 1920, Companhia do Fomento de Cabo Verde which made up a large part of the ownership of the city's port was shortly dissolved. In 1927, salt started to be exported to the Belgian Congo which remained until the nation became independent as Congo-Kinshasa in 1961 and nationalized its salt production. Not long after, Santa Maria was no longer island capital, it was moved to Espargos, at the time a newly created town. In 1967, Belgian Georges Vynckier opened Cape Verde's first hotel named Morabeza. Salt production started to fell and further production lasted until 1984. More recently, tourism has become an important industry on the island which started in the 1990s and accelerated its growth in 2004 and stretches up to about 4 km along the west shore. Many resorts and hotels, including the Riu hotels resorts Riu Garopa and Riu Funana, are situated near Santa Maria, even restaurants opened. The Senegalese forms a small majority, foreigners spend their vacation at the villas during the peak months. In 2013, 40% of the country's available beds were in Santa Maria. Additional hotels and villas recently slowed in 2014 and planned streets and buildings remains in the northern part., a small part the economic crisis in most of southern Europe lowered touristic visits. The town once served ferry routes with Boa Vista.
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Wikipedia