Guayaquil

Guayaquil is a port city in western Ecuador, on the west bank of the Guayas River before it opens into the Gulf of Guayaquil. A local legend ties its name to the Huancavilca chief Guayas and his wife Quil. Its football clubs Barcelona SC and Emelec meet in the Clásico del Astillero, named after the old shipyard district where Emelec plays.

The Spanish founded the city more than once in the 16th century before it settled at the foot of Cerro Santa Ana, and Francisco de Orellana is credited with its lasting founding in the 1530s. In colonial times its shipyards built vessels for the Spanish fleet in the Pacific, using timber from the forests of the Guayas basin. Guayaquil declared its independence from Spain in 1820, and Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín met in the city soon after. It became part of Ecuador when the country left Gran Colombia, and after a great fire at the end of the 19th century much of the center was rebuilt.

The port of Guayaquil ships bananas, shrimp and cocoa grown on the coastal plain. Cervecería Nacional brews Pilsener beer in the city. Corporación El Rosado, founded in Guayaquil, runs the Mi Comisariato supermarkets and department stores. Tonicorp, also based in Guayaquil, makes Toni yogurts and dairy drinks.

The Malecón 2000 promenade was built along the river front at the turn of the millennium, with gardens, a museum of anthropology and a pier for river boats. Las Peñas, the oldest district, climbs Cerro Santa Ana with painted wooden houses and a staircase of 444 steps up to a lighthouse and a small chapel. Seminario Park, in front of the cathedral, is known for the land iguanas that live among its trees and walk across its paths. The writer José Joaquín de Olmedo, author of the poem on Bolívar's victory at Junín, was born in the city.