Portoviejo (), also known as San Gregorio de Portoviejo, is a city in Ecuador, and the capital of the Province of Manabí from the Pacific coast. It is still known as the city of the "Royal Tamarind Trees" due to former Tamarind plantains in the area. It serves as the main political and economical centre of the Portoviejo River valley, which also includes the cantons of Santa Ana and Rocafuerte, where about are cultivated every year. The city, which was affected by economic crisis in the eighties and nineties, is now recovering but severe budget limitations and a huge unemployment rate present difficulties for local authorities. Founded on March 12, 1535, it is one of the oldest cities in Ecuador and is the sixth largest of the country. Portoviejo is important for the cultivation of coffee, cattle and fishing and has a thriving agricultural-processing industry, with good road connections to Quito and Guayaquil. History Founded March 12, 1535, near the coast, by the Spanish captain Francisco Pacheco as "Villa Nueva de San Gregorio de Portoviejo", it was moved inland to its present site in 1628 due to Indian attacks. On April 16 and 17, 2016, a large earthquake with a moment magnitude of 7.8 struck the region. Portoviejo sustained over 300 fatalities and building damage. Gastronomy The city has a rich agricultural and maritime industry, employing over 50% of the population, as well as a flourishing gastronomic sector. The gastronomic sector is now regarded as the main post-disaster, referring to the 2016 earthquake, cultural industry, providing employment opportunities and reducing poverty for local inhabitants. In 2018, Portoviejo's gastronomy was declared as intangible heritage of Ecuador, a certificate granted by the Ministry of Culture and Cultural Heritage on October 18, 2018, to commemorate the 198 years of independence of Portoviejo. In October 2019, the flavor of the Manabi capital was recognized as part of the Creative Cities Network, by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Portoviejo received this recognition when World Cities Day was commemorated, as reported by the Municipal Autonomous Decentralized Government of Portoviejo. The inhabitants of Manabi recover their culture, through gastronomy and the conservation of ancestral recipes; points considered to be part of the Creative Cities, in the Gastronomy category. Portoviejo is the first city in Ecuador to obtain this recognition. Among the main ingredients used in portovejense food are peanuts, bananas, cheese, corn, and