QCOSTARICA TOURISM – The Legislative Assembly this week approved in first debate a bill that renames the canton (county) of Aguirre to Quepos.
The canton of Aguirre, which will soon change its name to Quepos, is not the town of Quepos. Quepos continues to be Quepos. Confused yet? This is similar to the provinces of San Jose, Heredia, Alajuela, Cartago, Limon and Puntarenas, whose principal city bear the same name.
The country of Aguirre is named after Rolando Aguirre, who died in 1948 after he struggled with the Liberation Army in the Civil War, and in October of that year his name was consecrated by the Junta Fundadora de la Segunda República (Foundation Board of the Second Republic).
The reason legislators approved the renaming is that the area was inhabited by the indigenous group “quepos” whose existence is widely supported by historical data.
The vote of 43 of 55 in favour. The legislation required second and final debate for it go into effect.