Catano, Puerto Rico

Catano is a small city in northern Puerto Rico, as a matter of a fact, one of the smallest towns in Puerto Rico. Although bordered to the north by San Juan and to the south by Bayamon, Catano is generally not considered to be a part of the so called metropolitan area of Puerto Rico, or area metropolitana.

Catano is known mostly for four things: Its industry, its trash burning facility, its ferry service that connects the city to San Juan and its considerable amount of protestant churches and catholic cathedrals.

Catano has one of the largest groups of manufacturers in Puerto Rico. Bacardi has a rum manufacturing plant there, and many other companies, both Puerto Rican and American, have plants there.

On the other hand, Catano's trash burning facility is the largest in Puerto Rico. Both Catano's large number of manufacturing plants and Catano's trash facility have been considerable factors in Catano's earning of the dirtiest city in Puerto Rico title, a dubious honor, a few times.

Catano's ferry service is known as La lancha de Catano, or The ferry of Catano. Despite what the name might lead to believe, there is actually a number of ferries, not just one, that operate on the five minute ocean route between Catano and San Juan and vice-versa daily. There is a large ferry terminal at Catano, and tourists can enjoy the view of the Castillo de El Morro and the large cruise ships docked at the San Juan terminal during these trips.

Catano has a considerable number of Christians among its population, and because of that, a large number of churches and cathedrals also exist there, attracting worshipers from all over town and from area metropolitana cities as well.