History of Barranquilla

History

By Lorraine Caputo

As historian Alonso de la Espriella says, Barranquilla is a city that was not founded, but rather populated; it’s a city that just kind of happened, Spanish explorer Rodrigo de Bastidas had discovered the mouth of the Río Magdalena in 1503 but merely sailed on. Later, either in 1620 or 1629, Galapa indigenous or by cattle farmers looking for pastorage during a prolonged drought settled Sabanitas de Camacho on the low bluffs. In 1774 the name was changed to Barrancas de San Nicolás. Its official “founding” is recognized as 7 April 1813, when it was called Villas de Barlobento. None of the names really stuck. It just became Barranquillas, the diminutive of Barrancas, or bluffs.

Barranquillas, as such, didn’t play hot to the Great Liberator, Simón Bolívar. He passed through the area on several occasions, seeking rest in near-by Soledad and San Nicolás (Barlobento). Those edifices are now being turned into museums.

The 1940s saw an explosion in Colombian letters in this city: the Grupo de Barranquilla, formed by Gabriel García Márquez, Enrique Grau, Cecilia Porras and Cepeda Samudio, amongst others. The Cueva, a then neighbourhood diner and bar, was their meeting point. Their influence continues to be felt to this day.