Pedasí

Spanish colonists arrived on this part of the Azuero in the 16th century, largely wiping out or displacing the Indigenous peoples who lived there. In 1845 the town had 701 inhabitants; its architecture still combines the colonial Spanish style with modern masonry block.

During the Second World War the United States Army used nearby Isla Iguana as a bombing range; bombs stuck in the reef were cleared in the 1990s, after the island had been declared a protected refuge in 1981. Pedasí's best-known daughter, Mireya Moscoso, was born here in 1946 and became Panama's first woman president. During her term she set out to improve her home town, and it gained better infrastructure; a bust and plaque on the plaza honour her.

Since then the beaches have brought change. Playa Venao was chosen for the Central American Surf Championship in 2007 and hosted ISA World Surfing championships in 2011 and 2012, which made the coast known among surfers, and the town has grown, from about 1,800 people in 2000 to an estimated 4,700 by 2020.

Pedasí shares the deep folk traditions of the Azuero. At festivals and carnival women wear the pollera, the multi-layered, hand-stitched national dress, some of which take nearly a year to make, decorated with ornate jewellery and gold chains; some men still wear cutarras, traditional sandals, and the region's folkloric black-and-white hats.

Carnival is the high point of the year. As in Las Tablas, the town divides into Calle Arriba, the upper street, and Calle Abajo, the lower street, each with its own queen, and the two try to outdo each other with floats, music and fireworks; at the end the winning queen is chosen by popular vote. Pedasí's carnival is reputed to be the most exuberant in Panama after that of Las Tablas. On 25 November the town celebrates the fiesta of Santa Catalina.

The plaza is the centre of social life. In the evening people come out to sit, talk and meet. The surf scene at Venao and the foreign residents of the coast have added a newer, more international layer to a town that remains rooted in its rural Azuero customs.

An estimate put Pedasí's population at about 4,700 in mid-2020. It remains principally a fishing town: the continental shelf drops away close to shore, so game fish such as sailfish, cubera snapper, roosterfish and grouper are caught all year, and local boats work from the beaches. Cattle pasture covers the rolling land around the town, and its hilly countryside has drawn comparisons with Tuscany.

Tourism has become a large part of the economy. Surfers, kitesurfers, divers, anglers and whale-watchers come for the coast, holiday homes have spread along the beaches, and the coast at Los Destiladeros is known as Millionaire's Mile for the mansions built there. In town, life centres on Avenida Central, the plaza and the civic buildings two blocks away, with two banks, a health clinic, a library, mini-supermarkets and small shops serving residents and visitors alike.

Days start early and follow the fishing boats and the heat. Evenings are spent on the plaza, and the town stays quiet outside carnival and the holidays, when visitors from the capital fill the rooms and the beaches.

Pedasí cooks like the rest of the Azuero, with fish added. Fish and seafood come straight from the local boats and are served fried, grilled or as ceviche, with rice, beans and patacones, twice-fried plantain slices. Fondas serve set lunches of rice with a stew or fried fish, and sancocho, chicken soup flavoured with culantro, is the comfort dish. Sancocho made with free-range hen, gallina de patio, is a point of pride on the peninsula.

Breakfast is maize-based, as across the region: bollos, maize dough wrapped in husks and boiled, or thick fried tortillas, eaten with fresh white cheese from the Azuero's dairies. Tamales, maize dough with chicken or pork wrapped in banana leaves, appear at Christmas and festivals, and tasajo, salted and smoked dried beef, is fried or stewed.

Sweets include cocadas, coconut sweets. The festive drink is seco, the clear sugar-cane spirit of neighbouring Herrera, drunk neat, with milk or mixed. The beach restaurants of Venao add international dishes for the surf crowd.