Understanding Puerto Rico
Learn About Puerto Rico
787daily covers the news. This page gives you the background that makes the news make sense — plain-English primers on Puerto Rico's economy, government, utilities, culture, and more. Each section links to authoritative sources so you can dig as deep as you want.
Puerto Rico's Act 60 Incentive Code
Act 60 of 2019 — formally the "Puerto Rico Incentives Code" (Ley 60-2019) — is an omnibus law that consolidated dozens of prior tax incentive statutes, most notably Act 20 of 2012 (export services) and Act 22 of 2012 (individual investors). Its two headline pr…
- Act 60 (2019) consolidated earlier incentives — chiefly Act 20 (export services, 2012) and Act 22 (individual investors, 2012).
- Export Services decree: ~4% corporate income tax on qualifying revenues from services exported outside Puerto Rico.
- Individual Resident Investor decree: 0% Puerto Rico tax on capital gains, interest, and dividends accrued after becoming a bona fide PR resident.
Puerto Rico's Power Grid and Water Systems
Puerto Rico's electricity grid is operated under a split structure: PREPA (Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority / AEE), the public utility, owns the generation assets and has been in bankruptcy since 2017; LUMA Energy, a private consortium, took over transmiss…
- PREPA/AEE is the public power authority; it owns generation plants and has been in federal bankruptcy (Title III under PROMESA) since 2017.
- LUMA Energy took over transmission and distribution in June 2021 under a 15-year contract — outages and its performance remain a major public debate.
- Frequent outages: Puerto Rico has experienced some of the longest and most widespread blackouts in U.S. history, particularly after Hurricanes Irma and María (2017).
Puerto Rico's Roads, Bridges, and Post-María Rebuilding
Puerto Rico's infrastructure — roads, bridges, ports, and public facilities — was severely damaged by Hurricane María in September 2017 and had already suffered years of deferred maintenance tied to the island's fiscal crisis. Federal recovery funds flowing th…
- Hurricane María (2017) caused an estimated $90 billion+ in total damages — one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.
- FEMA and HUD CDBG-DR have allocated tens of billions for rebuilding, though complex federal requirements have slowed actual construction.
- The Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority (PRHTA/ACT) manages the island's road and highway network.
Puerto Rico's Political Status and Government
Puerto Rico is an unincorporated U.S. territory — its approximately 3.2 million residents are U.S. citizens but do not vote in presidential elections and are represented in Congress only by a non-voting Resident Commissioner in the House of Representatives. Th…
- Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory: residents are citizens but cannot vote for President and have no voting representation in Congress.
- The island's non-voting Resident Commissioner serves a four-year term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
- Puerto Rico has its own Governor and a bicameral Legislative Assembly (Senate + House of Representatives).
Puerto Rico's Economy: Pharma, Tourism, and Recovery
Puerto Rico's economy is shaped by several overlapping forces: a large pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing sector (Puerto Rico produces a significant share of U.S. prescription drugs), a growing tourism industry, and the long shadow of a decade-lon…
- Pharmaceuticals and medical devices are the backbone of Puerto Rico's manufacturing economy — the island produces a major share of U.S. prescription drugs sold globally.
- Tourism has grown significantly; San Juan is a major cruise port and the sector supports hundreds of thousands of jobs.
- PROMESA (2016) and La Junta oversaw restructuring of ~$70 billion in debt; a confirmed debt plan reduced obligations substantially.
Life in Puerto Rico: Healthcare, Education, and More
Puerto Rico's residents face a distinctive quality-of-life landscape shaped by its status as a U.S. territory: access to many federal programs (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid — though at capped rates compared to states) alongside chronic challenges in hea…
- Healthcare: Puerto Rico receives lower per-capita Medicaid matching funds than U.S. states — a long-standing disparity that affects hospital capacity and provider supply.
- Education: The Department of Education operates public schools; enrollment has declined significantly over two decades as the population falls, leading to school consolidations.
- Out-migration: Puerto Rico's population has dropped from roughly 3.8 million in 2000 to approximately 3.2 million — a major demographic shift driven by economic conditions and hurricane recovery.
Culture, Food, and Life in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico blends Indigenous Taíno, West African, and Spanish heritage into a culture that is unmistakably its own — expressed through music (salsa, reggaeton, plena, bomba), food (mofongo, lechón, tostones, alcapurrias, sofrito), festivals, and an enduring d…
- Music: Puerto Rico gave the world salsa, is a global center of reggaeton, and preserves older traditions like plena and bomba rooted in African heritage.
- Food: mofongo (mashed plantains), lechón (roasted pork), tostones, pasteles, and the sofrito-based cooking tradition are cornerstones of the cuisine.
- Festivals: Las Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián (January, Old San Juan) is one of the Caribbean's largest street festivals; municipalities hold patron-saint festivals (fiestas patronales) year-round.
Hurricane Hub
Puerto Rico sits at the center of the Atlantic basin's most active corridor. The Hurricane Hub covers season basics, the Saffir-Simpson scale, Puerto Rico's major storm history, live tracking resources, and preparedness guides.
Go to Hurricane Hub787daily is an independent news aggregator and educational resource. Primer content is written for general orientation and links to authoritative primary sources for specifics. Always verify important decisions with qualified legal, tax, or professional advisors.