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Fiestas de Portoviejo in Portoviejo
Portoviejo marks October 18 as the anniversary of its 1820 proclamation of independence from Spain, declared through an open town council roughly two years before Ecuador's independence was secured nationally. Distinct from the city's March founding and June cantonizacion anniversaries, the October date brings civic-military parades and ceremonies to Manabi's provincial capital.
Portoviejo's independence from Spanish colonial rule was proclaimed on October 18, 1820, through an open town council, roughly two years before Ecuador's independence was secured elsewhere, and the city marks the date as a separate civic anniversary from its March 12, 1535 Spanish colonial founding and its June 25, 1824 cantonizacion.