Puerto Madryn

Approaching from the Ruta 3, it's hard to believe that the horizon-line of buildings perched just beyond the windswept dunes and badlands is the most successful of all coastal Patagonia settlements. But once you get past the outskirts of town, past the tire-repair places and humble barrios, to the city's downtown, and onto the wide coastal road known as the Rambla, you'll see why. The restaurants, bars, cafés, dive shops, multistory houses, and hotels facing the clear and tranquil Golfo Nuevo are full of activity but not yet overcrowded.

When the peso was devalued in the 1990s, Puerto Madryn's local fishing and tourism industries quickly gained international attention. The rapid growth and expansion of infrastructure—which continues each year—occurred on top of an already prosperous economy and booming population growth due to the construction of Argentina's largest aluminum plant, Aluminios Argentinos S.A., in the 1970s.

The first economic boom came in 1886, when the Patagonian railroad was introduced, spurring the town's port activities along with salt and fishing industries. Although it isn't likely the original Welsh settlers who arrived here in 1865 could have imagined just how much Puerto Madryn would evolve, a large part of Madryn's success is owed to their hardworking traditions. The anniversary of their arrival is celebrated every 28th of July here and in other Chubut towns. Only a statue—the Tehuelche Indian Monument—serves as a reminder of the indigenous people who once lived here and who helped the Welsh survive.