Puerto Rico Might Elect Its First Pro-Independence Governor

This year’s election is unlike any other in the 76 years since the U.S. began allowing Puerto Ricans to vote for their governor.

VEGA BAJA, Puerto Rico — Eliezer Concepción worked for years at his roadside mechanic shop to save enough money to buy a piece of his hometown before it was too late.

In 2020, he finally purchased a dilapidated house in this beachside enclave roughly 45 minutes west of the sprawling capital of San Juan. It took him two years to renovate a dwelling destroyed in 2017’s Hurricane María into a functioning Airbnb. But he saw it as a way to earn extra money by tapping into the Caribbean island’s $10 billion tourism industry — and to keep the cash circulating locally.

For years, Puerto Rico’s controversial tax haven laws have drawn wealthy Americans looking to avoid income taxes and sparked a property gold rush that pits lower-paid, Spanish-speaking natives against cash-rich Anglophone newcomers. But Concepción, 43, was determined to keep at least his piece of the town in the hands of a real Vegabajeño.

“My neighbors are all selling,” Concepción, 43, said on a July afternoon, leaning back in the leather chair of the tiny office of his auto body shop. “But I wanted a good chance for someone from here to buy and rebuild.”

It’s getting harder to reject the routine cash offers from real estate speculators. Since the privately held LUMA Energy took over operations of Puerto Rico’s electrical grid from the bankrupt state-owned utility PREPA in 2021, the power goes out weekly, if not daily, and bills keep going up. A lack of consistent air conditioning or refrigeration deters guests, leaving Concepción’s vacation rental business struggling. He wonders how long he can hold out — and how Puerto Rico’s historic election next week could forever change the dynamics in what is considered the world’s oldest colony.