Plaza de España — Attraction in Hagåtña Municipality

If you love history (pre-world war I/II) then this is a must see. This was the seat of power for the Spanish Empire and later the colonial ambition of the United States, before being toppled by the Japanese Empire and again retaken by the United States after WWII. You can really feel the history oozing from the soil. The plaza itself still has the original foundation stones from the Spanish Era.

If its your first time here then you should allocate at least 3-4 hours for the entire plaza and surrounding area. Its walking distance to the famous Latte Stone Park (Angel Santos Memorial Park) where you can see the ancient megalithic stone pillars that were made by ancient chamorros, as well as visit the Agana Catholic Church whos land was given to the church by Chief Kapua, whos statue stands outside the Guam Museum across the church, for more modern sights you can walk across the street to Chamorro Village (basically a giant outdoor food court/shopping bazaar) and also visit the Paseo Park that over looks the Agana Harbor and of course the Plaza De Espana itself.

ProTip #1 Check out the living Guam Seal thats on the right side of Paseo Park. Its a little hidden gem and gives a great insight into how the Guam Flag/Guam Seal was created.

ProTip #2 if you find yourself going on a Wednesday (and you totally should) then get there BEFORE 4pm because parking will be nonexistent as every Wednesday is the “Chamorro Village Night Market” (think small town festival with all the carnival rides and foods like deep fried twinkies and turkey...

I love the historical aspects of this area BUT what detracts the full potential of attracting tourists are the constant presence of homeless people who are allowed to loiter, sleep, defecate and leave trash in the area. Good luck enjoying the former chocolate house or the main Plaza because the homeless occupies that area. It is a shame that the Mayor of Hagatna does not do anything to rid this area of these individuals who cause havoc. And why are there random cars parked where people live in them? How do you expect tourists to fell safe? This is the reason why Guam is not known for its tourism attractions when the government and village mayors can't even provide safe and clean tourist attractions. Tourists can't use any public restrooms because they are dilapidated or closed. Tourists can't even have a nice lunch outside because there are no trash bins to throw...

So unfortunate that this is historical site of guam but is constantly worn down looking and has homeless people everywhere. I don’t feel safe coming here during the day. Makes me worried about the girls going to academy when they wait for their rides after school .

What is the government doing about the homelessness on this island? Tourists shouldn’t be getting harassed by the content beggars with cardboard signs who throw the wrappers from the generous but naive people giving them food (and worst off money) to them.

It just makes them and their buddies come out more during the day.

Govt of guam do something about your people! Put them in a homeless shelter in Yigo next to the guam Power authority or something. Gov Lou,...