Tibás is the thirteenth canton in the province of San José in Costa Rica. The head city of the canton is San Juan.

History

Tibás was created on 26 June 1914 by decree 31. It was formerly known as San Juan del Murciélago and was meant to be the capital of the country, at least according to ex-president Braulio Carrillo, this is the reason the town was originally designed with such a neat array of perfectly aligned blocks, cut by the streets running from North to South and the avenues from East to West.

Geography

Tibás has an area of 8.27 km2 and a mean elevation of 1140 m. The canton forms a northern suburb of the national capital city of San José. It is triangular in shape, with the Virilla River as its northern boundary. The Quebrada Rivera, a canyon, establishes the southwestern limit of the canton and also a portion of the southeastern boundary.

Government

Mayor

According to Costa Rica's Municipal Code, mayors are elected every four years by the population of the canton. As of the latest municipal elections in 2024, the National Liberation Party candidate, José Alejandro Alvarado Vega, was elected mayor of the canton with 37.17% of the votes, with Liliana María Beer Rodríguez and Olga Courrau Quesada as first and second vice mayors, respectively.

Municipal Council

Like the mayor and vice mayors, members of the Municipal Council (called regidores) are elected every four years. Tibás' Municipal Council has 7 seats for regidores and their substitutes, who can participate in meetings but not vote unless the owning regidor (regidor propietario) is absent. The current president of the Municipal Council is the Social Democratic Progress Party regidor, Jimmy Villalta Espinoza. The Municipal Council's composition for the 2024–2028 period is as follows:

Districts

The canton of Tibás is subdivided into the following districts:

Demographics

Tibás had an estimated population of 74,592 people in 2022, up from 64,842 at the time of the 2011 census. Tibás had a Human Development Index of 0.766 in 2022. Tibás includes both industrial and residential neighborhoods and is home of a popular football team in Costa Rica, Deportivo Saprissa and its stadium Estadio Ricardo Saprissa.

Transportation

Road transportation

The canton is covered by the following road routes: • CR RNP 5.svg National Route 5 • CR RNP 32.svg National Route 32 • CR RNS 100.svg National Route 100 • CR RNS 101.svg National Route 101 • CR RNS 102.svg National Route 102 • CR RNS 108.svg National Route 108 • CR RNS 117.svg National Route 117

Rail transportation

The Interurbano Line operated by Incofer goes through this canton.