General Conesa

General Conesa, or simply Conesa, is the seat of the department of the same name, on the southern bank of the Negro River. It is 163 km from Viedma, 100 km from San Antonio Oeste and 150 km from Río Colorado. It has 7,118 residents (2022 census). A curiosity: it is the antipode of Beijing.

Getting there

It sits where two national routes cross: Route 250, towards Choele Choel, General Roca and Neuquén one way and Viedma the other, and Route 251, towards Santa Rosa to the north and San Antonio Oeste to the south.

Things to do

• Provincial Farmer’s Festival: in March, with open-air shows and the election of the provincial queen.
• Fruit: the area produces some 15,000 tonnes of pears, apples and stone fruit a year, sold in Buenos Aires, Rosario, Córdoba and abroad.

Climate

Cold and dry, with very little cloud: an extremely bright area. It has about 201 frost-free days a year.

History

A small fort was built here in 1869, and ten years later it became Fuerte Conesa, where Mapuche people were held. It is named after General Emilio Conesa. The first local council was formed in 1919, and irrigation, built between 1936 and 1951, served nearly 20,000 hectares. Until 1961 a narrow-gauge train, the Línea Económica al Valle del Río Negro, linked Conesa with General Vintter over 107 km.

Distances: 163 km from Viedma · 100 km from San Antonio Oeste · National Routes 250 and 251