Puerto Rico Salsa Congress
The first salsa congress in the world took place in Puerto Rico in 1997. The promoter was Eli Irizarri. The number of participants of this first edition was 375, coming from 19 different countries.
In 1998, the number of participants was 550 from 23 countries and 32 salsa companies performing and teaching. In 1999 the participants were 800 from 34 countries with about 56 salsa companies performing. In 2008, three Puerto Rican couples, Licelott Maldonado and Kelvin Hernández, Christian Santiago and Jackeline Ramos and Jessica Quiles and Edwin Nieves, reached the finals of the 2008 edition. This edition of the "World Salsa Open", concluded with Spain (Anita Santos and Adrián Rodríguez) winning the first position, Puerto Rico (Licelott Maldonado and Kelvin Hernández) as runner-up and Argentina (Fernando Alonso and Ayelen Gauna) in the third place. The first two spots of the junior category were won by Puerto Rico, with Gabriela Morales and José Pabón winning the world championship and Jessica Muñoz and Emmanuel López being the runner-up couple. Spain's María Garrido and David Martín concluded third.
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