In 2019, Puerto Rico won Miss Earth, becoming the fourth nation to win the Big Four pageants.
The businesswoman in the modeling and beauty industry in charge of many Puerto Rican representatives in international pageants between 1952 and 1998, Anna Santisteban, popularly known as the Hacedora de Reinas (Maker of Queens), is recognized as the figure who established the fervent enthusiasm for beauty queens in Puerto Rico.
As the holder of the Miss Universe franchise in Puerto Rico, Santisteban produced three international winners, in 1970, 1985 and 1993.
[2][3][4][5] Despite being a self-governed unincorporated U.S. territory with the title of commonwealth (Spanish: estado libre asociado, lit.
Together with Miss Intercontinental, the oldest minor international beauty competition, these major pageants are collectively known as the Big Seven.
Puerto Rico has won Miss Intercontinental five times: 1986 with Elizabeth Robinson, 1991 with Carmen Lynda Díaz,[a] 2010 with Maydelise Columna, 2016 with Heylimar Rosario, and María Cepero.
[7] The winner of the contest represents Puerto Rico at the Miss Universe pageant each year.
In 2009, Luisito Vigoreaux and Desireé Lowry obtained the franchise and renamed the pageant Miss Universe Puerto Rico.
In 2018, WAPA-TV obtained ownership of the franchise, keeping the name of Miss Universe Puerto Rico and hiring Denise Quiñones as the pageant’s director.
Puerto Rico has held the following Miss Universe editions: As of 16 February 2025, the following nations, in order of number of finalists and semifinalists, have placed more times in the final night of the competition: As of 16 February 2025, the following countries or territories, in order of number of finalists, have placed more times in the final group of finalists: As of 16 February 2025, the following countries or territories, in order of number of titles, have earned the largest number of titles: As of 16 February 2025, Puerto Rico has produced the following placements in Miss Universe: Puerto Rico has placed consecutively in the last seven editions of the international competition, becoming the longest uninterrupted streak in the history of Puerto Rico, and the longest uninterrupted streak in the international competition currently.
In 1996, Delia Cruz, mother of Miss World Wilnelia Merced, Lady Forsyth-Johnson, obtained the franchise and began organizing the Miss Mundo Puerto Rico pageant with Tania Collazo as organizer for a few years before Desiree Lowry, and later on Shanira Blanco.
Miss World 2021 was held in Puerto Rico in the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum.
As of 16 February 2025, Puerto Rico has produced the following placements: This contest is considered the third most important female beauty event in the world.
In 2004, the new Bellezas del Turismo (Tourism Beauties) pageant, also directed by Tania Collazo, obtained the rights until 2006.
From 2007 to 2015, the firm Creative Options Inc. chaired by Fernando Oquendo Vega, was in charged of the franchise, which was directed for a while by Desireé Del Río De Jesús, Miss International Puerto Rico 2011.
The winner of the title carries it for a period of about a year, and they give meaning and importance to this beauty competition by promoting a stop to war and violence, a campaign which is the slogan of the pageant.
Puerto Rico has won Miss Intercontinental five times in 1986, 1991, 2010, 2016, and 2024, but the current organization of the pageant only recognizes four winners.
Despite not being included in the official archive of the pageant by the current owners, Puerto Rico irrefutably won the first edition of 1991 in Nigeria, thus achieving its second Miss Intercontinental crown.
Since it began to be awarded in 2008, Puerto Rico is the country with the most Miss North America titles, winning it seven times as of 16 February 2025.
Also included is the oldest minor international pageant, Miss Intercontinental, which together with the six previously mentioned, compose the Big Seven.
The representative of Puerto Rico for Miss Cosmo will be part of the first edition of the pageant, which will be held in 2024.