Daily life
El plan / los cerros
el PLAN / los SEH-rros
The flat strip along the port, and the forty-odd hills behind it. Every address, every rent and every evacuation instruction in this city starts with which of the two you are on.
Ascensor
ah-sen-SOR
One of the hillside funiculars. Sixteen were declared national historic monuments in 1998; only a handful run at any given time, and which ones changes.
Quebrada
keh-BRAH-dah
A ravine between two hills. They are the tsunami evacuation routes and they are also the channels fire runs up — which is why keeping them clear is a civic obsession.
RUT
root
Your tax number. Chile runs on it — banks, contracts, phone plans, even the supermarket loyalty card. A provisional one from the SII comes before your cédula.
Micro / Merval
MEE-kro / mer-VAL
The city bus, and the commuter rail line from Puerto up the valley through Viña del Mar to Limache. The Merval is the fast way between the two cities.
Social
Porteño
por-TEH-nyo
A native of Valparaíso — literally 'of the port'. Not to be confused with the Buenos Aires usage; here it is a distinct and proudly held identity.
Cachai
ka-CHAI
'You get it?' — appended to roughly every second sentence in Chile, and no less here than in Santiago.
Emergency
Cota 30
KOH-tah TRAIN-tah
The 30-metre contour, the general reference line for tsunami evacuation. Below it you go uphill; above it you are in the safe zone. Learn where yours is.
Temblor / terremoto
tem-BLOR / teh-rreh-MOH-toh
A tremor and a proper earthquake. Chileans distinguish sharply. Valparaíso was flattened in 1906 and shaken hard in 1985, and everyone here knows the difference.
SENAPRED
seh-nah-PRED
The national disaster prevention and response service, which replaced ONEMI on 1 January 2023. It runs the alerts and the evacuation drills; older guides still say ONEMI.
133 / 131 / 132 / 130
uno-tres-tres...
Carabineros, ambulance, fire, forest fires. Chile has no single emergency number — in this city, 132 and 130 are not theoretical.
Food
Chorrillana
cho-rree-YAH-nah
Chips buried under beef, onions and fried eggs, shared and eaten late. It was invented here and it is the city's own dish.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.