Santos Dumont demanded the Falls become public in 1916

Santos Dumont arrived at the Iguaçu Falls in 1916 at the invitation of hotelier Frederico Engel, owner of Hotel Brasil. Upon learning that the land belonged to the Uruguayan Jesus Val, the inventor demanded that the area be expropriated and turned into public heritage.

The demand was fulfilled that same year, when the area was declared of public utility, initiating the expropriation process. In 1939, President Getúlio Vargas signed Decree-Law No. 1,035, officially creating Parque Nacional do Iguaçu, which today covers more than 185,000 hectares.

The park is managed by ICMBio and, since 1999, tourism services have been contracted to the private sector. Points of interest include the Santos Dumont Statue in Porto Canoas, inaugurated on April 25, 1979, and the permanent exhibition Memory of the Falls, opened in 2015 at the Visitor Center.

The city of Foz do Iguaçu, at the far western edge of Paraná, blends the waterfalls, the park’s forest, and landmarks that recall the 1916 visit. The climate is hot in summer, with temperatures reaching 31 °C, and milder in winter, ranging from 13 °C to 24 °C.