San Martín Jilotepeque

About San Martín Jilotepeque:

The municipality takes up the north-east of Chimaltenango. Joyabaj and Pachalum in Quiché lie to the north, Granados in Baja Verapaz and San Juan Sacatepéquez in the department of Guatemala to the east, Chimaltenango and Zaragoza to the south, and Comalapa and San José Poaquil to the west. The town is 21 kilometres from Chimaltenango and 71 from Guatemala City, on a road that climbs some steep grades; in September 2022 a sinkhole at kilometre 64 closed it completely for a time. From town, a paved road runs 40 kilometres north to Joyabaj, and a 19-kilometre dirt road heads west to Comalapa. Mixco Viejo, the old Chajomá stronghold that resisted the Spanish, sits 20 kilometres north in aldea Las Escobas, and many visitors from the capital reach it through San Juan Sacatepéquez instead.

Maize and beans take up most of the farmed land. Other parts of the municipality grow coffee under shade trees, bananas, citrus and mango, and vegetables such as potato, onion, cabbage, carrot and lettuce, with pasture and a few stone quarries in between. Older trades are still alive too: handwoven cloth, braided sweets, bricks and clay roof tiles, baskets, rope and candles. Market days are Thursday and Sunday, in front of the central park, and Sunday is the busy one, when families come in from the aldeas to sell and buy. Outside the town, Patzaj, Las Escobas and Estancia de la Virgen are growing into local centres, and Estancia de la Virgen already has its own shops and small food-processing businesses.

The town lies a little under 1,800 metres up, in a valley between the hills of El Pelón, Los Conejos and La Cruz that shelters it from the north and east winds. North of town the land drops toward the Pixcayá and Motagua rivers and gets much drier. From March to May, and again in the July–August dry spell, communities such as Choatalum, Quimal, Las Escobas, Estancia de San Martín and Los Magueyes can lose most of their maize and beans, so a farm parcel up there is only as good as its water. Storms have torn roof sheets off houses in Las Escobas, Patzaj, Chirramirez and Cojomachaj. Where hillsides have been logged, around Choatalum, Chijocón and Estancia de la Virgen, landslides have followed.

Close to 90,000 people lived in the municipality at the 2018 census, and most are Kaqchikel Maya. The Spanish founded the present town around 1545 and named it for Saint Martin of Tours, whose feast on 11 November is the date of the patronal fair; the Chuisac archaeological site lies about two kilometres to the west. In 1773, families who had lost their homes in the Santa Marta earthquakes in Santiago moved here, and in 1826 the state legislature sat in the town for four days, which a marble plaque at the municipal building still records. The 1976 earthquake killed about 2,000 people here and crushed 1,918 houses of adobe, timber and tile. Today’s buyers are mostly local families: people buying a small lot to build on, splitting inherited land in the aldeas, or adding a shop to the house.

Houses in San Martín Jilotepeque:

Finished houses are concentrated in the town, in zona 1 barrios such as San Gaspar, close to the park and the market. Plots near the centre are tight, and houses grow upward: one recent resale was a 30-year-old house with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, 120 square metres of building on a lot of just 75. On the main streets the ground floor is often a shop, which helps if you want rental income but means market-day noise twice a week. Before you buy, have the structure looked at, since most of this stock was built in the years of rebuilding after 1976. Out in the aldeas, houses for sale in San Martín Jilotepeque come with a yard or a piece of farmland, and the road in may still be dirt.

Land and Lots in San Martín Jilotepeque:

Most buyers here are after a lot. Small lotificaciones sell plots sized for one family house: 8 by 17 metres at Nuevo San Martín, sold with registered deeds and services at the front; flat 9 by 18 metre lots on a 6-metre street at Villas del Sol in La Pedrera; lots from 9 by 20 metres at Las Lomas, in caserío La Concepción of aldea Las Escobas; and 10 by 20 metre plots in El Sauce. Several developers finance directly, so ask whether you are signing a promise of sale or the final deed, and when it will be registered. Bigger pieces turn up along the main roads, such as a 3,246-square-metre commercial lot at aldea El Molino on the way to Joyabaj, along with farm tracts of several manzanas. The municipal plan points new housing to the east of town and mixed shop-and-home use to the south, so ask the municipality how your plot is classified before you design anything.

Rentals in San Martín Jilotepeque:

Renting here means a family house, not an apartment. What comes up is small: two bedrooms, a separate kitchen, one bathroom and a patio, a few minutes’ drive from the centre. A house near the park puts the market and the town’s services within walking distance, which counts for a lot if you have no car. Before you sign, ask how many hours a day the water runs and who pays for repairs.

FAQ:

• How far is San Martín Jilotepeque from Guatemala City?

  About 71 kilometres, by way of Chimaltenango, which is 21 kilometres from town on a paved road. That road has steep stretches and has been cut by a sinkhole before, at kilometre 64 in September 2022. From the north, Joyabaj is 40 kilometres away on a paved road.

• What should I check before buying land near the archaeological sites or in the aldeas?

  Chuisac lies just west of town and Mixco Viejo is in Las Escobas, and construction on or beside a registered archaeological site is restricted, so ask the municipality and the culture ministry before you pay for anything close to one. In the aldeas a lot of land is inherited and never formally split, so make sure the parcel exists as its own finca at the property registry, and that every heir signs. In a lotificación, ask to see the registered subdivision rather than a sales plan.

• Is water a problem in the north of the municipality?

  It can be. The dry sector toward the Motagua, including Choatalum, Quimal, Las Escobas and Los Magueyes, loses most of its harvest in drought years. If you are buying farmland there, look for a spring, a well or a community water connection, and talk to neighbours about how the last dry season went.

• When is market day?

  Thursday and Sunday, in front of the central park, with Sunday the busier of the two. If a house on a main street interests you, visit on a market day as well as a quiet one.

• What is there to do nearby at weekends?

  Mixco Viejo, 20 kilometres north, has camping and barbecue areas among the ruins. In aldea Sacalá Las Lomas, about 15 minutes from town, Pachún runs natural pools, a temazcal, simple cabins and a Maya ceremonial altar.