Mataquescuintla

About Mataquescuintla:

Mataquescuintla fills the western end of Jalapa department. To the west and north it meets San José Pinula and Palencia in Guatemala department and Sansare and Sanarate in El Progreso; Jalapa and San Carlos Alzatate lie to the east, and a run of Santa Rosa municipalities, from San Rafael Las Flores to Nueva Santa Rosa, closes the south. Jalapa city is 37 kilometres away over the mountain on the RN-18, past Miramundo, Pino Dulce and the Tatasirire reserve. Heading west, the same road covers a little over 40 kilometres of dirt to San José Pinula, and in 2025 it went into maintenance as the step before paving. Until the asphalt arrives, the paved way to Guatemala City goes round through Jalapa and Sanarate to the CA-9.

Some 42,000 people live in the municipality, and fewer than a quarter of them in town. The rest are spread over 19 aldeas and 52 caseríos, places like Morales, Soledad Grande, El Pajal, San José La Sierra and Pino Dulce. Coffee is the crop that defines the place, grown alongside maize, beans, sugar cane, potatoes, vegetables and cattle, with timber as a long-standing second income. Small growers work through associations such as APROCOLIS, and in 2018 a Japanese coffee company opened artisan micro-mills here for just over 200 member producers. The town’s fiesta for Santiago Apóstol runs from 23 to 27 July and doubles as the Feria de la Flor del Café.

Colís sits at 1,727 metres and the ground climbs hard from there. Cerro Santiago, above the town, belongs to the Sierra Madre and still carries black oak and pinabete, the native Guatemalan fir that is on the endangered list. East along the Jalapa road, Pino Dulce reaches 2,400 metres, with an ecological park of suspension bridges and cabins, and beyond it begins the cloud forest of Miramundo. Much of the coffee grows between 1,500 and 2,200 metres under shade trees, on slopes cut by 28 rivers. At the top of that range the nights are properly cold, so a house up there has to be built for cold and mist, not copied from a plan meant for town.

Rafael Carrera launched his 1837 uprising from these mountains, and the municipality belonged to Santa Rosa until it moved to Jalapa in 1935. In November 2012 more than 10,000 residents voted against metal mining in a municipal consultation that the Constitutional Court later recognised as binding, and that vote still shapes how people here talk about land and water. Most buyers are from the area. Families buy lots in and around Colís to build, growers trade coffee parcels in the aldeas, and the forest land along the Jalapa road draws people after a cabin, a view and cold air within reach of the capital.

Houses in Mataquescuintla:

Town houses are concentrated in Colís, many within a few blocks of the parque central, with the church, the municipal building and shops close at hand. Anyone looking for houses for sale in Mataquescuintla will also find rural homes that come with real land: in the aldeas, a house on several thousand square metres with sheds for coffee or cattle is a normal offer. Part of that stock is adobe, some of it old. Guatemala is earthquake country, so have an engineer look at an adobe house before you put a price on the land beneath it.

Land and Lots in Mataquescuintla:

Land is most of what changes hands here. Flat ground is scarce in a municipality this steep, so a level town lot with water and power already connected is the easiest kind to build on. Near Barrio El Porvenir, Lotificación San Antonio offers level lots, and Residencial Santa Elena, in Cantón Elena on the way out of town toward San Miguel, sells lots in Mataquescuintla with services installed, paved streets and deeds. Further out, buy for access first: find out how the parcel reaches the RN-18 and walk that last stretch in the rainy season before you agree a price.

Coffee Farms and Fincas in Mataquescuintla:

Coffee land is what sets Mataquescuintla apart within Jalapa. The best parcels sit between 1,500 and 2,200 metres under shade, and since El Morito’s 2022 auction the town’s name carries weight with specialty buyers in Japan, Korea and the United States. Fincas for sale run from working farms with a house and outbuildings to large estates with forest and water of their own. Before you buy, ask how the coffee leaves the farm, whether milled on site, delivered to an association or sold as cherry, because that decides what a harvest is worth.

FAQ:

• Is Colís the same place as Mataquescuintla?

  Yes. Colís, sometimes San Miguel de Colís, is the everyday name for the town and the municipality, and people from here call themselves coliseños. Both names get used for the same properties, so search with both.

• How do I get from Mataquescuintla to Guatemala City?

  There are two ways. The direct one is the RN-18 west to San José Pinula, a little over 40 kilometres of dirt road now in maintenance ahead of paving. The other runs on asphalt through Jalapa and Sanarate to the CA-9, longer but kinder to a low car. If you plan to commute, drive both routes in the rainy season before you decide.

• How far is Jalapa city?

  Thirty-seven kilometres east on the RN-18, over the mountain by Miramundo and Pino Dulce. That is where you go for department offices and hospital care. The high stretch climbs above 2,000 metres, so expect fog and slow driving.

• Can I clear forest on a plot near Pino Dulce or Cerro Santiago?

  Not freely. Felling trees in Guatemala needs a licence from INAB, and pinabete is a protected species, so a forested plot may hold far less buildable ground than its size suggests. Ask as well whether the land is enrolled in a forestry incentive programme and what obligations come with it.

• What should I check before buying a finca in the aldeas?

  Rural land here has often been handed down and split among heirs without every piece being registered. Confirm at the property registry that the finca number the seller shows you matches the ground you walk, and have a surveyor follow the boundaries, which on coffee land tend to run along streams and ridges. Find out where the water comes from, whether a spring, a river or the municipal line, and who else has a right to it.