El Progreso

About El Progreso:

El Progreso lies at 969 metres in a small valley in the north of the Jutiapa department, with Monjas, in Jalapa, to the north, Jutiapa to the south and west, and Santa Catarina Mita and Asunción Mita to the east. The CA-1 runs along the southern edge of the municipality and the town is a few minutes north of it, 11 km from Jutiapa city. Guatemala City is some 130 km away, either back along the Pan-American through Jutiapa or by the northern road through Monjas, Jalapa and Sanarate, which is the way the capital buses run. Microbuses shuttle to Jutiapa all day, other routes go to Asunción Mita and Monjas, and tuk-tuks handle trips inside town.

Farming pays the bills. Laguna de Retana, a volcanic basin at 1,040 metres that El Progreso shares with Santa Catarina Mita, was drained around 1960 through a canal that ends in a sluice gate, and the water it holds back in the rains goes onto the fields in the dry months. From the late 1980s growers drilled their own wells and moved to hybrid seed, and Retana now carries two main tomato plantings a year, one sown in May and June and one between November and January. Onion, sweet pepper, watermelon and melon fill the warm low ground, maize, beans and coffee grow higher up, and the south of the municipality is cattle country, known for its dairy, chicharrones and hams. The cost shows in the rivers: the Morán, Chiquito, Colorado and El Ovejero carry less water than they used to, and soil wear is a real worry on the hardest-worked plots.

Achuapa comes from the Nahuatl for river of achiote, and long before there was a municipality, Pipil farmers grew maize, cacao and above all achiote along the Morán and the Chiquito. The town was founded on 6 October 1884 as El Valle de Achuapa and goes by the motto Rubí de Oriente. Its centre is Parque El Edén, set between the church and the municipal building and rebuilt in 2019 around an aquarium. Deportivo Achuapa, founded in 1932 as Oriental Progresista, plays top-flight football at the Estadio Manuel Ariza. February belongs to the Virgen de Lourdes fair, from the 9th to the 13th, with the carrera del pato on horseback, and the local farmers’ and ranchers’ association runs its own Feria de la Producción.

The municipality had 22,114 residents in 2018, and fewer than half of them live in the town itself. The municipal plan treats three aldeas as local centres alongside the town: Las Flores in the middle of the municipality, El Ovejero to the north on the Monjas road and Acequia to the south toward Jutiapa. Las Uvas, Las Piletas, El Peñoncito, Valle Abajo and Morán make up the rest, with caseríos such as El Pino, El Conejo and Laguna de Retana around the basin. Most buyers are from here: farming families adding a house or a plot, households paying off a lot in monthly instalments, and people who work in Jutiapa and would rather live eleven kilometres out.

Houses in El Progreso:

Most homes in El Progreso are lived in by the families who own them, so what comes up for sale is resale rather than new stock. In town, barrios such as La Ceiba and La Tejera mix two-storey block houses, some with four bedrooms and several bathrooms, with older single-storey homes, and adobe walls under tile roofs still turn up between the block and brick. In the aldea of Las Flores, family houses stand on lots from 8 x 20 to 12 x 24 metres, with a sala, kitchen, dining room, a covered corredor and three to five bedrooms. When you look at houses for sale in El Progreso, Jutiapa, look up as well: most roofs are metal sheet, and a house with a concrete slab roof is far better suited to adding a second floor later.

Land and Lots in El Progreso:

Land comes in three kinds here: urban lots in and around the town, rural plots in the aldeas, and farm parcels in the Retana basin and on the higher ground. Rural plots of a thousand square metres and more are sold with deeds and with power, water and road access, and some owners sell neighbouring parcels together for small housing projects. Between El Progreso and Jutiapa there are also roadside lots on dirt tracks where water and power still have to be brought in. From November to April almost nothing grows without irrigation, so with farmland in El Progreso the first question is where the water comes from: a private well, water from the Retana gate, or neither. Sewers serve the town, Acequia and El Pino; anywhere else, ask how wastewater is handled before you buy.

New Developments in El Progreso:

Most of what is new in El Progreso is lotificaciones: lots sold by the developer with a small down payment and monthly instalments, often without interest. Campo Verde already has its drains and water pipes in, while Altos de Las Uvas, Miraflores and Residenciales Las Flores 2 are other projects in the municipality. In Acequia a walled project sells lots with a shared green area, and Condominio Vista Bella offers compact 15 x 7.50 metre lots. At Laguna de Retana, Coto de Caza is laying out 242 m² lots of 11 x 22 metres. These are small lots, so read the project rules on what you may build before you sign.

FAQ:

• How do I get from El Progreso to Jutiapa and Guatemala City?

  Jutiapa is 11 km away on the CA-1, and microbuses make the trip all day. Guatemala City is some 130 km off: you can drive back through Jutiapa on the Pan-American, or go north through Monjas and Jalapa to meet the CA-9 at Sanarate, which is the route the capital buses take.

• Is it safe to buy a lot on instalments in a lotificación?

  It can be, if you ask the right things first. Find out whether your lot already exists as its own property in the property registry or is still part of the developer’s land, and whether the deed is handed over at signing or only after the last payment. Then check which services are actually connected and which are promised. A contract that names the lot by number, measurements and registry details protects you far better than a book of receipts.

• What should I check before buying farmland at Laguna de Retana?

  Water, in both directions. The basin still collects water in the rains, so the lowest plots can stay wet, while in the dry months a parcel without a well or water from the gate will not carry a crop. Because Retana is shared with Santa Catarina Mita, confirm which municipality the parcel belongs to, then check in the property registry that the registered measurements match what is on the ground and that the plot was not split off a family holding without the division being recorded.

• Which parts of El Progreso are growing?

  The municipality plans around four centres: the town, Las Flores, El Ovejero on the Monjas road and Acequia on the road to Jutiapa, and services and new lots follow them. Acequia and the stretch toward the CA-1 suit anyone who works in Jutiapa, while Las Flores, in the middle of the municipality, is the main village alternative to the town.

• What services does the town have?

  Electricity reaches every community in the municipality. The town has its market, secondary schools up to diversificado level and two university centres, and its sewers also reach Acequia and El Pino. Rubbish collection and street drainage still fall short in parts of the municipality, so walk the street after a heavy rain before you commit.