Santa Ana

About Santa Ana:

The municipality covers 1,008 square kilometres of the central Petén plain, bordered by Flores to the north, Dolores to the east and south, and San Francisco to the west. The CA-13 runs straight through it. From Guatemala City that means 461 kilometres and six to seven hours, up the Atlantic highway and then north through Río Dulce, Poptún and El Chal. At the Cruce de Santa Ana the road splits toward La Libertad, San Francisco and Poptún, and a paved road also links the town with San Benito. For a flight, the bigger shops or most government paperwork, people drive the short way north to Santa Elena.

The first town stood out on the savanna at Ixponé, now the aldea of Santa Ana Vieja, where a stone corral and the lime-and-stone ruins of the priest’s house can still be seen. Local tradition says a woman from Mexico brought the image of Santa Ana there in 1837. By 1890 the town had moved to what is now barrio Buena Vista, where an old stone cistern survives, and from there it shifted once more to the church. Half the people live in the town and half in the aldeas and caseríos. Work means maize, beans and sugar cane, cattle fattened on pasture, pigs in the back yard, and services. Spanish is the everyday language, Q’eqchi’ is spoken in some communities, and the whole municipality turns out on 26 July for the feast of Santa Ana, with dawn alboradas and pilgrimages to the saint.

Most of the land is flat: open savanna broken by patches of forest, with low hills and small valleys between them. Water collects in aguadas such as Buena Vista, Nitzam and Sajalal and in the lagunetas Ijá and Oquevix, while the Bucut, Chiquibul and San Martín rivers cross the municipality. The soil is the catch. It is shallow, acidic and poor, with aluminium that keeps crops from using phosphorus and nitrogen, so maize here needs fertiliser and harvests swing with the weather, while pasture copes better. Flat ground also drains slowly, and heavy rain has flooded homes in barrio El Centro, right in the middle of town.

Two places outside town show how varied the municipality is. At kilometre 443 of the CA-13, in Santa Ana Vieja, the Nuevo Horizonte cooperative was founded in 1998 by former FAR guerrilla fighters after the peace accords. It now hosts visitors at Laguna Oquevix for swimming, fishing and trips by cayuco, and has been among the winners of Guatemala’s responsible tourism prize. Toward the Mopán basin, the acropolis of Chilonché rises 15 metres above cattle pasture, one of more than a dozen Maya sites in the municipality. The people buying here are mostly local families building their own house, people from Flores and Santa Elena who want a lot within easy reach, and ranchers adding pasture.

Houses in Santa Ana:

Homes come up in the established barrios around the centre and on newer streets such as barrio Nueva Lotificación, on the road to the Instituto Nacional. Most are single-storey family houses on generous ground: a two-bedroom house on 419 square varas off 5a calle, or a three-bedroom house a few minutes from the road to Los Naranjos with a garage for three cars. Anyone looking at houses for sale in Santa Ana, Petén should give the lot as much attention as the building. Ask where the rainwater goes on a flat street, how the house gets its water, and whether the deed is registered in the seller’s name.

Land and Lots in Santa Ana:

Subdivisions on the edge of town supply most of the new building land. Lotificación Las Flores, beside Finca La Potra and 900 metres off the main road, sells 10 by 20 metre lots; other projects advertise five minutes to the town centre, ten to the Mundo Maya airport and fifteen to the island of Flores. The usual terms are a small reservation payment and interest-free monthly instalments over less than two years. Larger single lots, 12 by 24 or 30 by 30 metres, also come up. These lots for sale in Santa Ana are aimed at families who mean to build, so before you sign, get the deed handover date in writing, ask whether water and power reach the lot or are your cost, and walk the street to see that it has actually been cut.

Roadside and Commercial Land in Santa Ana:

Frontage on the CA-13 is a market of its own. On the way out toward Flores, plots are offered with power and drinking water already at the roadside, one subdivision sets aside commercial lots along the highway, and a single commercial parcel of 6,000 square metres has been on offer. Traffic through the Cruce de Santa Ana is what gives these plots their value. Check the highway right of way before you plan a building near the asphalt, and ask the municipality what licence your intended business will need.

Fincas and Cattle Land in Santa Ana:

Out of town, land is counted in manzanas and caballerías. Holdings of five to ten manzanas appear regularly, some completely flat, some with a few hills, and some with deeds registered and a road that any vehicle can use. Mid-sized fincas of two to four caballerías come with aguadas, a power line, a small corral for working cattle, and a mix of pasture, forest and guamil. At the top end, a cattle finca of 14 caballerías sits on the road to San Francisco. For fincas for sale in Petén around Santa Ana, the aguadas matter as much as the size: ask whether they hold water through the dry months, how much of the land is already in grass, and what state the fences and gates are in.

FAQ:

• How far is Santa Ana from Flores and Santa Elena?

  The town is 21 kilometres south-east of Flores on the CA-13, about fifteen minutes by car, and the Mundo Maya airport in Santa Elena is closer still. Guatemala City is 461 kilometres away, six to seven hours by road through Río Dulce and Poptún. If you work or study in Santa Elena, living in Santa Ana is a realistic option.

• Can I buy a lot on instalments in Santa Ana?

  Yes. Subdivisions here usually take a small reservation and spread the balance over monthly payments with no interest, often finishing within two years. Make sure the contract names the lot number and its measurements, says what happens if you miss a payment, and ties the handover of your own deed to the final instalment.

• What should I check before buying rural land in Santa Ana?

  Start with what is on the ground. The municipality has more than a dozen known Maya sites, several on farmland, and mounds are protected heritage that cannot be levelled or built over, so walk the whole parcel before you agree a price. Then look at where the land came from: much of it passed through cooperatives such as Nuevo Horizonte and CELEDUC or parcelamientos such as La Unión II and El Buen Retiro, and a parcel may be held in possession, in the cooperative’s name, or under a title split off a bigger finca. At the property registry, the finca number should show who owns it, how large it is and what debts it carries.

• Is the land in Santa Ana good for farming?

  It suits cattle better than crops. The savanna soils are thin and acidic, so maize and beans need fertiliser and a dry spell cuts yields quickly. Most fincas that change hands are pasture with aguadas that do not dry out.

• Does Santa Ana flood?

  The town is flat, and heavy rain has flooded houses in barrio El Centro. On any lot, watch where the water runs in a downpour, ask the neighbours how they fared in the last big storm, and if the street is low, raise the floor and build proper drainage.