Cajolá

About Cajolá:

Cajolá covers 36 square kilometres in the north-west of the Quetzaltenango department. Sibilia and San Carlos Sija lie to the north, Palestina de Los Altos to the west, San Juan Ostuncalco and San Miguel Sigüilá to the south, and San Francisco La Unión and Olintepeque to the east. The town is 16 kilometres from Quetzaltenango city and a little over 210 from Guatemala City. Four roads leave it: asphalt to San Juan Ostuncalco, 8 kilometres, and to Sibilia, 10, and dirt roads to La Esperanza, 8, and San Francisco La Unión, 10. Ask which of the four a property actually depends on, because the dirt routes look shorter on a map than they feel in the rains.

Most families farm. Maize, wheat, beans and broad beans go mainly to the household table, alongside fruit trees, a few sheep kept for wool and, in the past, a good deal of charcoal carried out on foot to sell. The larger income comes from relatives working in the United States; in Morristown, New Jersey, people from Cajolá founded their own mutual-aid group in 2000. Members who came home started a women’s weaving cooperative and an egg cooperative, and the red striped huipil woven here is still everyday dress. The town centre has the municipal market, a health centre, volunteer firefighters and schools up to secondary level, and the fair for the Holy Cross fills it from 1 to 3 May.

Three quarters of the municipality is broken, hilly ground. El Granizo, Veinte Cruces and San Sija rise around the town, and the mountain of Xetalbiljoj is held in common: families cut their firewood there, and it is not land anyone can sell you. Pine, oak, madrone and pinabete cover the higher slopes. Between November and January the nights drop below freezing, and the frosts come with little warning. For anyone buying a field, that means one harvest a year, and a frost in the wrong week can take the maize, the beans and the wheat with it.

In the town the houses stand in rows along the streets, with the caseríos of La Loma, La Ciénaga and La Vista on its edges. Cajolá Chiquito, the one aldea, is 2 kilometres out; the cantón of Xecol runs right up against the centre, and Xetalbiljoj, with caseríos such as La Cruz, La Cumbre, Buena Vista and La Reforma, is 4 kilometres away. Outside the centre houses are scattered, because a family builds on its own field. Most buyers are local: families with someone abroad who want a lot to build on, and town households putting money from the north into rural land.

Houses in Cajolá:

Two kinds of house come up here. One is the family home on its own plot, built to the town’s usual scale; the other is the newer two- or three-storey concrete house built with remittances, such as a two-storey house with a garage and side entrance offered recently in Cajolá Chiquito. When you look at houses for sale in Cajolá, remember that many of the larger ones went up while the owner was away. Ask who built it, whether the municipality issued a construction licence, and whether the upper floors were ever finished inside. Then check the water connection and where the drainage goes, especially on the slopes outside the centre.

Land and Lots in Cajolá:

Land is sold by the cuerda. Near the centre that usually means a single building lot, like the one-cuerda plot offered in Caserío La Vista; further out it means farmland, often with the family house standing on it. Anyone looking for land for sale in Cajolá to build on should put road frontage and a water connection ahead of size. For farming, think about frost and slope before soil: low, open ground where cold air settles is the first to freeze. And keep well clear of anything that touches the communal mountain of Xetalbiljoj.

FAQ:

• How far is Cajolá from Xela?

  Sixteen kilometres. The asphalt runs from Cajolá to San Juan Ostuncalco and to Sibilia, while the roads to La Esperanza and San Francisco La Unión have been dirt. Cajolá Chiquito and Xecol are close to the centre; Xetalbiljoj is 4 kilometres out.

• The owner lives in the United States. How do I buy safely?

  This is the usual case in Cajolá, so plan for it. If the owner signs from abroad, the person selling for them needs a formal power of attorney, a mandato granted before a Guatemalan consul or notary and registered, and you should see it before any money moves. Check at the Segundo Registro de la Propiedad in Quetzaltenango that the property is a finca in the seller’s own name, not a share of the parents’ land that was never split off. Walk the boundaries with a neighbour, and confirm the parcel is nowhere near the communal mountain of Xetalbiljoj.

• Does the frost really matter?

  For farmland, yes. Frosts between November and January regularly damage maize, broad beans, beans and wheat, and Cajolá gets one harvest a year. If you plan to grow anything, ask a neighbour which corners of the field freeze first.

• Which communities belong to Cajolá?

  The town with La Loma, La Ciénaga and La Vista; the aldea of Cajolá Chiquito with Las Delicias, Los López and Los Vaíl; the cantón of Xecol, which includes Los Molinas; and the cantón of Xetalbiljoj with La Cruz, La Cumbre, Buena Vista and La Reforma. Name the exact one when you compare prices, as distance and services change from place to place.

• What is in the town itself?

  A municipal market, a health centre, a volunteer fire station, a post office and schools through secondary level. Hospitals and the bigger shops are in Xela, 16 kilometres away. The busiest days of the year are the fair from 1 to 3 May.