Concepción Chiquirichapa

About Concepción Chiquirichapa:

The name joins the town’s patron, the Immaculate Conception, to a Nahuatl word usually translated as “the stream of the cicadas”. Concepción Chiquirichapa became a municipality in 1860 and is surrounded entirely by other municipalities of Quetzaltenango: San Juan Ostuncalco and San Mateo to the north, Quetzaltenango itself to the east, and San Martín Sacatepéquez to the west and south. The road from Xela climbs 13 km to the cabecera, then carries on through San Martín Sacatepéquez and down towards Colomba and the coast. Guatemala City is about 214 km away. Mam and Spanish are both official languages here.

Potatoes run the local economy. Farmers grow Loman, Tollocan and the ICTA Chiquirichapa variety on small family plots, and fit peas, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots in around them. At kilometre 216, on the way out to San Martín Sacatepéquez, a wholesale vegetable centre buys from Concepción, San Martín, Ostuncalco and farms as far off as San Marcos and Huehuetenango. A potato collection, marketing and training centre was built in aldea Los Duraznales with funding from Taiwan and the national government, meant to handle most of the municipality’s crop. Some households also rely on relatives working in the United States.

The south of the municipality climbs onto the mountain. Siete Orejas, a long-dormant stratovolcano reaching 3,370 metres, has more than eighteen Maya ceremonial altars along its ridge that priests still use. Around it the town manages a regional municipal park of over 1,000 hectares, spread across seven forests including Cacique Dormido, Xecacaix, Toj Coral and Xecampana. Twelve springs rise inside those forests and eleven of them supply the town’s drinking water. The Kum Kum Wutz ecotourism centre on Cacique Dormido has trails, camping and a canopy line, and a 9.5 km round trip from there takes you to the summit.

About 17,300 people were counted here in 2018, almost all of them Mam, with a little over half living in the urban area. Beyond the cabecera there are nine aldeas, among them Los Duraznales, Telená, Tuipox, Toj Chulup, Talmax and Toj Coral, and seventeen caseríos such as Santa Elena, Tuich Pech and El Aguacate. The big date is 8 December, the feast of the Inmaculada Concepción. Buyers are mostly local: families who want a lot to build on, and farmers adding cuerdas next to land they already work. Storms, strong wind and soil erosion are the hazards the municipality itself plans around, so they belong on your checklist too.

Houses in Concepción Chiquirichapa:

Almost every house here has concrete-block walls, with adobe a small minority and roofs of concrete slab or metal sheet. Typical houses for sale in Concepción Chiquirichapa are new or recent family homes on a public street, for example around 95 m² built on a lot of a little over 200 m², and older houses that come with a plot attached in aldeas like Telená. At this height wind and heavy rain test a building hard. Look at the roof fixings, the drainage around the walls and any cracks before you agree a price.

Land and Lots in Concepción Chiquirichapa:

Small building lots are the most common sale. Near Los Duraznales, subdivided plots of around 8 by 18 metres, 144 m², are sold with water and electricity, and half-cuerda parcels change hands in sectors such as Hernández. Caserío Santa Elena in aldea Telená is another place where house lots appear. Lots on the road side are easy to reach. Lots deeper in the fields may depend on a footpath or a shared dirt track, which matters when you bring in block and cement.

Farmland in Concepción Chiquirichapa:

Agricultural parcels are offered by the cuerda and advertised for what they grow best, which here means potatoes. Judge a field by its soil, its slope and how easily a truck can reach it to carry the harvest to the wholesale centre at kilometre 216. On steep ground the topsoil washes off fast once the cover is gone. If you want farmland for sale near Xela with an established potato history, ask the owner which varieties went in over the last few seasons and how the field drained in the last big storm.

FAQ:

• How do I get to Concepción Chiquirichapa from Quetzaltenango?

  It is 13 km by road from Xela, uphill to the west. The same road continues to San Martín Sacatepéquez, about 24 km from Xela, and then descends towards Colomba and the coast. Guatemala City is roughly 214 km away.

• What is the main risk with land titles in Concepción Chiquirichapa?

  Boundaries. National and municipal sources disagree sharply on how large the municipality is, and its own development plan maps a stretch of disputed boundary with a neighbour. Before you buy, confirm which municipality collects the IUSI on the parcel and issues building licences. Potato land is also often inherited and divided between siblings, so check whether the piece you want is a registered finca in the property registry or only a share held under a deed of possession.

• Where does the water come from?

  Most of it comes from eleven springs inside the forests of the municipal regional park on and around Siete Orejas. Water reaches the aldeas through piped systems run with the communities, so ask which spring and which committee serve the plot, and whether there is drainage.

• What is there to do outside town?

  Most visitors head for Kum Kum Wutz on Cacique Dormido for forest trails, camping and the canopy line, or hike from there to the summit of Siete Orejas. On a clear day the top looks over Quetzaltenango and the volcanoes Santa María, Santiaguito, Tajumulco and Tacaná.

• Is the land only good for potatoes?

  Potatoes cover most of the cultivated area, but farmers also grow peas, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, maize and beans. The cool highland climate suits vegetables, and the wholesale centre at kilometre 216 gives growers a buyer close to home.