San Pedro Jocopilas

About San Pedro Jocopilas:

San Pedro Jocopilas lies in the south-west of Quiché, just north of the departmental capital. From Guatemala City the road is paved all the way: the CA-1 to Los Encuentros, then the RN-15 through Chichicastenango to Santa Cruz del Quiché, where the same RN-15 carries on north through San Pedro Jocopilas towards Sacapulas. The municipality borders Sacapulas and San Bartolomé Jocotenango to the north, San Andrés Sajcabajá to the east, Chinique, Santa Cruz del Quiché and San Antonio Ilotenango to the south, and Santa Lucía La Reforma in Totonicapán and Malacatancito in Huehuetenango to the west. The eight kilometres down to Santa Cruz have gone through long spells of potholes and roadworks, so drive them yourself before you count on the commute. Off the main road, the aldeas are reached on tracks the municipality is paving piece by piece; Comitancillo recently got 980 metres of paving stones.

Most families live from maize and beans grown on their own land, with some livestock on the side. Crafts are made at home and on a small scale: wool blankets, cotton weaving, palm hats, candles, pottery, and clay tiles and bricks. Land is almost always worked by the people who own it, and very little is rented out. Close to half of all households have someone who has left the municipality to find work. In town, the white church on the central park is the landmark everyone uses, the municipal hall faces the park, and the Centro de Atención Permanente handles emergencies and straightforward births.

The town stands at 2,135 metres in high, folded, wooded country that runs into the Sierra de Chuacús and the Sierra de Comitancillo, with Cerro Santa María and Cerro Telecux among the high points. The Negro, Chopac, Santa María and Xocopilá are some of the rivers that cut through it. Two-fifths of the land is forest, a similar share grows annual crops, and most of the rest is pasture. The soils are deep, but much of the ground is too steep to farm comfortably. There is a hot-spring bathing site, Agua Caliente, and the hamlet of Comitancillo, in aldea Santa María, has been a national archaeological monument since 1931 for the ruins people there call Los Cajones.

The 2018 census counted 31,950 people, and only a small share of them live in the town itself. The rest are spread over more than 80 aldeas, caseríos and cantones, among them Chitucur, Santabal, Xoljuyup, Patzojom, Las Rosas, La Primavera, Santa María, Comitancillo and El Rodeo Patuj. Nearly everyone was born here, Spanish and K’iche’ are both spoken, and the great majority of families own the house they live in. That makes for a local market: buyers are mostly families from the municipality, and outsiders are rare. The fiesta of San Pedro runs from 26 to 29 June, with marimba, chirimía, processions and the dances of the Conquest, the Torito and the Deer.

Houses in San Pedro Jocopilas:

Around the central park and along the RN-15, houses for sale in San Pedro Jocopilas are mostly block and concrete on compact town lots, close to the market, the health centre and municipal services. In the aldeas the usual house is adobe under a clay-tile roof, often with earth floors, on a family plot with space for maize and animals. A well-kept adobe house can be a sound buy, but look for damp at the foot of the walls, check the timbers under the tiles and ask whether the walls have ever been reinforced. Ask where the water comes from as well: in many aldeas supply depends on community wells and tanks, such as the new well at La Primavera.

Rentals in San Pedro Jocopilas:

Renting is a small corner of the market, and nearly all of it is in the casco urbano. Expect rooms and modest family houses rather than apartments, with the occasional whole house let for short stays to visiting families. Before you move in, get the deposit, the rent and the utility bills set down on paper. Open the taps at the end of the dry season, too; that is when a weak supply shows.

Land and Lots in San Pedro Jocopilas:

Land is what changes hands most, sold by the cuerda, a unit whose size shifts from one area to the next, so convert every offer to square metres before comparing. Roadside parcels on the RN-15 and near aldeas such as Las Rosas are offered for shops, workshops or even a petrol station, while plots further in are farmland and woodland. Because almost all land for sale in San Pedro Jocopilas is family land that has been passed down, many parcels are slices of a larger inheritance, and the slice you buy needs its own registered deed. Mark the corners on the ground with the adjoining owners present, and see how the access track behaves in the rains, when unpaved roads in the sierra can turn to mud or close. On a hillside, what counts is how much of the lot is flat enough to build on, not how many cuerdas the deed lists.

FAQ:

• How far is San Pedro Jocopilas from Santa Cruz del Quiché?

  Eight kilometres north on the RN-15, a few minutes’ drive when the road is in good repair. The same road continues to Sacapulas, and heavy rain has blocked that stretch before, so check conditions in the wet season.

• Which communities make up the municipality?

  Besides the town, there are more than 80 aldeas, caseríos and cantones, including Santa María, Comitancillo, San Juan Comitancillo, Las Rosas, La Primavera, Chitucur, Santabal, Patzojom, Aguas Calientes and El Rodeo Patuj. Most people live in them rather than in the town.

• What should I check before buying land in San Pedro Jocopilas?

  Start with how the land reached the seller. Most parcels have been handed down and split between heirs, so make sure the exact piece on offer has been separated and registered in its own right at the property registry, and that every heir with a claim signs. Near Comitancillo, ask about the archaeological protection before you plan foundations.

• What are houses built of here?

  Outside the centre, mostly adobe walls and clay-tile roofs, made from local clay as they have been for centuries. In and around the town, block, concrete and sheet roofing are the norm.

• When is the town fair?

  The fiesta of San Pedro runs from 26 to 29 June, with the 29th as the main day. Expect marimba, processions, fireworks and traditional dances in the centre.