El Asintal

About El Asintal:

El Asintal sits where Retalhuleu meets Quetzaltenango. Colomba and Génova lie across that line to the north and west, Nuevo San Carlos is to the east and the municipality of Retalhuleu to the south. From the CA-2 Pacific highway the turn-off is at kilometre 190.5, and 4.5 km of paved road bring you into town; the entrance to Tak’alik Ab’aj is 4 km further on. Retalhuleu city is 15 km away and Guatemala City just under 200, about four hours by road. The two main aldeas, Sibaná and El Xab, are on asphalt too.

By Guatemalan standards the municipality is young. A government decree separated it from Colomba on 12 June 1928, and its boundaries were surveyed and approved in 1940. It takes its name from a wild cane that grows in the area, a close relative of the plant people now call caña de Cristo. Around 37,000 people live here, some 17,000 of them in the town and the rest in aldeas such as Sibaná, El Xab and San José Nil Chiquito, in colonias and cantones, and on more than twenty fincas. San José is the patron, with the fair from 17 to 20 March and the 19th as the big day, while Sibaná holds its own fair for the Virgen de Concepción in late November.

This is bocacosta country. The centre of the municipality stands at about 400 metres and the land climbs to 1,200 in the north, with slopes of up to 25 percent. The soils are among the most fertile on the Pacific slope, and the best rubber ground lies in that northern belt. Rubber leads the local economy, some of it sold as far as the United States, followed by coffee, macadamia, sugar cane and honey. Tak’alik Ab’aj itself stands inside the Santa Margarita reserve, surrounded by coffee plantations, and Maya groups still come to hold ceremonies there. The Nil, Xab, Talcaché, Nimá, Sibaná and Ayal rivers run down to the Samalá and Ocosito basins, and the stone and sand dug from their beds go into local building.

Services are basic, and that shapes what a property is worth. The town has a permanent health centre, Sibaná and El Xab have health posts, and anything bigger means the drive to Retalhuleu. Most homes take their water from a well on their own lot, piped water is run by a community committee, and few streets have a sewer. Beyond the town, the roads to many hamlets go from short stretches of concrete to adoquín and then dirt, which is slow going in the rainy season from May to October. The land on offer is aimed at families who want a lot to build on, a granja plot for a weekend house, chickens or a few rows of crops, and at buyers after larger farm parcels.

Houses in El Asintal:

Houses here are family homes: in the town, in colonias such as Santa Elena Norte and Sur, El Abrigo and Nueva Esperanza, and in the main aldeas. When you compare houses for sale in El Asintal, the services matter as much as the rooms. Ask whether the house has its own well or a connection to the committee’s supply, and where its wastewater goes, because a sewer connection is the exception. Outside the centre, drive the access road in the rains before you settle on a price. A house in the town itself puts the health centre and the municipal market within walking distance.

Land and Lots in El Asintal:

Most of what changes hands here is land. In Aldea El Nilito, twenty minutes from the CA-2, Granjas El Nilito sells semi-urbanised granja plots of one cuerda, 20 by 20 metres, along with half cuerdas and parcels of two or three, on the developer’s own financing; buyers use them for a house, crops or chicken sheds. In Sibaná, small 6 by 12 metre lots come up with drainage and water hookups and a registered deed, and the Loma Sur project sells lots of a little over 400 square metres. Plots of a few cuerdas close to the road are offered for a family home or a weekend granja, and larger parcels also appear along the main road around kilometre 197. If you are looking at lots for sale in El Asintal on the northern side, walk the slope before you plan a foundation, because the ground rises hard toward Colomba.

FAQ:

• Is El Asintal the same place as the “Asintal” near the IRTRA parks?

  No, and the mix-up is common. Cantón El Asintal and Nuevo Asintal belong to Santa Cruz Muluá, close to kilometre 181 on the road to Quetzaltenango, and several hotels and holiday rentals there carry the name in their address. The municipality of El Asintal is a separate place with its own turn-off, at kilometre 190.5 of the CA-2. Check the municipality on any listing before you arrange a visit.

• How far is El Asintal from Retalhuleu and Guatemala City?

  The town is 15 km from Retalhuleu city on paved road. From the capital it is just under 200 km along the CA-2 through Escuintla and Suchitepéquez, about four hours, turning north at kilometre 190.5.

• Can I visit Tak’alik Ab’aj from town?

  Yes. The park entrance is 4 km past the town, it opens every day from 7:00 to 17:00, and the road is paved and passable all year. The Takalik Maya Lodge, on Finca Montes Elíseos next to the site, has rooms and trails through the finca.

• What should I check on title and land use before buying here?

  Two risks are specific to El Asintal. The northern and western edges are also the line with Colomba and Génova in Quetzaltenango, so near that border confirm which municipality the land falls in, since that decides where you pay IUSI and apply for a building licence. And many granja plots and small lots are being cut out of older fincas: ask the seller for the registration numbers of the exact plot, look them up at the property registry, and if you are buying on instalments, get the date of your individual escritura written into the contract.

• Will a house or lot have piped water?

  Often not from the municipality. Most homes rely on their own well, piped supply comes from a community committee and sewers are rare, so budget for a septic system. On lots in Sibaná and in semi-urbanised granja projects, ask exactly which services are already connected and which are only promised.