Río Blanco

About Río Blanco:

Río Blanco covers 36 square kilometres of highland above 2,300 metres, one of the smaller municipalities in San Marcos department. Comitancillo lies to the north, San Antonio Sacatepéquez to the south and San Carlos Sija, across the line in Quetzaltenango, to the east, with San Lorenzo and San Pedro Sacatepéquez on the western side. The departmental capital is 34 kilometres away by road and Guatemala City 268. Two paved roads head for San Marcos: one runs through caserío Río Hondo and San Lorenzo, the other leaves from Maclén and passes Los Potrerillos in San Antonio Sacatepéquez, and both come out at San Pedro Sacatepéquez. A third road goes east through aldea Las Manzanas to Cabricán. Buses and microbuses run to San Marcos and Quetzaltenango, while each aldea is reached by a dirt road starting from the town. Landslides do close the main road in the rains, once blocking both lanes at kilometre 246, so ask how a property’s route held up last winter.

The first settlement, recorded in 1820, stood where aldea Pueblo Viejo is today. It grew in the 1830s with families from San Carlos Sija, San Marcos, San Lorenzo, Comitancillo, Sibilia and San Francisco El Alto. The earthquake of 18 April 1902 brought down the colonial church and wrecked the wheat mill on the riverbank, and the town was rebuilt on its present site. In 1936 the Ubico government folded Río Blanco into San Antonio Sacatepéquez as an aldea. Residents campaigned for years and won back their municipality in 1951. The name comes from the river itself, remembered for its clear water running over pale sand.

Some 6,000 people live here, in the town, five aldeas (Las Manzanas, El Durazno, Los Potrerillos, Pancho de León and Pueblo Viejo) and three caseríos (Maclén, Río Hondo and La Loma). Las Manzanas, Maclén and Pancho de León carry most of the local trade. Men work the fields, build houses, do carpentry or drive for a living, and many have gone north to work in the United States. In most families at least one relative sends money home. A good share of the population is Mam, and older women in the aldeas still wear the regional traje. The titular fair is held in honour of the Santísima Trinidad.

The fields grow what cold country allows: maize, potatoes, broad beans, beans, peas and wheat, with apple, plum and peach trees and chilacayote and güisquil around the houses. Locally the municipality splits into three parts: a lower one with El Durazno, La Loma and Las Manzanas, a central one around the town, Río Hondo, Maclén and Pueblo Viejo, and an upper one with Pancho de León and Los Potrerillos. The native pine woods have been hit hard by the pine bark beetle, which has killed trees over several kilometres around the town and its aldeas. If a parcel is sold as woodland, walk it and look at the trees. Nearly every household owns the house it lives in and very few rent, so the people buying are mostly local families making room for the next generation.

Houses in Río Blanco:

A family house is the usual home here, and when one comes up it is often being sold by relatives rather than an investor. In the town, houses sit within a few blocks of the central park, the municipal building and the municipal market. Out in the aldeas, the house usually stands on or next to the family’s own fields, which makes the land around it part of the deal. When you look at houses for sale in Río Blanco, go after a run of rain if you can and look for damp along the walls and under the roof. Ask to see the deed early and check whose name is on it, because on land divided since the 1870s it may still belong to a parent or grandparent.

Land and Lots in Río Blanco:

Land is what changes hands most often, from a few cuerdas of maize and potatoes in the aldeas to building plots along the paved roads out of town. Price follows location and slope more than anything: a flat plot near the town or the asphalt is worth far more than a hillside field at the end of a dirt track. Ask for the area in square metres as well as in cuerdas, since the size of a cuerda is not the same everywhere in Guatemala. Before buying land for sale in Río Blanco, find out whether a vehicle can reach it all year and where its water will come from.

FAQ:

• How do I get from Río Blanco to San Marcos city?

  It is 34 kilometres by road. You can go through Río Hondo and San Lorenzo, or leave from Maclén past Los Potrerillos; both routes are paved and meet at San Pedro Sacatepéquez, next door to San Marcos. Buses and microbuses make the trip, and others run to Quetzaltenango.

• How far are the aldeas from the town?

  Las Manzanas, Pueblo Viejo, Maclén and Río Hondo are about three kilometres out and La Loma four. El Durazno is five, Pancho de León six and Los Potrerillos eight, the last two up in the higher part of the municipality on dirt roads.

• Can I rent a house in Río Blanco?

  Rentals are rare, because almost every family lives in a house it owns. Ask around the town and the market, or look at San Pedro Sacatepéquez and San Marcos, where there is more to rent within easy reach.

• What grows on farmland here?

  Maize, potatoes, broad beans, beans, peas and wheat are the field crops, and apples, plums and peaches do well at this altitude. A plot with a few fruit trees and room for a vegetable garden is a common thing to buy here.

• What should I check before buying a parcel in Río Blanco?

  From 1936 to 1951 Río Blanco was an aldea of San Antonio Sacatepéquez, so older papers for land here may name that municipality instead. Make sure the entry at the property registry matches the parcel you are walking, its boundaries and the seller’s name. On a slope, look at how the ground drained after the last heavy rains as well.