San Marcos

About San Marcos:

The municipality covers 121 square kilometres of broken mountain country. Tejutla and Comitancillo lie to the north, San Pedro Sacatepéquez and San Lorenzo to the east, Esquipulas Palo Gordo and San Rafael Pie de la Cuesta to the south, and San Pablo and Tajumulco to the west. The paved Ruta Nacional 1 is the spine: it climbs from Quetzaltenango through San Juan Ostuncalco, where a four-lane bypass now keeps traffic out of that town’s centre, then runs on past San Marcos toward the Mexican border, linking with the Inter-American and Pacific highways and the RN-12 north and south. Eastward, a wide boulevard leads straight into San Pedro, and the two towns now read as one continuous urban area. The aldeas hang off secondary roads, tracks and footpaths, so drive the last stretch in the rainy season before you buy out there.

The town was founded on 25 April 1533, and the date still anchors the year: the spring fair fills the last week of April and peaks on the 25th, the feast of Saint Mark. History has been hard on the building stock. The 1902 eruption of Santa María volcano destroyed the town, and the magnitude 7.4 earthquake of 7 November 2012 damaged hundreds of homes in the urban area and more again in the aldeas. In between came an experiment: in the 1930s the Ubico government merged San Marcos and San Pedro into a single municipality called La Unión and put up the Palacio Maya to mark it, with two heads of Gucumatz, the feathered serpent, flanking the main door. The merger was undone in 1945, but the palace stayed; it is a national heritage monument and went through a long rebuild after the 2012 quake left it unusable.

Professional work is the town’s main living. Lawyers, doctors, engineers and teachers are drawn by the departmental offices, by the Hospital Nacional on Calzada 25 de Abril in zona 5, and by the Centro Universitario de San Marcos, the San Carlos campus in zona 3 that teaches medicine, law, civil engineering and agronomy among other degrees. The Universidad Rural has a second campus out at Las Lagunas. Around the edges the older economy carries on: maize and vegetables, cattle and sheep, block factories, cabinet-makers working fine timber, and wool weaving. Easter brings pan negro, the dark festive bread, and from mid-November to 7 December the Corrida de Diablos sends costumed devils after anyone out at night, ending with the burning of the devil.

The land drains into three river basins, the Naranjo, the Cuilco and the Suchiate, and the forest above town is protected. The Astillero Municipal, known to everyone as El Bosque, is a municipal regional park, La Lencha forest is kept for recreation, and the municipal plan aims to bar any building in them that is not for conservation. At this height dry-season nights are cold and frost reaches the surrounding highlands, so a house that takes the morning sun and stays dry is worth more than its floor area alone suggests. Buyers are mostly families from the town and the department, professionals who work in the city, and households from the aldeas moving closer to schools and the hospital. Rentals follow the students.

Houses in San Marcos:

The urban area is organised into eight cantones, San Francisco, Santo Domingo, San Nicolás, San Ramón, Santa Isabel, San Antonio, Santa Rosalía and Guadalupe, plus the colonia Justo Rufino Barrios. This is where the town’s traditional family housing is. When you look at houses for sale in San Marcos, ask what was repaired after 2012 and who did the work, and check walls, columns and slabs for cracks. Before making an offer, confirm the water connection, drainage and a registered deed.

Apartments and Rentals in San Marcos:

Renting here runs on the academic year. Apartments built with students in mind are let right beside the Centro Universitario in zona 3, and apartments also come up for rent in the town centre. The Universidad Rural campus at Las Lagunas pulls some of that demand out toward the edge of town. Put the deposit, what the rent covers and the length of the lease in writing before you sign.

New Developments in San Marcos:

Zona 5, the part of town around the Hospital Nacional and the Calzada Justo Rufino Barrios, has small residenciales of newly built houses for sale. They are the most direct way to buy a finished home without managing a build yourself. Ask the developer for the registered subdivision, the municipal building licence, and who will look after the streets and the water once every house is sold.

Land and Lots in San Marcos:

Inside the urban area, zona 5 has building lots that already have services and a registered deed. On the edge of town, lots come up at Las Lagunas near the Universidad Rural. Further out, in aldeas such as San Rafael Soche, Serchil, El Rincón or La Federación, land is farmland and pasture on slopes. Before buying land in San Marcos, find out whether the parcel borders El Bosque or La Lencha, measure the slope, and ask how the ground held up in the 2012 quake and in heavy rain. Then confirm the boundaries and the owner at the property registry.

FAQ:

• Are San Marcos and San Pedro Sacatepéquez the same town?

  No. They are two municipalities about two kilometres apart, joined by a boulevard, and they were a single municipality called La Unión only until 1945. Each has its own municipal government, so find out which one a property belongs to, since that decides where you pay property tax and apply for permits.

• How do I get to San Marcos from Quetzaltenango?

  Take the Ruta Nacional 1, which is paved all the way and now bypasses the centre of San Juan Ostuncalco. The same road continues west toward the Mexican border and links with the Inter-American and Pacific highways.

• Can I find a rental near the university?

  Yes. Apartments aimed at students are let next to the Centro Universitario in zona 3, and the Universidad Rural campus is at Las Lagunas. Visit in person and ask exactly what the rent includes.

• What should I look for in a house after the 2012 earthquake?

  The quake damaged hundreds of homes in the town, and repairs were not all done to the same standard. Ask what was fixed, who did it and whether an engineer was involved, and look for cracks in walls, columns and slabs.

• What should I check before buying a lot on the edge of town?

  Start with the forest: a parcel inside El Bosque or La Lencha is in ground the municipality wants kept free of building. On the San Pedro side, confirm which municipality the lot is recorded in. Then walk the slope, try the access road in the rains, and verify owner and boundaries at the property registry.