Sipacapa

About Sipacapa:

Sipacapa covers 152 square kilometres on the San Marcos side of the borders with Huehuetenango and Quetzaltenango. Malacatancito lies to the north, San Carlos Sija to the east, Comitancillo to the south, and Tejutla and San Miguel Ixtahuacán to the west. The main way in is the paved road from the city of San Marcos through Tejutla, 65 kilometres in all, and Guatemala City is 315 kilometres away by that route. A dirt road of some 10 kilometres also links the town with the Inter-American Highway between Quetzaltenango and Huehuetenango, and buses running between San Marcos and Huehuetenango use it, though the stretch past La Vega and Canoj turns difficult in the rains. Most of the aldeas and caseríos reach the town on dirt roads too, so compare two parcels by the drive to each, not only by the distance.

Maize and beans are grown in every community, because they are what families eat. Coffee, fruit, potatoes and vegetables bring in the cash, craft work adds to household income, and formal jobs are scarce. The town holds the municipal offices, the Centro de Atención Permanente and a tight grid of streets where homes, shops, workshops and street stalls share the same blocks. Further out, health posts in Canoj, Chual, Escupijá, Pie de la Cuesta, Quecá, Quequesiguán, Tres Cruces and Carrizal make those places the local centres for the settlements around them. On Mondays the plaza at La Estancia fills with buyers and sellers, and traffic backs up on the paved road through the aldea. The Marlin gold mine straddled the boundary with San Miguel Ixtahuacán, with most of its ground on the San Miguel side, and stopped producing in May 2017; back in 2005, Sipacapa held a community consultation in which the great majority of voters rejected mining.

The municipality falls into three climate belts. The high ground is cold, grows potatoes, beans and maize, and gets frost in December and January that damages vegetable crops. The middle belt, where the town stands, is temperate and grows coffee and peanuts, while the low ground is hot and planted with fruit. In town, afternoons reach 21 to 25 °C all year and the coldest nights drop to around 8 °C. Almost all of the 1,350 millimetres of yearly rain falls between May and October, and December to February are nearly dry. Community-owned forests still stand around Pie de la Cuesta, Guancache, La Vega, Puente Blanco and Salem, the Cuilco river runs through the municipality, and storm winds are a known risk to maize and fruit trees.

More than nine in ten residents are Maya Sipakapense, with a small ladino minority. The language has had its own official alphabet since 1987, and in 2018 just over 4,100 people spoke it. The town was founded in the early 1700s, was flattened in 1765 by the earthquakes that came with an eruption of Cerro Quemado, spent 1937 to 1945 as an aldea of Tejutla, and celebrates San Bartolomé every 24 August. The people looking for land here are mostly families from the municipality and its neighbours, who want a plot to build on or more ground to farm.

Houses in Sipacapa:

The town is one continuous built-up core with no separate residential or commercial districts. A house on a main street will often share its block with a shop, a workshop or a row of vendors, and in exchange the health centre, the municipal offices and transport are a short walk away. In the aldeas, family houses stand on their own land, and the communities with a health post, such as Chual, Escupijá or Tres Cruces, or with a market day, like La Estancia, are the easiest to live in day to day. Several of the lots that come up near the town centre and the health centre are offered as plots to build a home on. When you look at houses for sale in Sipacapa, ask where the water comes from and drive the access road in the rainy season if you can.

Land and Lots in Sipacapa:

Land is measured by the cuerda here, and parcels range from half a cuerda on the town’s main street to farms of 10 or 30 cuerdas out in the aldeas. Around La Barranca El Cafetal, in Quequesiguán, there is mountain ground planted with coffee, mango and peanuts, while Llano Grande and the caserío of Los Encuentros have had lots and parcels of several cuerdas for sale. Not every parcel carries a deed in the national property registry. Some are held as possession rights entered in the municipality’s own book, and that changes what a bank will lend against and how easily you can sell later. Before you settle on land for sale in Sipacapa, ask the municipality how its 2020–2032 development and land-use plan classifies the parcel, since its forest category does not allow housing. Walk the boundaries with the neighbours and confirm how water and power will reach the plot.

FAQ:

• How do I get to Sipacapa?

  From the city of San Marcos, take the paved road through Tejutla, 65 kilometres to the town. Coming from Quetzaltenango or Huehuetenango, a dirt road of some 10 kilometres leaves the Inter-American Highway for the town; it is passable all year but harder going in the rains near La Vega and Canoj.

• What is the weather like?

  The town is temperate, with afternoons in the low to mid twenties and cool nights. The rainy season runs from May to October. Higher communities get frost in December and January, and the low ground is hot enough for fruit.

• What language do people speak?

  Spanish and Sipakapense. Sipakapense is a Maya language of its own, with roots in K’iche’, and Sipacapa is the only municipality where it is spoken.

• Does land in Sipacapa come with a registered deed?

  Not always. Some parcels are held as possession rights recorded with the municipality rather than as a deed in the national registry. Ask which one you are buying, and have a notary check the paperwork before you pay.

• Is the Marlin mine still working?

  No. Production ended in May 2017 and the company moved on to closure work. Most of the mine site lay in neighbouring San Miguel Ixtahuacán rather than in Sipacapa itself.