Santa Rosa de Lima

About Santa Rosa de Lima:

Santa Rosa de Lima borders Mataquescuintla, in Jalapa, to the north; Nueva Santa Rosa and Casillas to the east; Nueva Santa Rosa, Cuilapa and Barberena to the south; and Santa Cruz Naranjo and Fraijanes, in the department of Guatemala, to the west. Guatemala City is 72 kilometres away and Cuilapa, the departmental capital, 27. From the CA-1 you turn onto the 3-N at kilometre 53.7 in Barberena, skirt the western side of Amberes and drive the last five kilometres east into town. A second way out, the road locals call El Tecolote, branches off at Amberes and runs through Primera Sabana, Salitre, El Carrizal and Yumanes to Don Justo, where it rejoins the Pan-American on the Fraijanes side. Belén, La Esperanza, La Brea, Plan Grande and Las Flores are still at the end of dirt roads.

Long before it took the name of its patron saint, this was the Valle de las Yeguas. The saint also gave her name to the whole department, and her feast on 30 August is still the town’s big fair. Through much of the 19th century the town served as the seat of Santa Rosa, until the offices moved to Barberena and later to Cuilapa. The 1913 earthquake hit it hard. What stands today is a compact centre you can cross on foot: a park under a broad ceiba, the church, the municipal building and the barrios of El Centro and El Calvario, with Colonia La Unión on the edge of town.

Coffee pays the bills. Twelve wet mills pulp and wash the harvest down to parchment, and in season they are among the biggest employers around. The town and its surroundings stay below a thousand metres and feel warm, but up in Belén the farms pass 1,500 metres, high enough for coffee that has competed in the national Cup of Excellence. The hills of Trinidad, Vivo and Cerro Gordo break the land into slopes and ravines, and springs and streams drain toward the Los Esclavos. Small workshops also turn out roof tiles, bricks, pottery and wooden furniture.

The 2018 census counted about 19,700 people, and more than four in five of them live outside the town, spread across 16 aldeas, 21 caseríos and 16 fincas. Roughly a quarter of residents are Xinka. Amberes, right on the 3-N, has become one of the busiest aldeas, with Colonia San Antonio and Colonia San Germán growing beside it. Buyers are mostly local families, along with people who work toward Barberena or the capital and like the shorter run out along El Tecolote.

Houses in Santa Rosa de Lima:

In the town and in Colonia La Unión, most homes are single-storey houses of concrete block under sheet-metal roofs, each on its own plot. A quarter of the homes in the municipality are still adobe, so an older house near the centre may have earth walls that need a structural check before you renovate. Some houses for sale in Santa Rosa de Lima are newer builds with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and they sit well above the rest on price. Ask whether the street drains to the municipal sewer: outside the centre, almost every house runs on a septic tank.

Land and Lots in Santa Rosa de Lima:

Land is what changes hands most often here. In Amberes, flat lots of 8 by 20 and 10 by 20 metres come with registered deeds and services, sized for a family house. Further out, rustic parcels of a manzana or more suit crops, a few head of cattle or a weekend house, and in the higher aldeas coffee land is sold by the manzana. Find out where the water comes from, because several communities still draw from wells, and look at the stream below the plot during the harvest, when the mills release their wastewater. On a finca, walk the boundaries with the neighbours present.

New Developments in Santa Rosa de Lima:

New building here arrives as lot subdivisions, not gated housing. Projects in Amberes and at Laguna de Pereira, a couple of kilometres north of town, sell plots in pre-sale and on instalments, and Villa y Praderas is an established lotificación in the municipality. Before you put down a deposit, ask to see the municipal approval and confirm whether water, power and drainage already reach the plot or are only promised. Ask too when the individual deed will be issued: until it is registered in your name, a pre-sale lot is a promise.

FAQ:

• How do I get to Santa Rosa de Lima from Guatemala City?

  Take the CA-1 east to Barberena and turn onto the 3-N at kilometre 53.7. The road runs past the west side of Amberes, and from there it is five kilometres east into town, 72 kilometres from the capital in all. Some drivers prefer El Tecolote, which leaves the Pan-American at Don Justo on the Fraijanes side and comes in through Yumanes, El Carrizal, Salitre and Primera Sabana.

• Is Santa Rosa de Lima the same place as Nueva Santa Rosa?

  No. They are two separate municipalities facing each other across the Río Los Esclavos, joined by a bridge and by the 3-N. Nueva Santa Rosa has the larger market, so plenty of people from Santa Rosa de Lima cross the river for their shopping. Confirm which municipality a property actually falls in, because the title, the property tax and the services all follow from that.

• Where is the coffee land, and how hard is it to reach?

  The high farms are in the north, around Belén and toward the Jalapa border, where plantations run from about 1,450 to over 1,800 metres. That altitude is what gives the coffee its value, and it also means steep plots on dirt roads. Visit between May and October, while the rains are on, and see whether a loaded pickup can still get out. Ask which wet mill the farm sells to and how far it is.

• Which areas have piped water and a sewer connection?

  The town has piped, chlorinated water, as do Amberes, San Germán, Yumanes, El Carrizal, El Salitre, Primera Sabana, Sabana Larga, La Casita, San José El Rinconcito and Cerro Gordo. Other communities rely on wells. Only El Centro and El Calvario drain to the treatment plant, so nearly every other home runs on a septic tank. If the lot has none, add one to your budget.

• What should I check before buying a lot in Amberes or another aldea?

  Many lots here are cut from larger family holdings or old fincas, so confirm at the property registry that your plot is registered as a property in its own right and not as a share of the parent finca. Ask the municipality whether the subdivision was approved and get the water connection in writing. In Amberes, look at the lot during a heavy downpour, because storm water comes down the roadside ditches fast and a plot below the road takes the brunt.