Taxisco

About Taxisco:

Taxisco takes up the southwest corner of Santa Rosa, on the Pacific coastal plain. Pueblo Nuevo Viñas lies to the north, Guazacapán to the east, Iztapa and Guanagazapa in Escuintla to the west, and the ocean closes the south. The town sits on the CA-2, about 110 km from Guatemala City, and the usual drive runs down the Palín–Escuintla highway and then east along the coast road. Cuilapa, the department seat, is reached through Guazacapán and Chiquimulilla. Route RD-05 leaves the CA-2 and runs paved to La Avellana, while the coastal road from Iztapa lets you reach Monterrico by land without crossing the canal.

Cattle have shaped Taxisco for generations, which is why people call it the cradle of cheese. Milk, cheese, cream and butter from local herds are sold all over the country, and cheese stalls line the CA-2 near town. Maize, rice and sesame grow on the plain. In the south, though, sugar cane has taken over a lot of the old pasture and fruit land, pushing the herds up into the higher north. In Monterrico the living comes from the water instead: shrimp, fish and crab, tourism, seafood kitchens and small hotels. Juan José Arévalo, president from 1945 to 1951, was born here in 1904, the son of a local cattle farmer.

The name comes from the Nahuatl tlalixco, “plain”, and it fits. Nearly all of the municipality is low, level ground, rising only toward the slopes of Cerro de las Flores in the north. It is hot year-round, with daytime highs of 30 to 32 °C, and more than 2,000 mm of rain falls between May and October, while November to April stays almost dry. The coast is one long black volcanic-sand beach backed by the canal and mangrove, protected as the Monterrico multiple-use nature reserve. Sea turtles nest there from July to December, and the Monterrico hatchery releases hatchlings through the season. Tropical Storm Agatha hit the canal area hard in 2010, so drainage is worth checking on any low plot.

Close to 30,000 people lived in Taxisco at the 2018 census, and under a third of them in the town itself. The rest live in aldeas such as La Avellana, El Pumpo, Agua Dulce, La Curvina, El Garitón, El Papayo and Las Delicias del Jobo, or on the fincas and haciendas that cover much of the land. In town, barrios and colonias like Belén, Nuevo Taxisco and Lomas de Lindora hold most of the homes. The big fair comes in mid-January, with morning masses and afternoon jaripeos. Monterrico is the second centre, one main street running from the canal dock to the beach, and it fills with visitors from the capital and Antigua at weekends and in Holy Week.

Houses in Taxisco:

Most houses on offer here are on the coast: chalets in Monterrico and the shore aldeas, often with several bedrooms on a generous plot, built to sleep a family or a group. Near Madre Vieja, small condominium projects sell two-bedroom villas, some of them furnished. In town, family homes come up in the barrios and colonias close to the CA-2 and the bus routes. If you are looking at houses for sale in Taxisco near the sea, ask first whether the property falls inside the State’s 3 km coastal strip and whether the seller holds a registered title or an OCRET lease. Then ask how the house came through the last rainy season.

Land and Lots in Taxisco:

Along the CA-2, flat lots of 12 by 40 metres are sold with a down payment and monthly instalments, suited to a home or a roadside business. On the beach side, building lots in El Pumpo and around Monterrico sit a few hundred metres from the sand, and larger parcels of several manzanas with sea frontage are offered on the road toward Monterrico. Inland, much of the ground is held as haciendas and fincas worked for cattle and cane. Before you commit to land for sale in Taxisco, check the 3 km rule, any reserve limits near the mangrove, the water table and how the plot drained after the last heavy rain.

Rentals in Taxisco:

The rental market that matters here is short-stay. Chalets in Monterrico are let by the night or the weekend to groups from Guatemala City and Antigua. Demand climbs in Holy Week, on long weekends and through the turtle season. Some owners list the same chalet for sale and for rent. If you are buying to rent out, time the boat crossing and drive the access road yourself, because guests judge a house partly by how easy it is to reach.

FAQ:

• How do I get from Taxisco to Monterrico?

  Take the RD-05 south from the CA-2 to the La Avellana dock, then cross the Chiquimulilla canal by lancha or ferry, which takes about half an hour through the mangroves. You can also drive in from the west on the coastal road from Iztapa.

• Can I buy beachfront property here?

  Guatemala’s Constitution reserves to the State a 3 km strip inland from the high-tide line. Property in urban zones and land registered before 1 March 1956 is exempt; inside the strip, other land is held under leases from OCRET rather than sold outright. Get a registry certificate before you pay anything.

• What kind of property is most common?

  On the coast, beach chalets and building lots. Around the town and the CA-2, family homes, lots sold in instalments and cattle land.

• When is the rainy season?

  May to October, and September is the wettest month. Visit a plot during those months if you want to see how it really drains.

• How far is Taxisco from Guatemala City?

  About 110 km by way of Escuintla and the CA-2. The bus takes around two and a half hours.