Pueblo Nuevo

About Pueblo Nuevo:

Pueblo Nuevo is the northern tip of Suchitepéquez, where the coffee slopes of the boca costa begin climbing toward the Quetzaltenango highlands. Zunil rises above it to the north, Zunilito and San Francisco Zapotitlán lie alongside it in the same department, and El Palmar, over the line in Quetzaltenango, is a few kilometres to the west. From Mazatenango it is 16 km north on the RD-SCH-01 through San Francisco Zapotitlán, and Guatemala City is 181 km away. The same road doubles as a way up to Quetzaltenango via El Palmar. If you plan to commute to the departmental capital, drive it in the wet season before you commit.

Coffee runs the place. Two-thirds of the land is planted in it, close to a quarter is forest, and the town and finca settlements together take up less than 7 per cent. Fincas such as Colombia, Las Panchas, Peña Flor, París Joven Francia, San Pablo, Santa Elena and San Nicolás fill most of the map, and two others, Mangal and San Francisco Pécul, have grown into population centres in their own right. The town’s other trademark is maxán, the broad leaf Guatemalans wrap tamales in; Pueblo Nuevo calls itself la Tierra del Maxán and sells the leaf well beyond the municipality. Some 12,000 people live here, 58 per cent of them indigenous and nearly all of those K’iche’.

The town stands at close to 1,000 metres, which makes it noticeably fresher than Mazatenango on the plain below. Rivers such as the Cuache, Gualmaxán, Sis and Quepuá run down through the coffee toward the coast. To the north the ground climbs toward Santo Tomás volcano, also called Pecul, whose slopes fall inside a strictly protected zone; together with the Finca Asturias private reserve, protected land covers 532 hectares. San Francisco Pécul, higher up again, has a waterfall that draws day visitors and has started to open up to tourism on the strength of its views of the volcanoes.

Most people live in the town or in the caseríos of Guadalupe, Las Rosas, La Cruz, El Jardín, El Nanzal and Santa Anita, and the rest on the fincas. Town life peaks on 15 January, the feast of the patron, the Cristo Negro de Esquipulas, and again from 16 December, when the posadas begin with Joseph and Mary carried on an anda decked in chamomile, pinabete and pacaya leaves. In practice, a buyer here chooses between a lot or a house close to the town’s daily life and a coffee parcel out on the slopes. Municipal boundaries are not fully settled, and some fincas pay their IUSI property tax to whichever neighbouring town hall is nearest rather than the one they belong to, so confirm where a rural parcel is registered.

Houses in Pueblo Nuevo:

Homes cluster in the town and the caseríos, because coffee and forest cover nearly everything else. A house in the centre puts the park and the municipal building a short walk away, while houses for sale in Pueblo Nuevo out in the caseríos usually trade that for more ground around the house. Rain is heavy on this slope, so look at the roof, the drainage and the water supply before you compare prices. The Cuache and Gualmaxán carry untreated waste water, and a house on their banks is a very different buy from one on higher ground.

Land and Lots in Pueblo Nuevo:

Land is most of what Pueblo Nuevo has to sell, and most of that land is coffee. Land for sale in Pueblo Nuevo runs from a building lot in the town or a caserío to coffee parcels measured in cuerdas on the slopes. A cuerda is not one fixed size in Guatemala, so get the area in square metres in writing. Ask which municipality the parcel is registered in and pays IUSI to, since the boundaries with the neighbours are still being worked out. Anything close to Santo Tomás volcano or the Finca Asturias reserve may fall under protection rules, so confirm with the municipality and the property registry what can be built before you pay.

FAQ:

• Which Pueblo Nuevo is this?

  Guatemala has more than one place called Pueblo Nuevo. This one is in the north of Suchitepéquez, 16 km from Mazatenango through San Francisco Zapotitlán, with Zunilito and Zunil as neighbours.

• What kind of property can I buy in Pueblo Nuevo?

  Building lots and family homes in the town and its caseríos, and coffee land sold by the cuerda on the fincas. Coffee ground is far more common than finished houses.

• What is the climate like?

  Warm and wet, but fresher than the coastal plain. The town sits at close to 1,000 metres, and the upper fincas toward Santo Tomás volcano are higher and cooler still.

• What should I check before buying coffee land here?

  Get the area in square metres, the registry entry and the name of the municipality the parcel pays IUSI to. Walk the boundaries, see how the access road holds up after a heavy downpour, and ask whether any part lies inside the protected zone of Santo Tomás volcano.

• What is there to see around Pueblo Nuevo?

  The waterfall at San Francisco Pécul is the local outing, and the Piscinas Costa Linda pools are at Finca La Trinidad. To see the town at its fullest, come for the fair of the Cristo Negro de Esquipulas in mid-January.