San Lorenzo

About San Lorenzo:

San Lorenzo lies just east of Mazatenango, the departmental capital, with San Gabriel to the north, Santo Domingo Suchitepéquez to the east and Mazatenango to the west and south. The town is five kilometres from Mazatenango by a paved road that runs through the middle of San Gabriel, and that stretch is narrow enough to jam. Guatemala City is 167 km away along the CA-2. The three towns are slowly growing into each other, so on the north side it is hard to tell where one ends. The Xochi highway adds a second option: 31 km of four-lane toll road running parallel to the CA-2 from km 142.5 in San Antonio Suchitepéquez to km 173 in San Andrés Villa Seca, paid by 10 km section.

The municipality splits neatly in two. The north holds the people: the town itself, Pacún and La Soledad. The middle and south are farmland, most of it planted with sugar cane, oil palm and rubber, with plantain, banana, pasture and plots of maize, beans and rice in between. Farming employs far more people than anything else, with trade a distant second. Spanish is the everyday language and K’iche’ is spoken too.

The town stands at 220 metres and the heat is constant: afternoons reach the low thirties and nights rarely drop below 18 °C. The Xelecá river runs through town, while the Sis and the Icán cross the rural south. When the rains are heavy the Icán and the Sis have flooded crops and homes around Chapinas, El Espino, Canales and La Providencia, and the Pozo de la Virgen gully has overflowed into town streets. Drinking water for the town arrives by gravity through a long pipe from a spring in Zunilito, topped up with newer mechanical wells.

Beyond the town there are five aldeas: La Soledad, Valle de Candelaria, El Espino, Las Chapinas and La Providencia. Add cantones such as Pacún, Cerritos, Mapaguite, Las Flores, Cerrito de Oro and Granjas San Lorenzo, the parcelamientos of Chapinas and Canales, and some twenty fincas with names like Palermo, Monte de Oro, Arizona and Caña Brava. The year turns on two fairs: the Virgen de Candelaria romería on 2 February and San Lorenzo Mártir on 10 August. For someone who works in Mazatenango, a house or lot here keeps the commute to a few minutes.

Houses in San Lorenzo:

Homes cluster in the north, in the town grid and in Pacún and La Soledad, where daily life is a short ride from Mazatenango. The municipal plan sets the urban residential area for houses of up to three storeys, so the town keeps a low skyline. Look for houses for sale in San Lorenzo close to the centre if you want shops, school and transport on foot. Then check two things before anything else: how the street drains in a downpour, and whether the house runs on the municipal water line or its own well.

Land and Lots in San Lorenzo:

New lotificaciones are opening on the road into town. Residencial Las Flores, for example, sells 8 x 16 metre lots with water, drainage, power and laid-out streets, a hundred metres from the Xochi highway. Further south the land sits mostly inside large cane and palm fincas and the Chapinas and Canales parcelamientos. The municipal plan keeps housing out of the floodplains along the Xelecá, Sis and Icán and out of the monoculture belt. Before you pay a deposit, confirm that the lot falls inside San Lorenzo itself and not San Gabriel or Mazatenango, that it carries its own registered deed, and that services are connected rather than promised.

FAQ:

• How far is San Lorenzo from Mazatenango?

  Five kilometres by paved road. The route passes through the centre of San Gabriel, which is where traffic slows.

• Does the Xochi highway have an exit at San Lorenzo?

  It crosses the municipality but has no exit of its own. The closest interchange is at km 152.2, signed for Santo Domingo and Mazatenango, with the main entrances at km 142.6 and km 172.6.

• Is flooding a concern?

  In parts, yes. The aldeas near the Icán and the Sis, such as Chapinas, El Espino, Canales and La Providencia, have flooded in heavy rains, and the Pozo de la Virgen gully has spilled into the town. Ask neighbours how high the water came in the last storm.

• What kind of property can I buy here?

  Mostly serviced lots in small residenciales near town and family houses in the town, Pacún and La Soledad. Rural land to the south is largely tied up in cane, oil palm and rubber fincas.

• When is the town fair?

  The main celebration is the Virgen de Candelaria on 2 February, a long-standing romería with a procession through town. San Lorenzo Mártir, the patron saint, is honoured on 10 August.