San Bartolo
Real Estate in San Bartolo, Guatemala.
From 1935 to 1949, San Bartolo was not a municipality at all. Jorge Ubico’s government folded it into Momostenango as an aldea, and only after years of petitions did the Arévalo government hand back its own council in January 1949. Today San Bartolo Aguas Calientes is the least populated of the eight municipalities of Totonicapán, Guatemala, a hilly piece of the western highlands whose town sits at 2,125 metres, a kilometre from the hot springs that gave it its name. San Bartolo real estate is family property: two- and three-storey homes in the town, adobe houses with land in the aldeas, and building plots along the roads that link them.
About San Bartolo:
San Bartolo borders Malacatancito, in Huehuetenango, to the north, Santa Lucía La Reforma and Momostenango to the east, Momostenango again to the south, and San Carlos Sija, in Quetzaltenango, to the west. The road in leaves the Inter-American Highway at kilometre 204 and runs 12 paved kilometres to the town, eleven of them across Momostenango land. That puts Guatemala City 216 kilometres away, Quetzaltenango about 40, and the departmental capital roughly 50. The highway itself crosses the aldeas of Tzanjón, Tierra Blanca, Pitzal and Buena Vista, so those communities sit on the main bus routes. Tierra Blanca is 12 kilometres from the town on a dirt road, half an hour by pick-up, and many smaller aldeas are reached only by pick-up or private car. The first buses out of town leave at 3:15 in the morning.
The ground is too broken for cash crops, so farming here feeds the family and little more. Households grow maize, beans, potatoes and avocados, keep orchards of peaches, plums and apples, and raise chickens to sell on market day. The real income comes from trade and from abroad: many people work as merchants in Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango, San Francisco El Alto, Salcajá or the capital, and roughly a third of residents live on money sent by relatives in the United States. There are permanent markets only in the town and in Tierra Blanca. The town also has the municipality’s one bank, a 24-hour health centre, and savings co-ops that also operate in Parraxchaj. Saint Bartholomew’s fair runs from 15 August to 5 September and includes a parade of cattle owners.
Land climbs from 2,000 to 3,100 metres, through pine, cypress, alder and oak. The town is ringed by hills, among them El Zorro, Pachaj, El Gallo and Chosalima, and Cerro Cimbachá in Chotzagüe has the shape of a small volcano. The Las Palmeras river runs through the town, while the Pala, which rises in Momostenango, supplies its drinking water. The year averages 16 °C. December and January are the cold months, with nights around 6 °C, and March and April the warm ones, with afternoons in the low twenties. Strong winds between November and January can damage roofs in Tierra Blanca, Parraxchaj and Choquí, and springs and wells across the municipality are running lower than they used to.
The town itself has only about 2,500 residents, fewer than either Tierra Blanca or Parraxchaj, each home to more than 3,500 people. Chocanuleu is the other large community, and the rest of the population is spread among nine aldeas and around a hundred smaller parajes, caseríos and sectors. Secondary schools exist only in those four centres and Buena Vista, so families in the smaller hamlets travel to them for anything past primary school. The springs, a kilometre from the centre, are run by the municipality as a set of natural pools beside a river and open every day of the year. Buyers are mostly local families, along with people from San Bartolo who work in other towns and come back to build.
Houses in San Bartolo:
Inside the town, most houses are modern builds of two or three storeys, and nine in ten have water, power and drainage. In the aldeas you still find the older pattern of stone foundations, adobe walls, clay-tile roofs and wooden doors and windows, usually with a yard or a plot behind. Newer homes with three bedrooms and a garage also come up for sale. Ask how often the water runs in the dry season, check how the roof is fixed against the November winds, and look at the slope above and below the house, because landslides do happen in parts of the town and in several aldeas.
Land and Lots in San Bartolo:
Most of the land that changes hands is roadside plots at the entrance to town, lots near the Inter-American Highway in the aldeas it crosses, and small pieces of family farmland. Before you buy land in San Bartolo, ask the municipality how the plot is classified in its 2019–2032 development and land-use plan, which separates urban land, urban expansion, protected areas and rural land, and keeps rural land out of urbanisation. On slopes steeper than 20 per cent, housing is not allowed in several categories. Check that the seller holds a registered deed, that the property is free of liens, and that water and electricity can reach it.
FAQ:
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How do I get to San Bartolo?
Take the Inter-American Highway north from Cuatro Caminos to kilometre 204 and turn off onto the 12-kilometre paved road into town. From Guatemala City the trip is 216 kilometres.
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Is San Bartolo the same place as San Bartolo Aguas Calientes?
Yes. San Bartolo Aguas Calientes is the full name of the municipality and its town; in K’iche’ it was called Chimequená, the place of hot water. It has nothing to do with the San Bartolo archaeological site in Petén.
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How cold does it get?
The year averages 16 °C, but December and January bring nights around 6 °C, and the higher aldeas are colder still. Expect humid air and heavy rain in the wet season.
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Where are the hot springs?
A kilometre from the town centre, in natural pools beside a river. The municipality runs them and they are open every day.
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What should I check before buying a lot?
Its land-use category under the municipal plan, the slope, a registered deed free of liens, the state of the access road in the rains, and where water and power will come from.