Santa Lucía La Reforma

About Santa Lucía La Reforma:

Santa Lucía La Reforma was an aldea of Santa María Chiquimula until 12 October 1904, when it became a municipality in its own right; the “La Reforma” in its name honours the Liberal Reform of 1871. Its neighbours are Santa María Chiquimula, Momostenango and San Bartolo in Totonicapán, San Antonio Ilotenango and San Pedro Jocopilas in Quiché, and Malacatancito in Huehuetenango. The departmental capital is 46 kilometres away, but only part of that road is paved, so traffic comes in on paved road through Santa Cruz del Quiché and San Pedro Jocopilas instead. By that route Guatemala City is a little under 190 kilometres off. A second road heads east to San Antonio Ilotenango, and many of the tracks out to the cantones are still unpaved.

Farming here means maize and beans on small family plots, grown mostly to feed the household. On top of that base, growers in Pamaria and San Luis Sibilá produce snow peas for export, San Luis has a gravity irrigation system, and citrus is spreading through the cantones. San Luis Sibilá is also where families weave the plastic baskets that are sold far beyond the municipality. Wednesday is market day in the cabecera, which has the town’s only permanent market and one bank, with a rural savings co-op in San Luis. Plenty of men still earn their living elsewhere, as farm hands, masons, carpenters and smiths.

The town stands at 1,890 metres in steep, wooded country drained by the Pacarnat river, which is crossed by an old stone bridge at Pamaria. Pine, cypress, oak and alder cover the slopes. Families cut them for timber and firewood and tap them for the resin used in pom incense. The soils are shallow, acidic and quick to erode, better suited to forest than to crops. Days run from 7 to 18 °C, and between November and March frost can take nights below freezing. The rains last from late May to late October.

Some 22,000 people live in the municipality, almost all of them K’iche’ Maya, and K’iche’ is the language you will hear in the street. Only a couple of thousand of them live in the cabecera; the rest are in the aldea of Pamaria and in cantones such as San Luis Sibilá, Ichomchaj, Patulup, Oxlajuj and Chiguán. The town centre has piped water, drainage, electricity and rubbish collection, a permanent health centre with a birthing home, schools up to lower secondary level and a nursing school that draws students from Quiché. Buyers are almost all local families. The calendar turns on two fairs: the Señor de Esquipulas from 18 to 23 January, and Saint Lucy on 13 December, celebrated at the Calvario in Cantón Oxlajuj with the Dance of the Conquest and the Deer Dance.

Houses in Santa Lucía La Reforma:

Family homes in the cabecera or along the roads into the cantones make up most of the houses for sale in Santa Lucía La Reforma. The older ones have adobe walls and clay-tile roofs; newer houses in and around the town centre are block and concrete. A house in the centre puts you a short walk from the market, the health centre and the schools, on municipal water and drainage. Out in the cantones you get more land and a longer, rougher trip into town. With frost in the dry season, check how much sun the house gets and how well the walls and roof hold the heat.

Rentals in Santa Lucía La Reforma:

Homes to rent are few and sit close to the centre, near the municipal hall and the market square. The nursing school brings in students from Quiché, and staff at the schools and the health centre also need somewhere to live in town. Agree in writing who pays water and electricity, and ask how steady the water supply is in the dry months before you sign.

Land and Lots in Santa Lucía La Reforma:

Farm plots and lots beside the road are what usually come up as land for sale in Santa Lucía La Reforma, and they are still measured in cuerdas, as across much of the highlands. A cuerda is not the same size everywhere, so get the measurement in square metres or varas before you compare prices. Most family holdings are small, and some farmland is rented out rather than worked by its owner, so make sure the seller is the person on the title. Ask for a registered deed rather than possession rights alone, walk the boundaries with the neighbours, and check that water and power reach the plot and that the access road stays passable in the rains. On slopes this steep, the flat, usable part of a parcel matters more than its total area.

FAQ:

• How do you get to Santa Lucía La Reforma?

  Most traffic arrives on paved road from Santa Cruz del Quiché through San Pedro Jocopilas. The direct road from the city of Totonicapán through Santa María Chiquimula is shorter, at 46 kilometres, but only partly paved.

• How cold does it get in Santa Lucía La Reforma?

  Cold enough to plan for. At 1,890 metres, days run from 7 to 18 °C, and from November to March frost can take nights below zero.

• Which communities belong to the municipality?

  Besides the cabecera, there is the aldea of Pamaria and cantones including San Luis Sibilá, Ichomchaj, Patulup, Oxlajuj, Chiguán, Gualtux and Sacasiguán. Most of the population lives outside the town centre.

• What services are there in town?

  The cabecera has piped water, drainage, electricity and rubbish collection, a permanent health centre, schools up to lower secondary, a nursing school, a bank and a Wednesday market. Upper secondary and university studies mean travelling to Santa Cruz del Quiché.

• What is a cuerda when I buy land here?

  It is the traditional unit used to measure farmland in the highlands, and its size varies from one area to another. Ask the seller to state the area in square metres and make sure the deed uses the same figure.