San Diego

About San Diego:

San Diego has Cabañas to the north, Huité and the Chiquimula department to the east, San Luis Jilotepeque and San Pedro Pinula in Jalapa to the south and west, and El Jícaro in El Progreso on its western side. Zacapa city is 64 kilometres away. From the capital it is 172 kilometres by the Atlantic highway, or 132 if you take the El Rancho road. The usual approach leaves the CA-9 at kilometre 126.5, at Santa Cruz in Río Hondo, and runs on asphalt through Huité and Cabañas; the El Rancho route, from kilometre 80, crosses El Jícaro and joins that same road a kilometre from Cabañas. From Jalapa, a paved road out of San Pedro Pinula meets the municipality at El Porvenir, while the road from San Luis Jilotepeque stays dirt until it reaches that aldea.

Farming and cattle carry the local economy. Maize, beans and sorghum grow on the slopes, tomato, cucumber, sweet pepper and onion wherever there is water, and sugarcane and coffee in small amounts. Cattle farms raise and fatten stock and sell cheese, cream and butter, and livestock brings in more than all the crops put together. At home, families weave palm hats and petates, make hammocks and brooms, bake bread and turn out concrete block. San Diego became a municipality on 20 October 1908 and has been part of Zacapa since 1920. The town fair for San Diego de Alcalá runs from 11 to 13 November, and at Christmas the aldeas play a football tournament in which El Porvenir against the town is the match everyone waits for.

The municipality lies on the Montaña de San Diego, the local name for the Uriles range, with Loma Alta, San Ignacio and Cerro Las Campanas among its heights. The ground runs from rolling to steep, and flat land comes only in small pockets. The centre and north are warm and dry, while the mountain areas to the south, east and west are temperate, with an average of 20 °C, a range of 15 to 25 °C and 750 to 1,000 mm of rain a year. Pine once covered three-fifths of the land; logging and clearing for crops brought that down to about a third by 2003. The Río Viejo and the Río Pampur meet to form the Río San Diego, which runs through most of the best farmland on its way toward the Motagua. On slopes like these, heavy rain is the main hazard, and landslides can cut roads.

Twenty-three settlements make up the municipality: the town, eight aldeas, a colonia, nine caseríos, three cantones and one finca. The town is the centre of daily life, with a health centre, schools at every level including a University of San Carlos extension, banks, hotels, restaurants and the offices of RENAP, the agriculture ministry, the public prosecutor and the justice of the peace. Venecia lies 2.5 kilometres north on the paved road to Cabañas, El Porvenir three kilometres south on asphalt, and San Antonio Las Lomas, the second centre, ten kilometres northeast on a dirt road. Pickups, microbuses and mototaxis cover the local runs. The town is spreading onto former pasture, and El Porvenir, with room for housing, is where the municipality expects its next centre to grow. Buyers are mostly local families building or enlarging a home and farmers adding land.

Houses in San Diego:

Homes here are family houses, in the town and along the paved stretch that links Venecia, the town and El Porvenir. The town, Venecia, El Triunfo and San Antonio Las Lomas have drinking water, rubbish collection and sewer lines, and a treatment plant is in service. Coverage still has gaps: in Venecia, piped water reaches about seven homes in ten, so confirm the connection rather than assume it. Buses, trucks and pickups heading for the departmental roads all cut through the town centre, which makes a house on the through route handy but noisy. If you are comparing houses for sale in San Diego, Zacapa, ask whether the lot sits on a slope or beside a stream, because some recent building has gone up on ground prone to slides.

Land and Lots in San Diego:

Level ground is scarce, so a flat lot in the town or near the paved road is the easiest thing to build on and the hardest to find. Some town land comes already subdivided, such as flat corner plots of several hundred square metres a couple of minutes from the municipal hall. Rural land is measured in manzanas and worked for maize, beans and pasture, and leasing is common, so ask whether a parcel is rented out and on what terms. Water sets the value: plots along the Río San Diego, the Pampur or the Viejo can be irrigated on a small scale, while hillside land waits for the rains. Some forest parcels are enrolled in state forestry incentive programmes, and felling pine needs a licence from INAB, so check both before planning to clear or build.

FAQ:

• How do I get to San Diego, Zacapa from Guatemala City?

  Most people take the CA-9 to kilometre 126.5, turn off at Santa Cruz in Río Hondo and follow the paved road through Huité and Cabañas, 172 kilometres in all. The shorter option, 132 kilometres, leaves the highway at El Rancho and crosses El Jícaro to Cabañas.

• Is San Diego cooler than the rest of Zacapa?

  The mountain areas are. Most of the south, east and west is temperate, averaging 20 °C, which feels very different from the Motagua valley floor. The centre and north of the municipality stay warm and dry.

• Which parts of the municipality have the best services?

  The town, Venecia, Barrio El Triunfo and San Antonio Las Lomas have drinking water, sewer lines and rubbish collection. Venecia and El Porvenir are on asphalt; most other aldeas are reached on dirt roads that get rough in the rainy season.

• What should I check before buying land here?

  Confirm the title in the property registry and find out whether the parcel is leased. Ask where the water comes from, whether the land is in a forestry incentive programme, and how the access road and the slope behave in heavy rain.

• Where do residents go for hospital care and university?

  The town has a health centre and a University of San Carlos extension. For specialised medical care and most higher education, people travel to Zacapa city, 64 kilometres away.