Rincón

About Rincón:

Rincón is one of the five corregimientos of Gualaca district, alongside Gualaca, Hornito, Los Ángeles and Paja de Sombrero, and it shares a boundary with Bijagual in David district. Its seat village, known as Rincón de Gualaca, is a short drive south of the district town. David, the provincial capital, is about 25 kilometres away by road, which puts its hospitals, banks, big stores and airport within a daily commute. Gualaca town covers the everyday errands, with its supermarket and buses that leave for David every half hour. West of the village rise Cerro El Vigía and Cerro La Caja, and a few kilometres to the north-west stands the Gualaca hydroelectric plant.

Cattle, for beef and for milk, is the district’s main commercial activity, with rice, grains and fruit such as export pineapple, papaya and cashew behind it. A few kilometres north of the village is the IDIAP experimental station at Gualaca, where a large share of Panama’s livestock research takes place, from artificial insemination courses to sheep-breed trials and plots of rice and maize. Inside Rincón, daily life turns on the school in the seat village, the Infoplaza in Quebrada Lajas and the Junta Comunal. Lately the Junta has been working on the farm roads in Redondito, building pavements and repairing a synthetic sports court. Anything bigger means a trip to Gualaca or David.

The ground is low and mostly gentle. The seat village stands at under 70 metres, Mata Rica and La Victoria at 80 to 90, and Bajo Chorcha, the highest of the named hamlets, a little above 110. Creeks such as the Quebrada Lajas cut across the corregimiento, and Mata Rica has a waterfall that local walkers hike out to. This is hot lowland, and the season that counts for a buyer is the wet one: residents of Bajo Chorcha and Quebrada Lajas have filmed the state of their roads to press for repairs. Look at a parcel’s access in the rainy months before you settle on a price.

In 2010 Rincón had 1,547 residents, 692 of them in the seat village. Quebrada Lajas and Mata Rica had around 260 each, La Victoria about a hundred, and smaller places such as Perú, Redondito, Plan de la Galera, El Achotal and La Huaca fill in the map between them. Much of the land belongs to local farming families and has passed from one generation to the next. When it does come up, the interest comes from ranchers adding grazing and from buyers in David who want a farm or a country plot within reach of the city.

Fincas in Rincón:

The working finca is what defines this market: pasture for cattle, with crop land on the flattest ground. Across Gualaca district, titled cattle holdings come up at every size from five hectares to more than two hundred, much of the land flat or rolling. When you view fincas for sale in Rincón, find out which farm road serves the property and how it behaves in October, whether a creek runs on the land all year, and whether fencing, corrals or any cattle are part of the price. Walk the boundary with the survey plan in hand and make sure the fences you see are the lines on paper.

Land and Lots in Rincón:

Smaller parcels, from village lots to a hectare or two, come up around the seat village and along the roads out to hamlets such as Quebrada Lajas and La Victoria. They suit a country house, a smallholding or a few head of cattle. Flat land with frontage on the main road to Gualaca is also sold just over the line in Bijagual, which makes a useful comparison when you weigh a parcel further in on a farm road. Before you commit, confirm where the nearest power line and water pipe actually run, not only that they pass somewhere nearby.

FAQ:

• How far is Rincón from David and from Gualaca town?

  David is about 25 kilometres by road, roughly half an hour’s drive. Gualaca town, with the supermarket and the half-hourly bus to David, is a short drive north of the seat village. Getting out to Bajo Chorcha or Quebrada Lajas adds a stretch on farm roads.

• Are the roads to the hamlets passable all year?

  That is the weak point. The Junta Comunal has been resurfacing production roads in Redondito, and residents of Bajo Chorcha and Quebrada Lajas have pushed for repairs on theirs. Drive the route after a heavy rain and ask the neighbours how often it becomes hard going.

• What should I check on a finca a family has worked for decades?

  Ask first how the land is held. Farms in this district often pass from parent to child without the paperwork following, and putting long-occupied land on title is slow: more than 200 families in Higuerón, near Gualaca town, waited over 30 years for theirs. Get a certificate from the Registro Público showing the registered owner and any liens, make sure the seller can sign for the whole parcel, and compare the survey plan with the fences. Untitled land needs to go through ANATI’s titling process before you can register it in your name.

• Can a foreigner buy farmland in Rincón?

  Yes. Panama lets foreigners own titled land on the same footing as nationals, and the only limit applies within 10 kilometres of the national borders. Rincón is well inland, far from the Costa Rican line, and the purchase is registered at the Registro Público.

• What services are there in Rincón itself?

  A school in the seat village and the Infoplaza in Quebrada Lajas, which gives students and neighbours internet access. For a supermarket, a bank or the hospital, people go to Gualaca or David.