Remedios

About Remedios:

The corregimiento of Remedios is the seat of the smallest and least populated district in Chiriquí, and the district’s other four corregimientos, El Nancito, El Porvenir, El Puerto and Santa Lucía, wrap around it. It covers 43.5 square kilometres of Pacific lowland, with the town at around 30 metres above sea level. From the Panamericana turn-off you reach the centre in five minutes, and buses link Remedios with David. South of town, fishing boats work out of Puerto de Remedios, the district’s landing on the Gulf of Chiriquí, and the Las Lajas shore is a short drive away.

The first Remedios stood on La Garita, now inside El Puerto corregimiento, where Captain Martín Gutiérrez founded Nuestra Señora de los Remedios o Pueblo Nuevo in 1589. After a fire in 1620 the town was moved inland to where it stands now. It held off English buccaneers in 1680, killing their captain, Sawkins, but was sacked by Townley’s men a few years later. In the nineteenth century the Lobaina gold mines brought a new boom and made Remedios the capital of the cantón de Guaymí, then part of Veraguas. The ruins on La Garita, with an old stone-based well and the floor of the first church, are protected by the same 1984 law that covers the church in town.

That church, Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, anchors the town. Its bronze bell dates from 1682, the image of the Virgin is around three hundred years old, and each 6 January a procession through the streets draws pilgrims from other provinces and from abroad; the parish became a diocesan sanctuary in 1993. Day to day, Remedios is the service town for its district. The Centro de Salud de Remedios, schools, pharmacies, grocery shops, the police station and the headquarters of the Centro Regional Universitario de Chiriquí Oriente are all here, the last a Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí campus that started as an extension in 1998. Beyond the streets, the district lives from crops and cattle.

Remedios had 844 residents at the 2023 census, and roughly one in six was over 65. The whole corregimiento, town included, is counted as rural. Houses that reach the market are mostly established family homes rather than new builds, and fincas on the outskirts come up alongside them. Some sellers pitch larger town houses as guesthouses or B&Bs, pointing to the traffic bound for the Las Lajas beaches. For a buyer, the real choice is between a house in the centre with services on foot and land outside town that gives space but needs its water and access checked.

Houses in Remedios:

Most homes are single-storey family houses on their own lots near the centre, often fenced, with a terrace and covered parking. Town houses sit on lots of a few hundred square metres, enough for three or four bedrooms and a yard. If you are after houses for sale in Remedios, start with the streets around the church and the plaza, where the health centre, shops and buses are. Further out, country houses on bigger plots sit among pasture, and they bring more questions about water supply and the state of the access road.

Rentals in Remedios:

Rental stock here is houses. A three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with a study or loft is the kind of place that comes up for long-term rent in town. The university campus, the health centre and the district offices are all in Remedios, so for anyone working at one of them a rental within walking distance of the centre is the practical choice. Agree in writing who pays for water and electricity, since older houses do not always have separate meters for an added unit.

Land and Lots in Remedios:

Outside town, land sells as farm fincas by the hectare, some of them more than ten hectares with their own water source, and closer in as house lots. When you look at land for sale in Remedios, Chiriquí, the trade-off is plain: lots near the centre already have power, water and a street, while larger fincas give room for cattle, crops or a project but need every service confirmed on site. Ask whether the parcel is titled or held only by possession, and walk the access route to see where it crosses streams that rise in the rainy season.

FAQ:

• Is the corregimiento of Remedios the same as Remedios district?

  No. The district has five corregimientos, and this one is the seat: the town itself and 43.5 square kilometres around it. The old pier, the La Garita ruins and the coast belong to El Puerto, while Santa Lucía, El Porvenir and El Nancito cover the rest, so check which corregimiento a listing actually sits in.

• Does the historic church affect a house on the plaza?

  The church has been a national historic monument since 1984. If the house you like faces the temple or shares a wall line with its grounds, ask the municipality before you plan an extension or a new façade, and expect the streets to fill during the 6 January festival.

• How far is Remedios from David, the highway and the beach?

  The town centre is about five minutes from the Panamericana. David, with its hospitals, big supermarkets and airport, is about an hour west by road, and the Las Lajas beaches are around 15 minutes away.

• What should I check before buying an older house or family lot in town?

  In a town this old, many houses have passed down through families. Make sure the property is registered in the Registro Público in the seller’s name, that any inheritance has been formally settled, and that the fences on the ground match the registered plan. Then ask how water reaches the house and how reliable it is in the dry months.

• Is there a university or health centre in Remedios?

  Yes. The Centro Regional Universitario de Chiriquí Oriente, part of the Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí, has its headquarters in Remedios, and the town has its own Centro de Salud. Specialist care is in David.