General Victoriano Lorenzo

About General Victoriano Lorenzo:

General Victoriano Lorenzo lies north-east of Penonomé, along the inland loop road that leaves town through Sonadora, passes Churuquita Chiquita and Churuquita Grande, and carries on toward Toabré and La Pintada. Everyone calls it the circunvalación, and almost every house in the corregimiento depends on it. Churuquita Chiquita, the seat, is fifteen minutes from the centre of Penonomé, while Churuquita Grande, 13 km out, is closer to half an hour. The pavement has been worn for years: in October 2025 more than two hundred residents, organised as the Movimiento Pro Carretera General Victoriano Lorenzo, patched potholes with their own money, and the Ministry of Public Works has since put the rebuild of the whole loop out to tender. Until that work is done, drive the road on the day you view a property, because its condition is part of what you are paying for.

Churuquita Chiquita is where the corregimiento’s daily life is organised. The Instituto Carmen Conte Lombardo, a school run by the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation since 1970, stands on the road toward Churuquita Grande. For the hospital, the banks and the large supermarkets, people still go into Penonomé. Farming carries the rest: citrus above all, alongside vegetables, livestock and the odd stand of teak. The orange fair is where growers sell to the public, and the 2026 edition brought together more than fifty producers, some thirty-five artisans and over forty small businesses on its grounds by the main road.

The land is low hill country cut by rivers, rising to a little over 400 metres around Churuquita Grande. The Zaratí runs past Sonadora and Churuquita Grande, where its rock pools have long drawn bathers at weekends and a private resort has built pools and trails along the bank. The Río Guabal is the one to watch: after heavy rain it rises fast enough that residents are told to stay off the crossings. Rain is the only part of the climate a buyer needs to plan around, because from May to November a stream that is easy to ford in March can stop a car.

In 2023 the corregimiento counted 8,496 residents on 79.1 km², a few more than Pajonal, the corregimiento it was split from. Each village keeps its own calendar, and Rincón de las Palmas opens its patronal feast for Don Bosco with dawn mañanitas every 30 January, the same week as the orange fair. The name honours Victoriano Lorenzo, born in Penonomé and executed in 1903, and the junta comunal now holds community property such as the casa local at El Potrero and the cemetery at Rincón de las Palmas. What comes up for sale speaks to two kinds of buyer: someone from Penonomé who wants room and fruit trees fifteen minutes from town, and someone from further away after a weekend house within reach of a river.

Houses in General Victoriano Lorenzo:

Houses here are single-family homes on more ground than a town lot in Penonomé would give you. Fenced plots of 1,600 to 1,800 m² with a one- or two-storey house turn up in Churuquita Grande and El Guabal, and larger homes come with a few hectares of finca behind them. The newer houses for sale in Churuquita Chiquita, closest to town, are marketed as much as an investment as a family home. Ask about water before anything else. Supply comes from rural aqueducts run by community boards, and in early 2026 some sectors of Churuquita Chiquita went more than three months with missed supply days and low pressure, so find out how the street is served and budget for a storage tank.

Land and Lots in General Victoriano Lorenzo:

Building lots are cut along the circunvalación and the side streets off it, and the easiest to build on are flat, titled and already served, with asphalt frontage, power on the pole and an aqueduct connection. Lots of 600 to 800 m² appear on the road toward Churuquita, while parcels of a few thousand square metres sit further from the pavement. Look at where water runs off the slope above the plot and how close the nearest quebrada is, since riverbanks carry a protected strip that cannot be built on. Visit once in the rainy season before you sign.

Fincas in General Victoriano Lorenzo:

Toward Churuquita Grande and Rincón de las Palmas, land is sold by the hectare. Offers mix citrus groves, pasture, woodland and timber: one near Churuquita Grande has five of its nine and a half hectares under ten-year-old teak, and a finca of three and a half hectares in Churuquita comes with a two-storey, three-bedroom house. An old orange grove can be income or a replanting job, so ask how old the trees are and who has been harvesting them. On hillside fincas the access track deserves as much attention as the land itself.

FAQ:

• Is General Victoriano Lorenzo the same as Churuquita?

  Not quite. Law 296 of 2022 carved the corregimiento out of Pajonal, and it takes in Churuquita Chiquita, which is its seat, Churuquita Grande, Rincón de las Palmas, Sonadora, El Guabal and El Nanzal, among other villages. In conversation people say Churuquita for most of it, and deeds and survey plans drawn before 2022 name Pajonal. Rely on the finca number on the plan and in the property registry, not on the village name in an advert.

• How long is the drive from Penonomé, and how is the road?

  Allow fifteen minutes to Churuquita Chiquita and around half an hour to Churuquita Grande. The circunvalación is paved but badly worn, and it is kept going by patching from the Ministry of Public Works and from residents. A full rebuild has been tendered but not delivered, so judge the road as it is today.

• Is the water supply reliable?

  It depends on the sector. Each village is served by a rural aqueduct run by its own board, and in Churuquita Chiquita the board rotates supply between sectors, with some streets left short for weeks in early 2026. Ask the board about the specific street, check that the seller is paid up, and plan on a reserve tank.

• What should I check before buying land near the rivers?

  Start with the water. A plot running down to the Guabal or the Zaratí loses part of its usable ground to the protected riverbank, and its low corner can flood after a storm. Then confirm the land has its own titled finca number in the property registry; some country land in Coclé is still held only under possessory rights, which can be bought but give you far less security until they are titled. A lawyer can check mortgages, liens and pending segregations in the same search.

• Can a foreigner buy property here?

  Yes. General Victoriano Lorenzo is nowhere near a frontier, so the limit on foreign ownership close to the border does not apply, and titled property is bought on the same terms as by a Panamanian. What changes the deal is the kind of land: titled property transfers normally, while land under possessory rights has to be titled before it gives you the same protection.