Las Guabas

About Las Guabas:

Las Guabas covers 21.9 km² in the interior of the Los Santos district, southwest of La Villa de Los Santos on the way to Macaracas. The village itself sits about a kilometre in from the main road, and the corregimiento takes in a string of smaller settlements: Nancecillo, Cañazas, Santa Clara, Las Guabas Arriba, El Roble, La Rana, San Andrés, El Llano Los Escobares and La Mina. A production road runs from Las Guabas Arriba toward El Cedro in Villa Lourdes; it was regraded and its ditches restored in 2021 for the cattle and maize farmers who use it every day. The main La Villa–Macaracas road is being rebuilt, with eight new bridges and fresh asphalt, and the work was still moving forward in 2026. The 2010 census counted 677 people here, about thirty to the square kilometre.

Las Guabas was created in 1909 as the third corregimiento of the district, after La Villa and Sabanagrande, and its first corregidor, Manuel García, lived in La Villa. Maximino Rodríguez, one of the early settlers, made machetes that people came from the surrounding villages to buy. The first families are buried in the old El Jagüito cemetery, about a kilometre and a half north of the present village. The first school ran in El Nancesillo, where the base of its flagpole still stands. When the road for cars was cut, neither of the two quebradas had a bridge; a wooden one went over the quebrada El Caballo later.

The village grew up beside three streams, El Caballo, El Nancesillo and El Roble, and takes its name from the guaba, the native tree with sweet pods. Around it the ground rises into low hills: Cerro La Teta, Cerro La Miel and, at about 300 metres, Cerro La Paja, also called Cerro de los Vega, which still carries natural forest. That mix of streams and slopes shapes every parcel here. A lot on a quebrada has water for animals and a garden, but its boundary moves with the bank; a lot on the hillside gets the view and the drainage, but depends on a decent access road in the wet months.

Families here farm and raise cattle, and a few run the kiosks and abarroterías that keep the village supplied. Simple houses line the plaza in front of the church of San Andrés Apóstol, whose patronal feast on 30 November closes a run of novenas. In August the Semana del Campesino fills the Jardín 30 de Noviembre, and in 2026 it ended on 9 August with a parade of ox carts. Banks, the hospital and the large supermarkets are in La Villa de Los Santos and Chitré. A lot in Las Guabas makes sense for someone who wants room for fruit trees and a few animals, close to both towns without living in either.

Land and Lots in Las Guabas:

Lots of around 2,000 m² come up close to the centre with electricity, piped water and an asphalt street in front, and there are smaller house lots right in the village with every basic service connected. On the road toward Villa Lourdes, parcels have been offered with power, water and telephone plus a running stream, the kind of agua viva that matters to anyone planning to keep animals. Away from the plaza, access counts for more than size: a parcel on the asphalt is a different proposition from one reached by a production road. When you compare lots for sale in Las Guabas, check which services actually reach the boundary, not just the nearest pole.

FAQ:

• A lot of land here has passed down through families. What should I check before buying?

  Get the registry certificate for the exact parcel from the property registry and confirm the seller is the registered owner, not one heir among several. If the lot fronts the quebrada El Caballo, El Nancesillo or El Roble, walk the boundary with the plan in hand, because a stream bank is not a fixed line. The registered plan should match the fences on the ground.

• How do I get to Las Guabas?

  Take the road from La Villa de Los Santos toward Macaracas and turn off for the village, which lies about a kilometre in. The main road is being rebuilt with new bridges, so expect work zones until the project is finished. The outlying villages are reached on local roads; the one from Las Guabas Arriba toward El Cedro was regraded in 2021.

• Do the lots have water and electricity?

  Lots near the centre come with power, piped water and an asphalt street, and some outlying parcels add telephone and a running stream. Out on the production roads, ask how far the lines run and who would pay to extend them.

• When are the village festivities?

  The patronal feast of San Andrés Apóstol falls on 30 November, after the novenas. The Semana del Campesino comes in August with its ox-cart parade; in 2026 it ran from 7 to 9 August.

• What kind of property is available?

  Building lots near the plaza and rural parcels on the roads out of the village. There are no apartment buildings or gated developments in Las Guabas.