Las Cruces

About Las Cruces:

Las Cruces covers about 69 square kilometres west of Cañazas town, on the far bank of the río San Pablo. The law that created it uses the river as its line: from the mouth of the Mata Palo creek up to the Cavira it faces the Cañazas cabecera, and from the Cavira up to the Peñón creek it faces El Picador. On the Cerro de Plata side, the boundary climbs the Mata Palo to the top of cerro El Blandito and then follows the río Bale to its source. For decades the way into town depended on an old hanging bridge over the San Pablo. Look at the crossing as it stands today before you decide how remote a finca really is.

People live in small, scattered hamlets: Las Cruces itself, Los González, Guabal Poniente, San Juan de Dios, Pan de Azúcar, El Cortezo, El Higuito, El Román and El Blandito, plus smaller clusters such as Virigua, Los Morales and Yuca Amarilla. San Juan de Dios has a little over two hundred residents and the CEBG San Juan de Dios, which teaches primary and premedia. Families here farm on a small scale, as they do across Cañazas, a district where growing food for the household carries more weight than almost anywhere else in Veraguas. The municipal offices, the MIDA agricultural agency and health services are in Cañazas town. Banks and bigger shopping mean the drive to Santiago.

Water draws the map here. Besides the San Pablo, the río Bale and the Mata Palo, Cavira and Peñón creeks mark the edges, with hills such as cerro El Blandito between them. The Las Cruces hydroelectric plant, at around 20 megawatts, began operating on the San Pablo in December 2015, and a short road runs from El Román out to its dam. Work at the plant can push up the flow downstream, and residents are warned before it happens. If you are looking at land on the riverbank, that matters more than any rainfall average.

The population has held at about 1,300, slightly below where it stood in 2010. What changes hands is almost always working land: fincas, smaller plots and the houses on them. Las Cruces suits a buyer who wants land to farm within reach of Cañazas town, not someone who needs services at the door. Budget for the river crossing and the state of the road as part of the price.

Land and Lots in Las Cruces:

Most of what sells here is rural land, from fincas big enough to work to smaller plots on the edge of a hamlet. A parcel on the road linking Guabal Poniente, San Juan de Dios and El Román is easier to reach, and easier to connect to power, than one at the end of a footpath toward cerro El Blandito. Riverside land on the San Pablo has water, but it also takes the higher flows when the plant releases, so walk the bank and ask neighbours how far up the river has come. When you compare land for sale in Las Cruces, hold the plano against the ground and follow the boundary creek by creek.

Houses in Las Cruces:

A house in Las Cruces is a country house in one of the hamlets, and it nearly always comes with a piece of land. Find out whether the water arrives by rural aqueduct or comes from a well, whether there is a power meter, and whether a car can get to the door in October. If you want the school close by, San Juan de Dios is the hamlet to look at first; for errands and paperwork, Cañazas town across the river has more. Judge houses for sale in Las Cruces on the land and the access as much as on the building itself.

FAQ:

• Where does Las Cruces end and Cañazas town begin?

  At the río San Pablo. Between the Mata Palo and Cavira creeks the opposite bank belongs to the Cañazas cabecera, and from the Cavira up to the Peñón creek it belongs to El Picador. Toward Cerro de Plata the line runs from the Mata Palo to cerro El Blandito and then along the río Bale. A parcel that looks close to town on a map can still be on the wrong side of the river, so confirm which bank it sits on.

• My deed is older than 2008. Why does it name a different corregimiento?

  Because Las Cruces did not exist yet. It was carved out of the Cañazas cabecera, El Picador and Cerro de Plata in 2008, so older documents name one of those three. Match the finca number in the property registry against the plano and the current boundary lines before you sign. If the seller holds possession rights rather than title, ask ANATI whether the parcel can be titled and how long that takes.

• Does the hydroelectric plant affect land along the river?

  The Las Cruces plant has run on the San Pablo since December 2015. Operations there can raise the water level downstream, and residents are warned in advance of planned work. Before buying riverside land, find out how high the water has reached and check whether the plano shows any access road or right of way crossing the parcel.

• Where do people go for school, services and shopping?

  Children study at the CEBG San Juan de Dios, which covers primary and premedia. Municipal paperwork, the MIDA agency and health care are in Cañazas town, across the river. Santiago, the provincial capital, is where people go for banks and larger purchases.

• Can I reach the hamlets all year round?

  The roads joining Guabal Poniente, San Juan de Dios and El Román are short rural stretches of a few kilometres each, and rain reaches them first. Visit a property in the wet season as well as the dry one. Ask the neighbours how the road behaves after a week of storms, and whether the river crossing has ever cut them off.