Edwin Fábrega

About Edwin Fábrega:

Edwin Fábrega covers about 35 square kilometres between the south-western edge of Santiago de Veraguas and the Montijo district line, which it meets near the río Martín Chiquito. Law 53 of 2002 created it, together with Carlos Santana Ávila, San Martín de Porres and Urracá, out of land that had belonged to the Santiago cabecera, La Raya de Santa María and Canto del Llano. Its spine is the paved road that leaves the city for Montijo and Puerto Mutis. Martín Grande sits about two kilometres from the centre, Piedra del Sol lies along the Montijo road, and El Salitre and La Botija are five to seven kilometres south of town, with La Graciana beyond them. Los Algarrobos is the neighbouring corregimiento across the boundary to the north-west.

Martín Grande is the one sizeable built-up cluster, some 30 hectares of streets and houses that work as part of the city’s fringe rather than as a separate village. Jobs, banks, shops and the regional hospital are all in Santiago. Close to home there is the Martín Grande basic-education school, which takes pupils through ninth grade, a smaller school at Quebrada Honda, an Infoplaza and the church of San Francisco de Asís at El Junquillo. The corregimiento grew from 3,434 people in 2010 to 4,054 in 2023, and each December it turns out for a Christmas parade led by the school bands.

The ground is low, under 40 metres at El Salitre and La Botija, and to the west it opens into flat strips and terraces drained by quebradas and the Martín Grande and Martín Chiquito rivers. Away from the main road, houses stand on lots of thousands of square metres with open rural land between the settlements. Services thin out the further you go from the city. In 2010 more homes drew their water from community-run aqueducts than from the IDAAN network that supplies Santiago, and some households in the southern sectors still use wells. Santiago’s new sewer system, brought into service in 2025, was designed to reach part of Edwin Fábrega, not all of it.

Two kinds of buyer come here. Families with jobs in Santiago want a finished three-bedroom house in Martín Grande, where getting to work takes minutes. Others want space: an older house on a big lot near El Salitre or La Botija, or a plot along the Montijo road on which to build their own. Bank repossessions turn up in the Martín Grande residenciales, which is worth knowing on a tight budget.

Houses in Edwin Fábrega:

In Martín Grande you will find most of the houses for sale in Edwin Fábrega. Residencial Patricia Italia has three-bedroom, two-bathroom houses with a carport and a back yard, on paved streets with sidewalks, a small park with a bohío and a basketball court, five to seven minutes from central Santiago. Residencial San Pablo, on Martín Grande’s main road, offers similar three-bedroom models, and repossessed houses in Patricia Italia have come back on the market. Beyond the residenciales the lots get far bigger: one Martín Grande house of about 170 square metres sits on nearly half a hectare, and in El Salitre a five-bedroom house has been offered on a lot of more than 4,000 square metres. Some houses are also offered for rent.

Land and Lots in Edwin Fábrega:

By the square metre rather than the hectare is how most land for sale in Edwin Fábrega changes hands. The range runs from lots of about 1,500 square metres in Martín Grande, through plots of 2,700 square metres on paved side streets with power, water and street lighting, to parcels of 4,000 square metres and more around El Salitre. A lot on a paved street with full services can still carry a rural zoning, so if you plan to split it or build more than one house, ask the municipality how it is classified before you make an offer. Check as well whether the water at the boundary comes from IDAAN or a community aqueduct, and how far the nearest sewer main is.

FAQ:

• How far is Edwin Fábrega from central Santiago?

  The Martín Grande residenciales are about two kilometres from the centre, a drive of five to seven minutes. El Salitre lies about five kilometres south of the city and La Botija about seven, both off the road to Montijo. The southern settlements such as La Graciana are further again, so time the trip from the house itself rather than from the corregimiento’s name.

• Will the house have IDAAN water?

  Not necessarily. The Santiago treatment plant supplies part of Edwin Fábrega, but in 2010 more households here were on community-run aqueducts, and some in the southern sectors still rely on wells. Ask which system serves the property, whether it has a reserve tank, and, for a well, whether the water has been tested.

• Is the property on the new Santiago sewer?

  Only part of the corregimiento was included in the new Santiago sewer network that came into service in 2025. Ask whether the house is connected or drains to a septic tank, and on an empty lot, how far it is to the nearest main.

• What is the state of the road to Montijo?

  Residents of southern Santiago and Montijo have complained about the Santiago–Montijo–Puerto Mutis road for years, and in October 2025 the government listed its rehabilitation among the works to be contracted in Veraguas. Local streets such as the one into Piedra del Sol have had their own repairs. Drive the route in the rainy season before you commit to a property that depends on it.

• What should I check on a lot carved out of a larger parcel?

  When a plot along the Montijo road has been sold off from bigger family land, the paperwork matters as much as the ground. Make sure the piece you are buying has been segregated with its own finca number and an approved survey plan in the Registro Público, that everyone on the title of the original parcel signs, and that access is by a public street or a registered easement rather than a neighbour’s goodwill.