Zaragoza

About Zaragoza:

Zaragoza covers 8.4 square kilometres on the south side of Palmares, more ground than any other district in the canton. Its first streets begin about a kilometre and a half from the town centre, and Ruta 135, the road to Atenas, runs straight through it, with local routes 713, 714 and 715 branching off to the outlying settlements. Besides Zaragoza itself, the district takes in Rincón de Zaragoza, Quebradas, Calle Vargas, Calle Vásquez, Concepción, Barrio Los Ángeles, Calle Marotos, Calle La Unión and part of Cocaleca. Buses run from Palmares through Zaragoza to Candelaria, a second line reaches Rincón de Zaragoza and Quebradas in about twenty minutes, and one bus leaves Rincón for San José before dawn every day.

The district split from Esquipulas in 1880 under the name Concepción, and much of its identity was forged around its church. For years the parish priest in Palmares held back the money neighbours had raised for a shrine to Nuestra Señora del Pilar, wanting every colón and every ox team for the big parish church in town. Work finally started in April 1922, with oxcart drivers clearing the site and whole families digging the foundations; by 1925 the bahareque walls and two reinforced-concrete towers were up, and on 12 October 1926 the village held its first Pilar fiesta, on the same day as Zaragoza in Spain. In the 1930s local families paid for 23 stained-glass windows made in Barcelona. Away from the church, several Victorian-style houses built in the early 1900s are still lived in.

Near town the district is built up, with streets of family houses that merge into Palmares. Further out the land opens into coffee, maize and other crops, with patches of secondary forest on the far slopes, and the Madre Verde forest reserve lies just over the line in La Granja. Rincón de Zaragoza is the biggest community, with its own church, a public library, and the Escuela and Colegio Dr. Ricardo Moreno Cañas; the secondary school opened there in 2000. Most working residents commute a short way to Palmares or San Ramón, where the jobs are in commerce, services, schools and health care.

Zaragoza has grown faster than its size suggests. It had 562 inhabitants in 1892, about 3,500 in 1973 and 8,219 at the 2011 census, and new houses have kept going up since. Buyers are mainly Costa Rican families trading up from a house in town or building close to relatives, and most prices are set in colones. The hillside properties on the edges, with views across the Central Valley and room for fruit trees, also draw buyers from outside the canton. Know which of those two markets you are shopping in, because it decides the price more than anything else.

Houses in Zaragoza:

The entry point is the compact family house in Rincón de Zaragoza: three bedrooms, two bathrooms and parking for two on a lot of around 180 square metres. Condominio Las Palmas offers houses for sale in Zaragoza, Palmares behind a gate, with paved streets, round-the-clock security, a clubhouse, a multi-use court, a grass five-a-side pitch and three play areas; homes there sit on lots of about 250 square metres. A step up are properties of more than 1,000 square metres near the Madre Verde reserve, where a house of 180 square metres may come with fruit trees, gardens and an extra building such as a small events hall. At the top are rural properties of half a hectare or more, with a modern single-storey house and long views over the valley.

Rentals in Zaragoza:

Most rentals are whole houses rather than apartments. In Rincón de Zaragoza, three-bedroom houses with a garage and laundry area are let monthly, and some owners include water and electricity in the rent. In Zaragoza itself, some larger houses come with a separate room and bathroom that works as a home office. Ask exactly what the rent covers before you compare one house with another.

Land and Lots in Zaragoza:

Residential plots of roughly 300 to 450 square metres in Rincón are where most lots for sale in Zaragoza begin, some of them on higher ground with views over Palmares and the mountains. Plots of 850 to 1,200 square metres in greener surroundings suit buyers who want a garden or a second unit. Now and then a parcel of around 5,000 square metres comes up with an older house already on it, pitched for a future residential or commercial project. Much of this land was once coffee or family farmland, so check that any split from a larger property is fully registered before you pay a deposit.

FAQ:

• How far is Zaragoza from Palmares centre and from San José?

  The edge of the district is a kilometre and a half from the centre of Palmares, and Rincón de Zaragoza is about ten minutes away by car. Local buses connect both with the Palmares terminal, and there is a daily early bus from Rincón to San José. Palmares itself is a little over 50 kilometres from the capital by road.

• Is Zaragoza part of town or countryside?

  Both. The northern part, closest to Palmares, is a residential extension of the town, while the farther reaches are coffee, maize and pasture with scattered houses. The price of a lot changes sharply between the two, and so does how easy it is to connect water and power.

• Is there a gated community in Zaragoza?

  Yes. Condominio Las Palmas has paved streets, 24-hour security, a clubhouse, sports pitches and children’s play areas. Ask for the condominium rules and the monthly fee before you make an offer.

• Where would my children go to school?

  The Escuela Dr. Ricardo Moreno Cañas covers primary school and the Colegio Dr. Ricardo Moreno Cañas in Rincón de Zaragoza covers secondary, with school bus routes. The Colegio Bilingüe de Palmares in the town centre runs the International Baccalaureate, and the nearest hospital is in San Ramón.

• What should I check before buying a lot on the edge of Zaragoza?

  Out here many parcels were carved from old coffee and family farms, so start with the plano catastrado and confirm in the Registro Nacional that the segregation is complete and the owner is who they say they are. Where a quebrada crosses or borders the land, the Forestry Law keeps a strip along each bank free of building. If the lot fronts Ruta 135, ask the MOPT for the road alignment, and get a land-use certificate from the Municipalidad de Palmares and a water availability letter before you design the house.