Brunka

About Brunka:

Brunka covers 163 square kilometres on the northwest side of Buenos Aires canton, between Buenos Aires town and Volcán. Two roads hold it together. The Interamericana Sur, Route 2, runs through Santa Marta close to the Río Ceibo bridge and carries the traffic between San Isidro de El General and the south, which is why pilgrims walking north from Coto Brus use Santa Marta as an overnight stop. Route 610, the back road from Buenos Aires to Volcán, passes through El Socorro, and a local bus runs from the municipal terminal in Buenos Aires out to Santa Rosa. Guadalajara sits about nine kilometres from the centre of Buenos Aires, and the higher hamlets hang off public lanes that leave these two roads.

Santa Marta is where the district does its errands. The EBAIS clinic stands on the Interamericana, and so do Colegio Santa Marta, the only secondary school in the district, the Brunka police post, a bakery and a handful of shops. Santa Marta, El Socorro, Guadalajara, Llano Bonito, San Rafael, Santa Rosa, Cañas and Oasis each have a primary school of their own. Outside the villages the land is cattle pasture and small family farms, worked as much to feed the household as to sell. Pineapple is the big employer in the canton as a whole. For the municipal offices people go into Buenos Aires, and for the hospital, the banks and bigger shopping many drive up to San Isidro de El General.

The ground rises quickly. Santa Marta and the highway sit low in the valley, while Guadalajara stands at close to 780 metres and Achiote above 900, high enough for the air to feel fresher than on the valley floor. That climb explains much of the interest from outside: the upper hamlets have long views over the valley, clear rivers you can swim in and springs that farmers value more than anything else on the land. It also means slope, and many fincas mix flat paddocks with hillsides that are hard to build on. Down in Santa Marta, Cocolandia, a family water park with pools, slides, go-karts and a restaurant, fills up on weekends with visitors from across the southern zone.

Brunka had 3,220 residents at the 2011 count, and most of them live outside Santa Marta, on farms and in small hamlets. The buyers are mainly local families: people from the canton who want a lot near the highway, a house with land in Guadalajara, or more pasture beside what they already farm. A smaller group comes from further away, after river or view land in the upper hamlets for a quiet home or a small rural lodging, now that satellite internet reaches places cable never did. Most sales are agreed in colones, and often directly with the owner.

Houses in Brunka:

Houses here are country houses. In Santa Marta the usual one is a modest family home on a village lot of around 500 square metres, sometimes an older casa de zócalo with a concrete base and timber walls, sold with water, electricity and vehicle access already in place. In Guadalajara and the hamlets around it, three-bedroom houses sit on enclosed plots of 3,000 square metres or more, with room for a garden and a few animals. Higher up, river properties can come with small, recently built homes, including a container cabin with a deck over the water, on two or three hectares of pasture. When you look at houses for sale in Brunka, find out where the water comes from and who keeps the lane in front of the gate passable.

Land and Lots in Brunka:

Land is what Brunka mostly sells. On the Interamericana in Santa Marta, lots of 1,500 to 2,000 square metres come with around fifteen metres of highway frontage, water and power, and work for a house, a shop or both. A short walk from the centre, flat lots of a few hundred metres change hands for building a family home. Out in the hills the unit becomes the hectare, with fincas of five to eight hectares in Guadalajara and the upper part of Llano Bonito sold for pasture and views, and smaller parcels sold for their river frontage. Some lots are offered with an existing mortgage that the buyer can take over, so ask about liens before you talk price. Walk the whole parcel before you compare land for sale in Brunka by the square metre, because a hillside finca where only half the area is usable is a different purchase from a flat one.

Commercial Property in Brunka:

The best-known business in the district, the Cocolandia water park in Santa Marta, has been offered for sale as a going concern. It stands on 4,616 square metres with pools and slides, thatched ranchos, a bar-restaurant, three cabins for six people, a kart track and a children’s play area. Beyond that, commercial property in Brunka means highway frontage. Lots on the Interamericana are pitched for shops, workshops or roadside food, since the traffic between San Isidro and the south passes the door. If you are buying to trade, get a land-use certificate from the Municipalidad de Buenos Aires and check the setback from the national road with MOPT before you plan the building.

FAQ:

• Why do some documents and listings place Brunka properties in Volcán?

  Because until 18 August 2000 they were in Volcán. School names, older deeds and some sellers still use the old district, and adverts for Santa Marta land sometimes appear under Volcán. What counts is the plano catastrado and the folio real at the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario). Check that the district, the area and the boundaries recorded there match the land you walked, and that the person selling is the registered owner.

• Which communities make up Brunka?

  Santa Marta is the seat and sits on the Interamericana. The other villages are Achiote, Alto Achiote, Cañas, Guadalajara, Llano Bonito, Oasis, San Rafael, Santa Cecilia, Santa María, Santa Rosa and El Socorro, the last of them on Route 610. Achiote and Guadalajara are among the highest, which is where most of the view and river land is.

• Does the name Brunka mean the land is indigenous territory?

  No. The district shares its name with the Brunka, or Boruca, people, but the name says nothing about the status of a given parcel. Buenos Aires canton does contain several indigenous territories, among them Boruca, Térraba, Salitre, Cabagra and Ujarrás, and under the Indigenous Law land inside them cannot be sold to non-indigenous buyers. If a finca lies towards the edge of the district, ask your lawyer to confirm that the plano falls outside every territory before you sign.

• What should I check on land with a river or a spring?

  The protection strips first. The Forestry Law keeps a band along every river free of building and clearing, 15 metres on flat rural land and 50 metres where the ground is steep, and a 100-metre radius around permanent springs. On a small riverside parcel that can take a large share of the area. If the house will rely on a spring, ask whether it has a water concession or whether the property is connected to the community water system.

• Where are the nearest services?

  Santa Marta has the EBAIS, the secondary school, the police post and shops for everyday needs. Buenos Aires town, the canton seat, has the municipality and the main employers. For the hospital, the banks and larger stores, residents go up the Interamericana to San Isidro de El General.