Pilas

About Pilas:

Pilas covers just under 115 square kilometres southwest of the town of Buenos Aires, the canton seat. It became a district on 20 January 1968, when it was carved out of the district of Buenos Aires. Its villages are Alto Pilas, Bajo Pilas, Bijagual, Ceibón, Concepción (also known as La Danta), Dibujada, Fortuna, La Gloria (Los Mangos), Laguna, Ojo de Agua, Paso La Tinta, Pueblo Nuevo, Silencio, Tumbas and part of Sabanas. Cantonal roads tie them together, many of them still dirt, and the municipality works on them a contract at a time; in 2024 a rehabilitation job covering Pilas, Volcán and Biolley added steel guardrails on a stretch in Concepción. A mountain-bike loop of about 17 kilometres links Las Pilas, Dibujada and Concepción on those same dirt roads, through hills and patches of forest, which says a lot about the driving.

Farming is the whole economy. Pilas and Chánguena are the two districts where most of the canton’s maize and beans are grown, and cattle share the land with the crops. The producers’ association in Concepción, ASOPRO, prepares certified bean seed and grain for its members, and in 2017 it finished its own packing plant with a label, De Mi Pueblo, meant for supermarket shelves. When the national production council registers bean and white-maize growers in the canton, one of the sign-up sessions is held at the ASOPRO in Concepción. If you buy cropland here, that association is the first place to ask who buys the harvest and at what terms.

The country is hilly and cut by water, with the Río Las Pilas running through it. Rain is what shapes daily life: after heavy downpours the river at Bijagual and El Ceibón rises fast, and the bridge on the road through Bijagual, Ceibón and La Fortuna matters to everyone who depends on that road. Concepción is the service village. It has the Liceo de Concepción, a secondary school near the Inmaculada church, and a piped water system built by AyA with storage tanks, a sand trap and its own treatment plant. Dibujada and Concepción have primary schools, and for municipal paperwork, banks and bigger shopping, people go into Buenos Aires.

Pilas had 1,659 residents at the 2011 census, only slightly more than in 1973, so this is not a district being built over. Most of the people who live here farm, and part of the district belongs to indigenous peoples: Bijagual and El Ceibón sit inside the Térraba territory, and the Boruca territory also reaches into Pilas. Buyers are mostly people from the canton who want more cropland or pasture next to what they already work. Farms are still sold by the manzana, the old unit of roughly seven tenths of a hectare, so keep a calculator handy when you compare.

Farms and Land in Pilas:

Land here is farmland first. Properties of six to nine manzanas, around four to six hectares, come up around Concepción and elsewhere in the district, offered as ground for crops and cattle. Ask what the land has been used for: a plot that has carried beans and maize is open, worked ground, while pasture on steep hillsides can be hard to reach and harder to build on. Find out whether the parcel is connected to a community water system or depends on a spring, and drive the access road in the wet months before you agree a price per manzana. A farm for sale in Pilas near Concepción puts you close to the secondary school, the water system and the growers’ association.

Houses in Pilas:

Houses in Pilas usually come with land. Expect a single-storey farmhouse on its own finca, or a family home on a smaller plot in a village such as Concepción or Dibujada, within reach of a school. When you look at houses for sale in Pilas, ask where the water comes from, whether the electricity reaches the house or stops at the road, and whether a car can get to the door after a week of rain. Check that the house itself sits inside the boundaries shown on the plano catastrado, as on rural plots the building and the survey do not always match.

FAQ:

• Can a non-indigenous buyer purchase land in Bijagual or El Ceibón?

  Not inside the territory. Bijagual and El Ceibón lie within the Térraba indigenous territory, and the Boruca territory also extends into Pilas. Under the 1977 Indigenous Law, land inside a territory cannot pass to non-indigenous people, and in 2022 the Constitutional Chamber confirmed that such purchases made after the law took effect are void. Have your lawyer overlay the plano catastrado on the territory limits and pull the folio real from the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario) before you hand over any deposit; a deed that looks clean does not protect you if the land sits inside a territory.

• How big is a manzana?

  A manzana is about 6,990 square metres, a little under three quarters of a hectare. Six manzanas is therefore a little over four hectares and nine manzanas a little over six. Sellers in Pilas often quote both size and price by the manzana, so ask for the area in square metres as it appears on the plano before you compare offers.

• What happens to the roads in the rainy season?

  Most roads between the villages are dirt, and heavy rain is when they show their worth. The river at Bijagual and El Ceibón runs high enough after a storm to make the local news, and residents have organised around the bridge on that route. Visit in October, not March, and ask the neighbours how often the road closes.

• Can I sell beans or maize from a farm in Pilas?

  Yes. The ASOPRO in Concepción processes seed and grain for its members and runs its own packing plant, and growers in the district register their crops with the national production council through sessions held there. If the farm you are buying already sells to the association, ask the seller whether that arrangement depends on membership and whether it carries over to a new owner.

• Where are the nearest services?

  Concepción has the secondary school, a treated piped water supply and the growers’ association, and Dibujada and Concepción have primary schools. For the municipality, banks and larger shops, residents travel to the town of Buenos Aires.