Espíritu Santo

About Espíritu Santo:

Espíritu Santo is the first of Esparza’s six districts and the one that holds the town itself, with the canton’s municipal offices, market and most of its services. It covers 19 square kilometres at an average height of a little over 200 metres, on lower ground between the coast at Caldera and the hills of San Rafael. The Interamericana, Ruta 1, runs past the town, Ruta 131 heads east toward San Mateo, and Ruta 622 also crosses the district. Puntarenas city lies to the west beyond Barranca, Puerto Caldera is in the neighbouring district, and San José is under 80 kilometres away by road, usually on Ruta 27. Around the centre sit El Mojón, Mojoncito, El Tejar, La Riviera, Marañonal, Humo, Las Brisas, Gregg and Pan de Azúcar.

Few towns in Costa Rica go back further. Esparza’s first hermitage dates from 1574, and two years later it became a parish dedicated to Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, whose feast still brings the canton together every 2 February. The early city of Espíritu Santo did well out of its nearness to the port of Caldera and the trade with Panama, and in the 1620s it was moved five kilometres north-west to where it stands now. It took the name Esparza from the Navarrese birthplace of governor Diego de Artieda Chirino. Pirates sacked it in 1685 and again the following year, and the second time they burned everything except the church and the convent.

Most of the canton’s errands get done here. The municipality sits 25 metres east of the post office, the farmers’ market of the Centro Agrícola Cantonal sets up on Fridays and Saturdays, and banks, supermarkets and schools are all in the centre. The market building assembled in 1910 was put together under the cabinetmaker Juan Bautista Matamoros, who in the 1920s also built, in fine timber, the house that is now the Casa de la Cultura, a protected monument since 1994. The port at Caldera, one of the canton’s main employers, is a short drive away. Puntarenas covers what the town lacks, including the regional hospital.

Beyond the old centre, much of the newer housing went up as planned subdivisions, several financed with state housing bonds and some on steep ground. Heavy afternoon storms have flooded low streets, and in the rainy season neighbours keep an eye on the quebradas that run through town. The people who buy here are mostly local families and people who work in Esparza, Puntarenas or at the port. A second group comes from the Central Valley for a weekend house on the hills above El Mojón, where the lots are larger and face the sea.

Houses in Espíritu Santo:

Most homes here are family houses, on the streets around the centre and in the subdivisions built on its edges. Living in town puts the market, the banks and the schools within walking distance, and that is what a house here offers over the rural districts. Up in El Mojón the stock changes: inside the Quinta Esencia condominium, houses and wooden cabins sit on fenced hill lots of more than 2,000 square metres, some with a view of the sea. When you compare houses for sale in Esparza, ask whether the street floods in a heavy storm and whether the house stands on its own or belongs to a condominium with its own rules.

Rentals in Espíritu Santo:

Rentals in Espíritu Santo are a local, month-to-month business. Most of what is let is houses and small apartments, taken by local families and by people working in town, in Puntarenas or at the port. Anyone after a beach house for the weekend will find those down the coast in Caldera instead. If you need somewhere to live while you build in the hills, a monthly rental near the centre is the practical place to start.

Land and Lots in Espíritu Santo:

Land in town comes in small pieces. A flat lot of a few hundred square metres near the centre, with residential or commercial land use, can take a family house or a shop. In El Mojón, the Quinta Esencia condominium sells hill lots, many between 1,800 and 2,500 square metres, with water and power available, controlled access and sea views, plus a few larger parcels of up to two hectares. Smaller lots turn up there too, including one holding split into six lots of about 260 square metres. For lots for sale in Espíritu Santo de Esparza, walk the slope before you plan a house: the hill ground is irregular, and the flat part you can build on is often smaller than the lot.

Commercial Property in Espíritu Santo:

Esparza’s trade is concentrated in Espíritu Santo, so this is where shops, offices and service businesses look for premises. Properties of more than 600 square metres in the centre are offered for retail or mixed use, a short walk from the banks, supermarkets and public transport. A flat central lot with commercial land use is the other way in for a business. Get the land-use certificate before you sign, because what you can open depends on it as much as on the building.

FAQ:

• Is Espíritu Santo the same place as Esparza?

  Espíritu Santo is the district; Esparza is the canton and also the name of its town, which lies inside this district. In everyday speech people just say Esparza centro, and the postal code is 60201. Some barrios, Marañonal among them, are split between Espíritu Santo and a neighbouring district. Check the district on the survey plan rather than trusting the address you are given.

• How far is Espíritu Santo from San José and Puntarenas?

  San José is under 80 kilometres by road, and Ruta 27 is the usual way down from the Central Valley. Puntarenas city is west along the Interamericana, past Barranca, and Puerto Caldera is in the next district toward the coast. If you will commute, test the drive on a weekday morning and again on a Sunday afternoon, when beach traffic heads back to the Central Valley.

• What should I check before buying a lot in Quinta Esencia or on the hills of El Mojón?

  Start with the ground and the paperwork that divides it. Hill lots here are irregular, so have the slope and the buildable area measured before you agree a price. Where a larger holding has been split into small lots, confirm that each one has its own approved survey plan and its own registered folio, not just a line on a sketch. Get the water availability letter for that exact lot, read the condominium rules and fees, and confirm the owner and any liens in the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario).

• Does flooding affect houses in town?

  On low streets, it can. Heavy afternoon storms have flooded parts of town before, and the quebradas that cross it rise quickly in the rainy season. Ask the neighbours how the street held up in the last big storm and look at the drainage in front of the house. Check the survey plan for any watercourse along the boundary too, since you cannot build right up to its bank.

• What does daily life in Esparza centro offer?

  The basics are all in town: the municipality, banks, supermarkets, schools and the municipal market, with the farmers’ market on Fridays and Saturdays. The feast of the Virgen de la Candelaria fills the centre every 2 February. For university, most students travel to Puntarenas or El Roble.