El General

About El General:

El General covers 77 km² east of San Isidro de El General, between the Río Peñas Blancas on its eastern edge and the Quebrada La Hermosa on its western one, with the Talamanca foothills and Chirripó National Park rising behind. From the city you head south on the Interamericana toward Buenos Aires and turn off at the traffic police post in Los Chiles. A paved road takes you to General Viejo, the district seat, in less than half an hour, and the same road carries on to Quizarrá. Buses run regularly from San Isidro, and national routes 321, 322 and 326 cross the district. Banks, the hospital and the big supermarkets are all back in town, so plan on that drive.

This is the oldest settled corner of the canton. Manuel Estrada is remembered as the first colonist, in 1870, followed by families from Los Santos who came for the flat, fertile riverbank soil, and Pérez Zeledón’s first school opened in General Viejo in 1905. El General was already a district of Dota in 1925 and became one of the four founding districts of Pérez Zeledón in 1931. Cane, coffee and cattle still pay the bills. In Peñas Blancas, CoopeAgri’s Ingenio El General Milton Fonseca has milled sugar since 1974, takes in almost all the cane grown in the canton and has capacity for more than 300,000 tonnes a year, while family trapiches nearby still boil cane juice into tapa de dulce. General Viejo has the San Miguel Arcángel parish, a primary school, a clinic, an EBAIS and the Colegio Técnico Profesional de General Viejo, which trains students for farm work.

Along the rivers the valley floor is flat or gently rolling, which is why cane took over here and why some building lots in Peñas Blancas are dead level. The land rises to the east. Santa Elena sits at a little over 800 metres, and around Las Nubes, near 1,000 metres, old pasture has been left to grow back into cloud forest. Two protected sites give the district its name among birders: Los Cusingos, the 50-hectare refuge on the Quizarrá farm where ornithologist Alexander Skutch settled in 1941, now run by the Centro Científico Tropical, and the 145-hectare Las Nubes forest that York University has used as an eco-campus since 1998. Both belong to the Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor, which ties forest patches and working farms to the Talamanca range. Some farm roads are still gravel, and the September and October rains make them heavy going.

Peñas Blancas is the largest community, ahead of General Viejo, and the district grew from 6,373 people in 2011 to 7,282 in 2022. Most residents are farming families and people who work in San Isidro but prefer the quiet. In recent years the district has also drawn families from abroad. RISE, a 400-acre residential community above Santa Elena with a Waldorf-inspired school, now counts more than forty resident families from over twenty countries. Other buyers come for the birdlife and the view of Chirripó and pick up a few hectares in Quizarrá or Santa Elena with a house already standing.

Houses in El General:

Houses here come with land around them. In General Viejo the usual home is a concrete family house on a village street such as Calle Los Chacones, and some properties put two houses on one lot, a main home plus a second one for relatives or a tenant. Higher up, in Santa Elena and Quizarrá, you find newer hillside houses with views across the valley, some only a few years old, and small farms of a couple of hectares with a main house, a second residence and fruit trees. A handful are built to run off-grid. For country homes in Pérez Zeledón with room to garden, this side of the valley is where to look.

Land and Lots in El General:

Most of what changes hands is land. In Barrio San Martín, Peñas Blancas, flat lots of about 750 m² with water and power face a paved road, with a gravel road behind them toward Santa Elena. Santa Elena has lots of 1,000 to 2,000 m² with mountain views, some fronting the Río Peñas Blancas, plus larger forested parcels that already have a cabin on them. In Quizarrá the San Bernina project sells one-hectare lots on a quiet secondary road, nearly flat and with water and electricity available, and parcels of two hectares and more turn up for buyers who want to plant or subdivide. Walk the boundary and drive the access before you weigh the price.

New Developments in El General:

RISE is the district’s one large planned project. It spreads over 400 acres above Santa Elena with two kilometres of river, and its lots for sale in Pérez Zeledón run from half an acre to four acres, facing the mountains or the valley, many with a creek along the back. Residents share the school, a clubhouse and town square, and Kinkára, a restaurant and visitor hub on the property; there is also a private airstrip. You can buy a bare lot or choose one of the project’s house designs. Smaller gated projects exist as well, such as Vistas del Chirripó in Santa Elena, run by a homeowners’ association. In any project, ask which roads, water connections and shared areas are finished and which are still on the plan.

FAQ:

• Is El General the same place as San Isidro de El General?

  No. El General is district 02 of Pérez Zeledón, with General Viejo as its seat and postal code 11902. San Isidro is district 01 and took its surname from the valley, which is why the two names get mixed up. Your deed and cadastral plan will say El General if the property is out here.

• Is a property in Quizarrá in El General or in Cajón?

  It can be either. Quizarrá is split between El General and Cajón, and so are Pinar del Río, Montecarlo and La Arepa. Check the district on the cadastral plan and on the property’s record in the Registro Nacional, because it decides which municipal valuation zone and which water board apply.

• Can I build on land inside the Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor?

  The corridor is a conservation network, not a ban on building. What limits you is the Forestry Law: standing forest cannot be cleared to change the land use, and rivers and streams carry protection strips on both banks. On a wooded lot or one fronting the Peñas Blancas, work out the buildable area after those strips and ask the municipality for a land-use certificate before you sign.

• How do rural lots here get water?

  Through community water boards. The ASADA General Viejo serves the district seat, and the ASADA Santa Elena y Quizarrá draws on the Río Peñas Blancas. Get a written water availability letter from the board for that exact lot, since you will need it for a building permit.

• Can I stay in El General before I buy?

  Yes, for short stays. Villa Tica, beside the Las Nubes forest, has a cabin for up to six, and Kinkára receives visitors at RISE. For a longer lease most people rent in San Isidro or Daniel Flores and drive out to see land.