Santa Anita Community, La Unión: Ecotourism with a Future
By María Recinos/ Translated by Jonathan Lott
Santa Anita, La Unión, is a community built on community organization, history, and a vision for the future. It is located at the mouth of the Pacific coast, 48 kilometers from Quetzaltenango and 217 kilometers from Guatemala City. It was founded by 35 families of former combatants of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG), the majority of whom are of Mam descent from the department of San Marcos. This community was established as part of the civil reintegration process following the signing of the Peace Accords in Guatemala in 1996.
From its inception, the families organized themselves and, together with the Guillermo Toriello Foundation, managed to obtain a loan to acquire a 1,500 cuerdas coffee farm, for a value of Q2,062,000. In 1998, they formally established themselves as the Santa Anita La Unión Mayan Small Farmers Association, made up of 47 families. Among them, the Board of Directors is composed of men and women. The purpose of the association is to manage the farm, settle their purchase debt, and continue building ecotourism as an alternative and sustainable development model.
The community’s efforts and actions have been remarkable. In addition to working on the coffee plantations, they also secured support from the Dutch Embassy. The families distributed land for housing, set up the streets, installed drainage systems, erected solar panels for public lighting, and built the area’s first primary school. Later, basic and advanced education levels were added, open to children and young people from neighboring communities, consolidating Santa Anita as an educational model accessible to all.
In recent years, due to the fall in international coffee prices, the community has launched an ecotourism project as a viable and sustainable alternative to generate income and strengthen local development. This project has generated interest among national and international visitors to learn about the history of former combatants of the armed conflict, an important event in the history of Guatemala and the culture of the community.
Tourism in Santa Anita has taken shape with one of its main tourist attractions: its history. The Museum of the Fallen has been built, which serves as a memorial to the internal armed conflict and a tribute to the fallen comrades. With the support of volunteers, they created an illustrated book that captures the life stories of the survivors, now available for sale.
The community offers various tourist activities: they have a coffee processing and roasting area, and visitors can participate in the agricultural activity through a tour of the coffee plantations, where they can learn about the entire process up close, from cultivation to preparation. Tourists are welcomed at the manor house, where they provide lodging and meals, participate in talks and activities with young people, and take part in guided tours.
Among the natural attractions, a waterfall stands out, located within the farm, surrounded by a warm subtropical humid forest, home to tree species such as palo blanco (Tabebuia donnell-smithii), cedar (Cedrela odorata), guanacaste (Enterolobium cyclocarpum), and Inga spp., which provide shade for the main crop: coffee. You can also enjoy its temperate climate, lush natural surroundings, and panoramic views. Although deforestation has affected the region, large areas of forest remain in Santa Anita, providing refuge for local wildlife.
Santa Anita also faces challenges: ongoing debt, improving tourism infrastructure, falling coffee prices, climate change that could affect crops, natural disasters, and more. The community knows they have a long road ahead and that it has not been, nor will it be, easy. However, they have found in ecotourism an alternative and sustainable development model, which is not only consolidating as a way to improve their living conditions, but also contributes to the protection, preservation, and respect for nature and the land.
Santa Anita is committed to its ecotourism project to achieve economic development through community organization, which consolidates its role as a strength in achieving a more responsible, sustainable, and conscious community.
