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La Villa de los Santos, Panama For Affordable Coastal Countryside

The Best Of Panamanian Country Life (On As Little As US$700 Per Month)

Kathleen Peddicord by Kathleen Peddicord
Oct 22, 2017
in Panama, Retirement/Living
0
A beautiful home in La Villa de los Santos, Panama
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Back in Panama , where our Live and Invest Overseas team is headquartered, the countdown is on to November, the Mes de la Patria.

November is the month when Panamanians celebrate their country’s road to becoming the republic it is today… with a total of five holidays!

Nov. 3 is the first of Panama’s two independence days, this one remembering the break from Colombia in 1903.

This is followed by Flag Day on Nov. 4… which is followed by Colon Day on Nov. 5. That last is like Colombus Day in the United States, remembering Christopher’s arrival in the New World.

Then comes the Primer Grito de la Independencia on Nov. 10. In English this is the First Cry For Independence. It is the starting point in Panama’s history as an independent nation, and it took place in the village of La Villa de Los Santos on the eastern coast of Panama’s Azuero Peninsula. On this day in 1821, the people of Los Santos wrote a letter to Simón Bolívar complaining about the Spanish and asking for some revolutionary assistance.

Eighteen days later, on Nov. 28, the country officially declared its independence from Spain. Needing a protector to help face whatever conflict might follow, the fledgling country aligned itself with Bolívar as part of the Gran Colombia. That didn’t work out so well from Panama’s point of view. Thus, the second declaration of independence about 80 years later.

Understandably, thanks to its place in the country’s history, La Villa de los Santos holds a sentimental spot in the heart of every Panamanian. Few outside the country, though, have heard of it. In this part of this country—the eastern coast of the Azuero Peninsula—Pedasí, Las Tablas, and Chitré get all the attention.

Depending what kind of lifestyle you’re looking for, La Villa, as it’s known among the locals, could top them all.

La Villa was home to the oldest civilizations in Panama almost 11,000 years ago. The Smithsonian Institute manages an archeological dig here. About 500 years ago, the Spanish Conquistadors arrived on the scene… and now you know the rest of that story.

La Villa, with its long and noteworthy history, is today a sleepy town that has managed to retain its authentic Panamanian charm. Unlike Pedasí and Las Tablas, for example, farther south along this Azuero coastline, La Villa has no established community of expats or foreign retirees. Living in La Villa, your neighbors would be Panamanians, your way of life local.

And, as a result, your cost of living would be exceedingly affordable. This is one of La Villa’s biggest advantages over other retirement lifestyle options in this country. La Villa is cheap the way most of Panama used to be cheap.

Meantime, you’re still in Panama, enjoying the residency, tax, and other benefits, and, when you wanted a dose of more developed-world living, you could travel the half-hour south to Pedasí or four hours up the peninsula and then east along the Pan-American Highway to Panama City. Comfortable air-conditioned buses service the route daily.

Not much goes on in La Villa most of the year. Then, in November, businesses close, the streets are closed to traffic, and people from across the country make their way here to celebrate their country’s heritage. The town’s year-round population of 9,000 explodes to many multiples of that. Party-goers fill the central square and the surrounding neighborhoods.

After the Mes de la Patria celebrations, La Villa goes to sleep again until April, when it reawakens for the annual Azuero Fair. As during the month of independence, La Villa’s population expands into the hundreds of thousands for this once-a-year agricultural festival. It’s like a state fair in the Midwest, with livestock exhibits, roping competitions, games, rides, and live music. Farmers and ranchers come to shop for farm equipment, cattle, seeds, plants, even boots and belt buckles. It wouldn’t be a party in Panama without drinking and dancing in the streets, so there’s plenty of that, as well.

Outside those two festival months, life in La Villa is simple and quiet. This is Panamanian country living without any frills. It’s not for everyone, but it’d be hard to imagine a sweeter, safer lifestyle… or one more affordable. A couple could live in La Villa on as little as US$700 per month. The cost of living is so low because rents are low, you can live here without owning a car, and food is local, organic, and a bargain. Otherwise, frankly, there just isn’t much to spend money on.

Change is coming, though, as this Panamanian coastal region attracts ever more attention. La Villa still has no real estate agency; however, five housing developments are under construction, and a small mall has opened.

Meantime, La Villa remains one of the friendliest and most affordable spots in all Panama.

Kathleen Peddicord

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Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord has covered the live, retire, and do business overseas beat for more than 30 years and is considered the world's foremost authority on these subjects. She has traveled to more than 75 countries, invested in real estate in 21, established businesses in 7, renovated historic properties in 6, and educated her children in 4.

Kathleen has moved children, staff, enterprises, household goods, and pets across three continents, from the East Coast of the United States to Waterford, Ireland... then to Paris, France... next to Panama City, where she has based her Live and Invest Overseas business. Most recently, Kathleen and her husband Lief Simon are dividing their time between Panama and Paris.

Kathleen was a partner with Agora Publishing’s International Living group for 23 years. In that capacity, she opened her first office overseas, in Waterford, Ireland, where she managed a staff of up to 30 employees for more than 10 years. Kathleen also opened, staffed, and operated International Living publishing and real estate marketing offices in Panama City, Panama; Granada, Nicaragua; Roatan, Honduras; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Paris, France.

Kathleen moved on from her role with Agora in 2007 and launched her Live and Invest Overseas group in 2008. In the years since, she has built Live and Invest Overseas into a successful, recognized, and respected multi-million-dollar business that employs a staff of 35 in Panama City and dozens of writers and other resources around the world.

Kathleen has been quoted by The New York Times, Money magazine, MSNBC, Yahoo Finance, the AARP, and beyond. She has appeared often on radio and television (including Bloomberg and CNBC) and speaks regularly on topics to do with living, retiring, investing, and doing business around the world.

In addition to her own daily e-letter, the Overseas Opportunity Letter, with a circulation of more than 300,000 readers, Kathleen writes regularly for U.S. News & World Report and Forbes.

Her newest book, "How to Retire Overseas: Everything You Need to Know to Live Well (for Less) Abroad," published by Penguin Random House, is the culmination of decades of personal experience living and investing around the world.

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