To The Cry of Guipipia, Santa Cruz Stands Tall as the Costa Rican Folk City

On Wednesday Costa Rica celebrates the 188th anniversary of the Annexation of Guanacaste. One community in particular stands out on this day is Santa Cruz.



From Sabanero to the Vino Coyol and the "lagarteadas", the people of Santa Cruz are a vital part of the "pampa guanacasteca".

Santa Cruz is one of the richest counties in terms of natural and cultural beauty. In its boundaries are some of the Costa Rica's most popular beaches:amarindo, Flamingo, Brasilito, Potrero, Langosta, Avellanas, Junquillal and Ostional turtle nestint site.

The canton (county) was created in December 7, 1948 by Ley No. 36. Santa Cruz was one of the two villages that supported the annexation in 1824.

The area has the title of "ciudad folkl�rica de Costa Rica" (folk city in Costa Rica), this due to its wide variety of foods that consider native to the area, music and the festivities dedicated to the Christ of Esquipulas. The title of "Folk City" was granted by the president Daniel Oduber in 1974.

The �Vino de Coyol� (Coyol wine) is a tradition in this part of Guancaste, a spirit extracted from the coyol palm, that is abundant in the area. The (sap) wine is distilled from liquid that is collected on holes on the trunk of a very spiny palm.

Another tradition of Santacruce�os (residents of Santa Cruz) is �La lagarteada�, which takes place every Good Friday. For 150 years, residents get into the Tempisque river or tributaries to hunt a crocodile, which is kept in captivity for a day or two and then released.

Cultural development has been in line with the traditional way of economic growth in the area: large estates where the Sabanero, a kind of Argentine gaucho or Mexican cowboy, is the model of people's identity.

Now, besides the traditional livestock farming boom, the added the importance of the area is tourism development.