Playa Herradura, Costa Rica

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The town of Playa Herradura is located 6 kilometers north of the surf town Jacó on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.

[edit] Recent Development

In recent years, the town has seen incredible development due to the demand of tourism and american property development in Costa Rica. For example, the most prestigious supermarket chain, Automercado, just started construction on the corner of the highway of Herradura on January 18, 2006. This boom was started by the initial cornerstone development in 2000 of the Los Suenos Marriott on the beach in Playa Herradura. The Los Suenos Marriott includes an 18 hole golf course, marina and surrounding condos. Los Suenos Resort and Marina offers luxury vacation rentals.

Initially, the town of Herradura was a sleepy village on the dusty road to Jaco, when investors from the United States recognized its value in the early 1980s and started an agricultural company called Tierra Nueva SA. The goal of Tierra Nueva was to reap dividends from the planting of papayas, mangos, oranges and other fruits in the fertile valley of Herradura. Tierra Nueva owned title to 24 parcels of roughly 5 hectares each in Herradura, which were sold to different US investors mainly from Santa Barbara, California. These parcels owned by Tierra Nueva were located on the north side of the road to the beach in Herradura.

The little sleepy village has disappeared. Today, local peoples come to Playa Herradura for working in luxury hotels. They have a precarious life waiting on the rich american tourists.

[edit] Squatters

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This ownership changed hands in the early 1990s when the parcels were invaded by squatters from the town of Jaco. Due to the fact the land was relatively open, the locals from Jaco disrespected the property rights of the title holders of Tierra Nueva SA and took control of the parcels. By putting up fences and building shacks, the squatters took possession of basically the north side of Herradura valley from the highway to the beach. The lack of proper electric supply, water and general services plagues these squatted areas of Herradura, and sadly these services will not be rectified until the numerous lawsuits involving the ownership of the squatted property are resolved. In the meantime, Playa Herradura continues to develop into a tourist mecca. Squatters were removed by police June 20, 2006.