QCOSTARICA — According to data from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INEC) – National Institute of Statistics and Censuses, of the 400,000 inhabitants that the Guanacaste province houses, 26,000 are Nicaraguans and about 4,500 came from other countries.
Among that demographic group is Gabriela Celiz, an Argentine who has been in Costa Rica for four months and is now selling souvenirs on the beach of Tamarindo.
“The truth is that I love it, because the cultural exchange that is lived with people is extremely powerful, because one absorbs all that and also delivers,” she assured Calle 7 Informativo (Teletica).
Another example is Angela Valencia, a Venezuelan, who has lived in Costa Rica for 10 years and has lived in Tamarindo for the last seven. She settled on this popular Guanacaste beach town, from where she operates an arepas stand.
“Personally, both for me and for my family, living here in Guanacaste has made us feel incredible, because here you wake up among the waves, nature, there is no noise (pollution), and here you have more business possibilities,” says Valencia.
A similar story is lived by Leandro Manzur, another Argentine who came to Costa Rica to stay.
“I come from a country where the economic situation is highly variable. Costa Rica is very stable, the workers here are super friendly and it is quite nice to work here,” Manzur told Calle 7 Informativo.
The housing complexes and gastronomy are two sources of employment that attract the attention of foreigners to settle in Guanacaste, a region that since 1970 has undergone considerable changes after going from being a cattle province to becoming an area where tourism represents one of the main economic strengths.
“In the coastal areas, obviously, there is a cultural transformation, because there people try to master a second language, English, or a third language. In fact, there are some investors who settle on the coastline and, from there, develop their businesses,” explains Edgar Solano, an historian.
In the coastal areas, about 85% of the businesses are owned by foreigners, many of whom combine their time in Costa Rica with trips to their countries of origin.
Find more details in the attached video.