Santa Teresa in Cóbano, Puntarenas, has quickly gained a reputation among foreigners for its laid-back environment, amazing beaches (which have excellent conditions for surfing), and its surrounding nature.

This has, of course, attracted the attention of many that choose Santa Teresa as a vacation destination, but other many looking to make real estate investments in the area; after all, this is the place that NFL quarterback Tom Brady and his wife Gisele Bundchen chose to buy a vacation home and it is one of the favorite destinations among celebrities visiting the country.

The problem is, this sudden ¨fame¨ has caused the price of the land to go north, real estate businesses are taking advantage of the fact that currently there are no controls over the land sold, foreigners pay high prices while the Government receives minimum tax amounts because the value of the properties here has not been updated in a long time. Community members report that some constructions and projects are invading parts of the beach, which is against the law, but no entity is looking into this, and the neighbors wonder how they get a construction permit from the Municipality under the circumstances.

Another concern locals share is the fact that these projects are not being overseen by any authority to confirm they are taking adequate measures to protect the environment and not cause damages in the short or long term.

The main street of Santa Teresa is in unpaved and in bad conditions; there isn’t an adequate treatment of sewage waters, this already causes bad odors in certain areas. The electricity and phone services are deficient and have a lot of interruptions.

Those that have lived here for a long time are viewing all these situations as a threat, Santa Teresa is not ready for this growth, the main charm of this area is precisely that it is hard to get here, the remote access has kept it safe and beautiful for a long time, but now, new neighbors have arrived that see this place as an unexploited goldmine, and the authorities who are supposed to be supervising this growth and guaranteeing the necessary environmental protection and that there are adequate services for everyone are not acting fast enough.