How the Comunas Work

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🤝 How the Comunas Work

Most villages on the Ruta del Spondylus aren't ordinary towns — they're comunas: ancestral communities that own their land together and choose their own council every year.

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Drive north from Santa Elena and almost every village you pass — San Pablo, Palmar, Ayangue, Valdivia, Montañita, Olón — is a comuna. Comunas are ancestral communities recognised by Ecuadorian law since 1937. They hold their land collectively, elect their own council, the cabildo, every year, and look after much of what happens in the village. Understanding how they work explains a lot about life on the coast: who to ask, how land changes hands, and why the water in your tap may come from a community well.

At a glance
Legal basis	Ley de Organización y Régimen de las Comunas (1937) and the Constitution of 2008
How many	About 68 in Santa Elena province (the plans count 68 or 69)
How much land	Around 93% of the province's territory
Run by	A cabildo of five members, elected every year by the comuna's members (comuneros)
On the Ruta	Mostly in the parishes of Colonche and Manglaralto, Santa Elena canton

Where the comunas come from

The comunas trace their roots to the peoples who lived on this coast for thousands of years — the Las Vegas and Valdivia cultures, the village at Real Alto and, later, the Huancavilca. In colonial times their descendants were grouped into Indigenous reducciones and resguardos but kept control of their territories. In 1937 Ecuador's Ley de Organización y Régimen de las Comunas gave them legal recognition, and most of the province's comunas are still registered under that law.

The Federation of Comunas has put it simply: they are determined "to defend and develop the cultural identity and territorial heritage left by our ancestors".

Who runs what on the Ruta

Several layers of government overlap along the coast road. From the biggest to the smallest:

The road itself — the E-15 is a national highway.
The Province (Gobierno Provincial de Santa Elena, the Prefectura) — rural roads, irrigation and big water projects.
The canton — almost all of the Ruta in this province belongs to the Municipality of Santa Elena: rubbish collection, building permits, the property register and most local regulations.
The parish — each rural parish has an elected board (GAD parroquial or junta parroquial). On the Ruta these are Colonche (from Monteverde and Jambelí up to Ayangue) and Manglaralto (from San Pedro and Valdivia up to La Entrada). San Pablo and Capaes belong to the urban parish of Santa Elena.
The comuna — the cabildo looks after the community's land, local projects, festivals and, in many villages, community-run attractions.
Water boards (juntas de agua) — many villages run their own drinking water (see below).

See Government Entities for the full list of who does what on the peninsula.

Did you know…?

🏄 …Montañita, Ecuador's most famous surf town, is legally a comuna — and so are Olón, Ayangue and Valdivia?

Discover Montañita →

The cabildo

Every comuna is governed by its general assembly — all registered members, the comuneros — and by the cabildo, a council of five: a president, vice-president, treasurer, síndico (who looks after legal matters) and secretary. The assembly elects a new cabildo every year.

The cabildo is the first place to ask about anything that happens on comuna land: using a plot, a community event, filming, a beach festival or a local project. It is also who other levels of government work with — the provincial plan calls the comunas "the basic territorial units" for planning.

Because the board changes every year, agreements can change too. The provincial plan notes that outsiders sometimes distrust decisions made by boards that change annually — another reason to get anything important in writing, and to check it with the next cabildo.

Comuna land

Comuna land belongs to the community as a whole. Ecuador's Constitution protects communal land: it cannot be sold, divided or seized, and the 1998 Constitution already banned transferring it. Members receive the right to use a plot, not a title deed.

In practice, plots do change hands. The usual route is a cesión de derechos de posesión — a transfer of the right to occupy the land — signed at a notary, sometimes followed by a court order confirming possession. The provincial plan is frank about the results: illegal sales and land conflicts still happen, and because communal land can't be used as a guarantee, comuneros struggle to get bank loans.

If you are thinking of buying or renting on the Ruta:

Find out whether the land is comuna land or titled private property — check with the Municipality's property register and with the cabildo.
Get advice from an Ecuadorian lawyer who knows comuna land before you pay anything.
Remember the coast also has its own building limits — see Coastal Zone Restrictions.

More in Buying Process Ecuador and Property Laws.

Water: run by the community

The peninsula's public water company, Aguapen, reaches the bigger towns and the south of the Ruta, but much of the north coast is supplied by community water boards that pump groundwater from wells:

Junta Regional de Olón — Olón, Curía, San José, Las Núñez and La Entrada
Junta Regional de Manglaralto — Montañita, Río Chico, Cadeate, San Antonio, Libertador Bolívar and Manglaralto
Junta Regional de Valdivia — San Pedro, Valdivia, Sinchal, Barcelona and Carrizal
Dos Mangas has its own board

Inland, Colonche and Chanduy have their own boards and committees too. Across the province the plan counts four regional boards, 23 water boards and 21 water committees. More in Water Supply on the Peninsula.

Forests, mangroves and community tourism

About 28,000 hectares of comuna land have joined the national Socio Bosque programme, which pays communities to protect their forest. In Santa Elena canton the programme covers 15 comunas in four parishes — including the cloud forest at Loma Alta.
In 2024 the Municipality declared the mangrove of Manglaralto parish a protected area of municipal interest.
Many attractions are run by the comuna itself. At Sacachún the cabildo looks after the stone figure of San Biritute; at Real Alto the cabildo runs the guided visits. Entry is free and they rely on visitors' donations — so leave something.
Comunas such as Dos Mangas and Palmar offer community-run tours, from forest walks to mangrove kayaking.

Being a good visitor

Ask the cabildo first for anything beyond a normal visit: camping, events, filming or using community land.
Pay community guides and donations — this money keeps the sites open.
Join in if you're invited: each comuna has its patron-saint fiesta, and mingas (community work days) are part of village life.
Remember you're in someone's home. Beaches are public, but the villages behind them are tight-knit communities.

Comunas along the Ruta

From south to north (Santa Elena canton):

Santa Elena (urban parish): San Pablo
Colonche parish: Jambelí, Palmar, Ayangue — and inland comunas such as Loma Alta, Febres Cordero and Manantial de Guangala
Manglaralto parish: San Pedro, Valdivia, Sinchal, Barcelona, Libertador Bolívar (Atravezado), San Antonio, Cadeate, Montañita, Olón, Curía, San José, San Francisco de Las Núñez, La Entrada — and inland Dos Mangas, Pajiza, Río Seco and Sitio Nuevo

Inland and in the south, the canton has more comunas in Chanduy, Simón Bolívar, Atahualpa and Ancón parishes — for example Sacachún, Prosperidad and El Tambo.