Pedro de Alvarado is Guatemala’s crossing into El Salvador on the CA-2 Oriente: SAT’s customs post is in Ciudad Pedro de Alvarado, municipality of Moyuta, Jutiapa, and La Hachadura, in Ahuachapán, faces it across the Río Paz. SAT’s Guatemalan lane, El Salvador’s migration and El Salvador’s customs all list 24-hour service here (as they do at San Cristóbal), and SAT’s administrative desk stays open until 22:00 on weekdays, later than at the other three SAT posts on this border. It is also the crossing where a new four-lane bridge stands finished and unused. Everything below was read on 1 October 2026 unless dated otherwise.

Quick summary

  • Where: SAT’s customs post is at Km 166 of the CA-2 Oriente, Ciudad Pedro de Alvarado, Moyuta, Jutiapa. IGM’s delegations map (2020 file, archived October 2022) gives 166 km, 3:00 hours by road from Guatemala City; El Salvador puts La Hachadura 126 km from San Salvador.
  • Hours: SAT operative lane 24 hours; El Salvador’s migration 24/7 and customs 24 hours at La Hachadura. IGM publishes no hours.
  • Desk: SAT’s administrative area works Monday to Friday, 08:00-22:00, and not at weekends.
  • Vehicles: SAT lists goods clearance only here, no tourist permits.
  • Bridge: the new Arce bridge over the Río Paz was finished in late 2025 but was not in service as of 12 June 2026.
  • Buses: no operator timetable we read names this crossing.

Who is open when

Customs postWhere it isHours, as SAT publishes them
Aduana Pedro de Alvarado
Región Sur		Kilómetro 166 de la Carretera Centroamericana número CA-2 Or. Ciudad Pedro de Alvarado, Municipio de Moyuta, Departamento de Jutiapa. Tel. (502) 23297070 Ext. 6200 al 6205.
Services: Despacho de mercancías (importación, exportación y tránsito).		En el área administrativa: de lunes a viernes, de 08:00 a 22:00 horas.
En el área operativa: de lunes a domingo, las 24 horas.

Source: SAT, Ubicación y horario de Aduanas · read by our collector on 2026-10-01 (27 customs posts in the file). Hours are quoted in Spanish exactly as SAT publishes them. SAT publishes no queue or wait time, and neither does IGM.

OfficeAgencyPublished hours
Pedro de Alvarado customs, operative area (Guatemala)SATMonday to Sunday, 24 hours
Pedro de Alvarado customs, administrative areaSATMonday to Friday, 08:00-22:00
Pedro de Alvarado migration delegationIGMNo hours published
La Hachadura migrationDGME (El Salvador)24/7
La Hachadura customs, Caserío Puente Arce, Cantón La Hachadura, Ahuachapán (tel. 2244-6442)DGA (El Salvador)Monday to Sunday, 24 hours

Compare Valle Nuevo / Las Chinamas, where El Salvador’s customs office lists 05:00 to midnight: at La Hachadura the Salvadoran customs listing has no gap. The Guatemalan customs post answers on SAT’s switchboard, (502) 2329-7070, extensions 6200 to 6205.

The desk matters on a Saturday. If your crossing needs an office rather than the lane, SAT’s administrative area here works until 22:00 Monday to Friday and lists no Saturday or Sunday hours.

Driving across

  • No tourist vehicle permit listed. SAT’s directory gives Pedro de Alvarado’s services as importación, exportación y tránsito of goods. The two SAT posts on this border that list tourist permits are Valle Nuevo and La Ermita (Anguiatú). If you are bringing a foreign-plated car into Guatemala, read our foreign-plated vehicle guide and confirm with SAT where the permit is issued before choosing this crossing.
  • UK travel advice for El Salvador (updated 17 June 2026) asks drivers to take particular care going to or from the border with Guatemala, reporting violent attacks on vehicles, particularly on the Guatemalan side, with criminals often targeting cars on Salvadoran plates, and advises crossing in the morning so you reach your destination before dark.

The bridge over the Río Paz

The crossing runs over the Río Paz. Prensa Libre reported on 12 June 2026 that:

  • El Salvador’s government finished the main works of the new General José Manuel Arce binational bridge at the end of 2025. Citing official Salvadoran information, the paper gives it as 173 metres long with four lanes, shoulders, pavements and drainage, plus about 1.4 km of paved access roads. It is to replace the existing border bridge, which has been affected by the river’s floods in the rainy season.
  • It had not entered service, because the four-lane connection to the CA-2 Oriente on the Guatemalan side did not exist. A roundabout had been built; according to infrastructure analyst Delfino Mendoza, what remained was about one kilometre between that roundabout and the CA-2, including widening the two-lane Jorge de Alvarado bridge. A temporary Bailey bridge alongside the existing one was considered and not installed.
  • A bypass around Ciudad Pedro de Alvarado for heavy traffic was proposed but would need land, engineering studies and money.

The Municipalidad de Moyuta had published the project in November 2022 as the bridge for the frontera La Hachadura – Pedro de Alvarado. We found no report of the bridge opening after 12 June 2026 (searched 1 October 2026), so plan on the existing bridge.

How busy it is

IGM’s holiday bulletins name Pedro de Alvarado among its high-traffic posts. In April 2025 it put Pedro de Alvarado and Valle Nuevo together as puntos de alta afluencia and reminded travellers that a valid passport or a Guatemalan DPI is indispensable for travel on to El Salvador. In April 2022 it reported increased movement here and at San Cristóbal. IGM publishes no separate total for Pedro de Alvarado in the bulletins we hold; the record is on border wait-times.

Getting there without a car

No international bus operator we read names this crossing: Tica Bus and Transporte del Sol name Valle Nuevo / Las Chinamas, and Pullmantur and Comfort Lines name none (see Guatemala City to San Salvador). Guatemala Transportation’s 05:00 Antigua shuttle to El Tunco, El Zonte and the other Salvadoran beaches (USD 50) does not say which border it uses; see Antigua to El Tunco. We found no operator page with a Guatemala City to Pedro de Alvarado timetable.

What is not published

  • Crossing or queue times on either side.
  • IGM’s hours for its Pedro de Alvarado delegation.
  • An opening date for the Arce bridge.
  • A bus timetable to the border on any operator page we read.

Sources