24/10/2025

LYFE FRIDAY | OCT 24, 2025

23

A BOVE the pine forests and dunes that stretch along the nearly deserted beaches of southwestern Portugal, cranes rise from building sites soon to be luxury hotels – a sign of the region’s contentious transformation into a playground for the wealthy. Rapid development in the coastal region of Comporta has alarmed locals and environmentalists, who fear a repeat of the unchecked growth seen in Portugal’s southernmost Algarve province, long a package holiday destination. Dubbed “the new Portuguese Riviera”, Comporta has drawn high-profile visitors including Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman and Princess Caroline of Monaco. Real estate consultancy Knight Frank lists the region, located about an hour’s drive south of Lisbon, among the five most sought-after luxury residential markets worldwide. “Comporta appeals to a wealthy clientele seeking nature, privacy and wellness,” the company wrote in a recent report. French designer Christian Louboutin was among the first international figures to discover Comporta’s charm, opening a hotel in Melides, a small village of whitewashed houses with blue doors. Princess Eugenie, whose uncle is Britain’s head of state King Charles III, splits her time between London and Comporta, drawn by the region’s relaxed lifestyle. “I can go to the supermarket in sportswear, my hair in disarray and nobody cares,” she told the podcast Table and Manners in 2023. that development projects threaten the region’s unique mix of dunes, pine forests, gnarled cork trees and an endless patchwork of rice fields. Campaign group Dunas Livres (Free Dunes) says eight “mega-projects” are under development, each covering hundreds of hectares, which will increase water consumption in a region already threatened by drought. “These hotel complexes, with golf courses, swimming pools and a very large number of tourist beds, obviously consume a lot of water. Comporta, a true natural treasure, is ‘Overrun by tourism’ Environmentalists warn THE Louvre museum in Paris reopened its doors to visitors on Wednesday, three days after it had been shuttered over the theft of precious royal jewellery. From 9am, the museum’s usual opening time, the first visitors began entering the world-famous institution, though the museum said the Apollo Gallery, where the theft occurred, remains closed. The audacious daylight robbery last Sunday shortly after the museum opened caused estimated losses of around €88 million (RM431.6 million), a sum the Paris prosecutor called “unparalleled” but incomparable to the loss to France’s historical heritage. Scores of investigators are looking for the culprits, working on the theory that it was an organised crime group that clambered up a ladder on a truck to break into the museum, then dropped a diamond

A view of the pool at the hotel Vermelho, owned by French designer Louboutin.

A view of the hotel Sublime in Comporta.

Unspoilt corner of Portugal fears arrival of high-end tourism

about the changes. Some have sold small properties for staggering sums, while others worry that skyrocketing real estate prices are disrupting their way of life or forcing them out. A small house worth €20,000 (RM98,000) two decades ago is now valued at one million euros, said Jacinto Ventura, a farmer and president of a local association in Melides. “This real estate bubble, with no clear end in sight, has driven prices into a frenzy. And this frenzy has forced a large portion of the population to move away,” he said. Residents also complain about restricted access to public beaches and rising costs in local shops since the arrival of wealthy visitors. While some are leaving the area, others are trying to hold on. Belinda Sobral, 42, a former engineer who reopened her grandparents’ tavern in the nearby town of Grandola, said the problem is not tourism itself, but the pace of development. “It has been too fast, without planning or respect for the locals. “I want to preserve the identity of this place. Without memory, Comporta will become another Ibiza – a resort like so many others,” the mother of two said. – AFP

o Wealthy travellers flock to luxury hotels on picturesque coast

Tourists ride horses across rice paddies with sand dunes and pine trees visible in the background in Comporta, southwestern Portugal. – ALL PICS FROM AFP

complexes and golf courses. Discovery Land is behind the CostaTerra Golf and Ocean Club, planned to feature nearly 300 luxury villas. ‘Frenzy’ Local residents have mixed feelings

Comporta estate but sold large parcels to developers following the collapse of their banking empire. Since then, investors including French developer Claude Berda’s Vanguard Properties and US-based Discovery Land Company have launched private residences, hotel

being overrun by tourism,” Catarina Rosa, a biologist with the group, said. The transformation traces back to the collapse of the Espirito Santo bank during the 2011 debt crisis. The Espirito Santo family were once the sole owners of the 12,000-hectare Herdade da

France’s Louvre reopens for first time after Hollywood-style jewel heist studded crown as they fled.

museum, last year it welcomed nine million people to its extensive hallways and galleries. The theft reignited a row over the lack of security in French museums, after two other institutions were hit last month. The investigation “is progressing”, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez recently told local media, saying “more than a hundred investigators” had been mobilised. “I have full confidence, that’s for sure, that we will find the perpetrators,” he said. Museum director Laurence des Cars appeared before the Senate’s culture committee. Des Cars, who became the first woman to run the Louvre in 2021, was questioned about security at the Apollo Gallery, which houses the royal collection of gems. The museum recently hit back at

They made off with eight priceless pieces, including an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave his wife Empress Marie-Louise and a diadem that once belonged to the Empress Eugenie, which is dotted with nearly 2,000 diamonds. Disappointed tourists were turned away at the entrance of the Louvre in the heart of Paris the day after the theft, and it remained closed on Tuesday as per its regular schedule. But on Wednesday, it welcomed them again. “We were really hoping it would be open. We had booked for today, and we wouldn’t have had another chance to come,” said one visitor, Fanny, who travelled from the south of the country with her daughter. The world’s most visited

People queue in the Louvre pyramid courtyard.

criticism that the display cases protecting the stolen jewellery were fragile, saying they were

installed in 2019 and “represented a considerable improvement in terms of security”. – AFP