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Surface appearances are important to visitors to Punta del Este in
Uruguay, South America's equivalent of Miami or St Tropez. Many of an
increasingly international crowd are drawn to the beach resort by the
lavish and exclusive private parties thrown at the beginning of each
year. Deep pockets are important too in a town renowned as the
most expensive in the region. If not invited, some visitors are
prepared to pay small fortunes to be seen.
The dozens of
private jets that touch down each day in high season – together with
the luxury cars bought especially to parade along the beach front
drags, or the well-polished yachts at anchor – are proof of the wealth
that is drawn to this peninsula, where the placid River Plate meets the
rough surf of the Atlantic Ocean.
Although visitors to Punta del
Este are 14 per cent fewer this year because of the blockades on
bridges to Uruguay of Argentines protesting against the construction of
a $1.2bn pulp mill across the river, they are spending some 25 per cent
more, according to Uruguay's tourism ministry.
The high spending
is not only evidence of Argentina's recovery from its crushing
financial crisis at the end of 2001, but of the prosperity and
liquidity in the region in general, with increasing numbers of
Brazilians and Chileans lured by the resort's glitzy image.
Long
favoured by Argentina's rich as a refuge from the oppressive summer
heat of Buenos Aires, the beach resort is awash with actors, singers,
politicians, tycoons and models. Social butterflies from all over the
world flutter in.
This injection of liquidity into Punta del Este for a few weeks a year attracts herds of enterprising businesses.
The prices are on a par with those found in the most expensive cities in the world. Villas are rented for $100,000 a month.
"The
prices here are completely disconnected from the rest of the region.
Even this drink costs as much as you might pay in London. But hey, it's
a cool place, and the girls are far prettier," says Martin Arguedas, an
Argentine visitor
Fans of this little corner of Uruguay – which
is quite unlike the rest of this modest and unassuming country –
include Naomi Campbell, Leonardo di Caprio, Ralph Lauren, Mario Testino
and Martin Amis. This year the children of both US president George W.
Bush and Colonel Muammer Gadaffi of Libya made an appearance.
"Some
people complain that this is the most expensive place in South America
– but what do you expect when you only have a couple of weeks a year to
make enough money to last you for the rest of the year?" said a
locally-based hotel owner. He is aggravated by seasonal businesses in
Punta del Este – some 80 per cent of which are estimated to be funded
with Argentine capital – that he says are responsible for pushing up
prices.
But he readily admits that his own prices are several times more than a similar place would cost elsewhere in the region.
"We
make more money in the six weeks we spend here than we do for all the
rest of the year in Montevideo," says one shop assistant in a designer
clothes store.
His store competes with brands such as Louis Vuitton, Tommy Hilfiger and Tiffany.
Some
25 tower blocks are planned just outside central Punta del Este alone,
while the wider area under construction is almost double what it was a
year ago.
Prices of properties in prime locations have soared.
"I
always tell my customers, you don't sell your property, people buy it
from you," says Alejandra Lacroix, of estate agents La Cité. She cites
a 132 hectare property outside chic José Ignacio, which has risen from
$3,800 per hectare three years ago to $18,000 per hectare now. That is
four or five times what you might pay per hectare in the rest of
Uruguay.
"But this isn't Uruguay. It's somewhere else," says
Alejandro De Luca, of property company Antonio Mieres. The boom, he
says, has solid foundations because of the many different nationalities
demanding property – not just Argentines any more.
Source: FT.com
Copyright The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved.
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