In 2019, the last pre-pandemic summer, the car park under the fortress of the Principality housed an average of 2.300 buses a day, mostly filled by tourists on cruises. Today, in the week of August 81th, reports "Monaco-Matin" the figure has dropped to only XNUMX coaches, lost in the spaces excavated under the Rocher, the heart of the Principality. There is an air of crisis for mass tourism: a few onlookers await the changing of the guard in front of the palace where Prince Albert resides (together with Princess Charlize who, an official note warned the other day, will soon undergo surgery in the native of South Africa). Almost deserted are the souvenir shops full of Grand Prix gadgets which also promise discounts and promotions. Here, as is also happening in Venice, the coup de grace to hit and run tourism came with the ban on disembarking for cruises, decided a year ago to prevent the contagion of the pandemic.
But there is certainly no air of crisis at the moment Yacht Club chaired by Pierre CasiraghiCaroline's son. And not just because the richest but also controversial member of the club, the Russian billionaire Dimitri Riboboblev (the Cyprus banker who sold Kylian Mbappé but also Leonardo's Salvator Mundi) has just won the Rolex Club with the fastest crossing of the Channel . From the windows of the bar, a faithful reproduction of the legendary interiors of Riva boats, even in these days it is possible to follow the works for the "island on the water" which will be completed by the end of 2024, snatching from the sea a new, extremely precious strip of land: six hectares of greenery redesigned by the talent of Renzo Piano who conceived the extension of the city to the sea, including shops and a new via Montenapoleone, set between two protected marine areas: the red coral reserve and Larvotto, the The only public beach in the Principality, revisited by the Genoese architect: 15 square meters including areas covered and shaded by Mediterranean pine trees, a cycle path and a children's playground, plus 10.000 square meters of contemporary architecture, including a retractable glass facade open to the sea, dedicated to restaurants, cafes and shops.
The redevelopment project also extends to the sea, with the creation of breakwaters between the existing breakwaters to better protect the beach from storm surges. A great work in which there is a lot of made in Italy, not least the four panoramic lifts in laminated glass, and the two service systems for accessing the car parks, "made by Maspero of Appiano Gentile, world leader with its 110 employees in the sector of special lifts, which has developed paints and steels capable of withstanding the marine environment.
It's a big construction site the oasis of billionaires in the heart of the Côte d'Azur. As desired by the prince who, in the face of the pandemic, has reduced his salary by 40%, has endorsed a drastic reorganization of the typical industries of the Principality, from the Casino to the Société de Bains, but has not slowed down, if anything accelerated the transition to Monte Carlo of the 800st century, in line with the common thread of the history of the Grimaldis. In the XNUMXs the Principality was able to intercept the gaming industry of aristocrats and bourgeois transported to the seashore by the new railways also to attend Diaghilev's Russian ballets. After the war, the charm of Grace Kelly contributed to guaranteeing the discreet charm of the destination rediscovered by Alfred Hitchcock.
Today Prince Albert is designing a more refined Dubai, equipped for business (private banking and in the family office) in line with the needs of sustainable luxury, starting with the sport that has elected the Principality as a retreat. For tax reasons, of course, but not only. Few places guarantee as much privacy and security. Nobody disturbs Lukaku, who arrived here before Chelsea's appeal. And the Principality's police, almost omnipresent thanks also to the network of cameras, averts the risk of home robberies, the ones that have suffered almost all the stars of Paris Saint Germain in the heart of tout Paris. None of the 56 (fifty-six, a record for the 38 inhabitants) professional cyclists residing in the Principality run the risk of running into a bicycle thief. Or tennis rackets, another specialty of the place that hosts practically all the champions, with the exception of Federer and Nadal. All or almost all for rent because in Montecarlo not only are the prices prohibitive, but the offer is limited: the Pastor group, the leading operator in the Principality which controls one house out of three, does not sell, but is content with thrilling rents.
Traveling around the world between tournaments and post-Olympic exhibitions, they are certainly not the protagonists of the industrious summer of Monte Carlo where, in place of the Red Cross Ball, made impossible by Covid -19, a concert by Jamie Collum, English jazz pop pianist. The Sporting Club program includes an evening with the Gipsy Kings plus another with Sister Sledge. Dinner at the Café de Paris, always extraordinary and final, a passage to the Casino. Then, for those who want or can, to Flavio Briatore's Billionaire, in the midst of vacationers landed from Sanremo to experience the thrill of a VIP evening.
