The invention of cosmopolitanism on the Costa do Sol during the Second World War.
It was in the hands of the royal family and King Carlos I that the fishing village of Cascais transformed into the first luxury seaside resort in Portugal, but it was in the hands of Fausto Figueiredo and his brother-in-law Augusto Carreira that the Costa do Sol (Coast of the Sun) became a cosmopolitan luxury seaside resort.
The former brought the railway lines that crisscrossed the country from North to South, creating the first hotels and casinos in the region. Fausto Figueiredo and his brother-in-law took the dream further by developing a luxury therapeutic treatment resort designed to be a Portuguese Riviera, where the railway line would bring the first international guests from Paris (Prince Takamatsu and his wife Kikuko) to the Hotel Palácio, inaugurated in 1930.
This is how this newly opened luxury resort opened itself to the world. Circumstances dictated it. Cascais had already received refugees during the Spanish Civil War, but it was in 1939, with the Portuguese neutrality pact during World War II, that it became a transit point (to the Americas) and a refuge for intellectuals, artists, politicians, and royalty.
The cosmopolitan refugees brought their customs: light-colored, short swimsuits, women who went to cafes and left without gloves or hats—customs that clashed with conservative Portuguese society.
Spies also came. While Salazar played a dangerous game to maintain neutrality between the Axis and the Allies, double agents passed through Cascais, through the lobbies of the Palace and the Estoril Casino. Juan Pujol, the agent Garbo, "invented" most of the information he sent to the Germans from Cascais. The womanizing Dusko Popov, who had settled in the Palace, was the inspiration for the creation of the famous spy James Bond by Ian Fleming. This man witnessed his daring play at the baccarat table in the Estoril Casino.
These and many other stories emerged during the time when Portugal emerged from anonymity and Cascais and Estoril appeared on cinema screens. “Sad Paradise” or “Safe Haven” — terms used by those who passed through here and brought our region to the world's cosmopolitan scene.
More information and registration: museudavila@cm-cascais.pt | 214 825 190
Organized by: Cascais Municipal Council
Ana Gabriela Ribeiro é performer, escritora e cineasta luso-brasileira. Nascida no Rio de Janeiro, cresceu no Estoril, tendo depois seguido um percurso internacional. Estudou realização de cinema em Paris e fez um curso de teatro musical em Londres.
É fundadora da Carmen Creative Cultural Tours, onde desenvolve experiências culturais autorais que cruzam olhar crítico, humor e história. Atualmente apresenta o tour Pelas Lentes da Espionagem e da Realeza no Estoril e em Cascais.
