Punta del Este

File:Sunrise punta ballena 2006 january.jpg

Sunrise in sculpture where a giant hand seems to be coming out of the sand.

Punta del Este is an upscale vacation spot on the southern tip of Uruguay, southeast of the town of Maldonado and about 140 km east of Montevideo. Although the town has a year round population of 9,334 (2001), it experiences a tourist explosion each summer between Christmas and the end of January.

History

The first Europeans to set foot in what is now Punta del Este were the Spanish at the beginning of the 16th century. However, the colonization of the area actually began around Maldonado at the end of the 18th century due to Portuguese expansionism.

The town's first film festival attracted Yves Montand, Jeanne Moreau and Anita Ekberg, and in 1967 Sacha Distel crowned the first Queen of Punta del Este (Tony Curtis did the honours the following year). In the last few years, a number of Saint Barts habitués - along with other members of the bold-face crowd - have begun to drift southward to Punta del Este, the South American resort town. Set on a peninsula in the southeast corner of Uruguay between the Atlantic and the Río de la Plata, Punta has served for decades as the Hamptons of Latin America, a January and February playground for a glittery mix of international personalities, beautiful people and wealthy South Americans.^[1]

Local life

In the summer (December to Easter) the town's population swells from a few thousand to half a million as the continent's leading politicians, show-business stars and beautiful people decamp here or to the coast to the west, home to a pretty succession of tiny bays, beaches and headlands, set among wooded hills.^[2] This seasonal influx of wealth is reflected in its shamelessly ostentatious architecture. This is a town whose planners just can't say no, so ziggurats lie side by side mock Tudor mansions, while modernist cubes bully faux 17th-century thatched farmhouses. It has become a rather unpredictable yet exquisite architectural jewel of the Southern Hemisphere, with the most expensive square meter of land in South America, ahead of São Paulo and Santiago. Punta (as it is affectionately called) is a hard-charging party spot and attracts thousands of young clubbers from December to March.

Beaches

Surrounded by estancias and about 25 miles Northeast of downtown Punta del Este, José Ignacio is the secret epicentre of its bohemian jet set. It is a pristine place where rural countryside meets the ocean. There's laid-back dining, great weather and a surfing element as well^[3]

Events

If towns could name-drop, Punta del Este would be a match for Hollywood, Miami or St. Tropez: European luminaries, from Gina Lollobrigida to Antonio Banderas; British royalty from Prince Philip to Diana and Fergie; Spanish royalty, of course; plus the leading lights of the international arts scene, including Pablo Neruda, Jorge Luis Borges and Rudolf Nureyev, have all been here. Punta del Este is known by South Americans as a safe place filled with night life. Especially in January and February, when lots of people can be seen walking at night up until the morning hours, going to different pubs, discos, night clubs, cinemas, theaters, music concerts and casinos. Among the various day-time activities one can find are visiting the beaches, watching fashion shows performed at the two beaches, practicing several sports as sailing, surfing, kitesurfing, motorsports, hangliding, and horseback riding. Tournaments take place during the summer, such as a rugby Seven-a-side tournament, as well as golf and tennis tournaments. Models like Naomi Campbell and Gisele Bündchen are Punta regulars, as is the fashion photographer Mario Testino, while the author Martin Amis and the hotelier Alan Faena own houses nearby. Other visitors to Punta include Pamela Anderson, Jason Biggs, Bharell Jackson, Pamela David, Tara Reid, Julio Iglesias, Gloria Gaynor, Diana Ross, Leonardo DiCaprio, Madonna, Ivanna Trump, Maarten Stikkelman, Brooke Burke and Robert Duvall. Many notable Latin Americans visit Punta regularly, including Susana Giménez, Xuxa, Mariano Martínez, Ricardo Montaner, Valeria Mazza, Maura Rivera, Luis Miguel, Aracely Arámbula, Ricky Martin, among others. Shakira and Antonio de la Rúa have a house in Punta and Shakira has recorded several of her CDs here.

Transportation

Punta del Este is served by an international airport located near Laguna del Sauce, on the outskirts of the resort, which opened in 1996.

Touristic sites

Casapueblo museum and art gallery.

References

34°58′S 54°57′W / 34.967°S 54.950°W / -34.967; -54.950

[1] New York Times

[2] Telegraph.co.uk

[3] New York Times

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