Francesco, you have been on Boa Vista for a long time and have promoted tourism with your work.
Yes, my father built the first hotel in the town of Sal Rei on Boa Vista back in 1995. In 1998, I took over the management of the still very young Hotel Estoril, where so many water sports enthusiasts are guests today. And in 1999 we built the Hotel Ca Nicola, which we opened in 2003. We have to bear in mind that there were hardly any hotels in Sal Rei in 1998. Here, where I'm pointing my finger at the picture from 1998, is Ca Nicola today and you can hardly see any houses around it - that's what it looked like back then! In total, we have built more than 200 rooms for tourists in the town of Sal Rei and have therefore significantly promoted tourism.
In the beginning, it was very difficult to live here because there were no paved roads, only about eight hours of electricity a day and no airport. It was a "wild place", i.e. completely underdeveloped. And a few more figures: In 1995 there were two taxis and seven private cars here, today there are hundreds.
What kind of tourism was there in the 90s?
From the mid-1970s to 1991, there were mainly Russians on Cape Verde, because at that time there were only flight connections from Russia to South America via the sister island of Sal, which also brought a few Russians to Boa Vista. There were also a few Germans and French. We stayed at the Ca Nicola Hotel ourselves until 2007 because we were not fully booked.
And then TUI came to the island!
Yes, the international airport was built on Boa Vista in 2007, and TUI arrived in 2009. Of the 55 or so aircraft that land at Boa Vista every week, around 80 per cent are from TUI. TUI built its own all-inclusive hotels with the large RIU hotels, but these are located several kilometres away from the town of Sal Rei. So we can still enjoy our original life in Sal Rei today.
How many people live on Boa Vista today?
There are around 12,000 in total. 3,000 come from Boa Vista, 5,000 from the other Cape Verde islands and around 4,000 from Africa plus a few Europeans. In Sal Rei, 4,000 people live in the old town and 7,000 in the poor neighbourhood. This slum is similar to the favelas. A further 1,000 people live in the villages scattered around the island.
Until 15 years ago, Cape Verde was still one of the poorest countries in the world, partly due to colonial exploitation by Portugal. What are the living conditions of the locals today?
They are not poor, but live very simply, and I don't like to say "poor". There are 1.2 million Cape Verdeans around the world, 500,000 of whom live in Cape Verde and 700,000 outside. And these are the ones who send money to Cape Verde for their families! In the past, a fisherman might have had two fish, the first he ate himself and the second he traded for potatoes, for example. And back to the people who live in the slums. They prefer to build their beautiful houses on the other Cape Verdean islands, because Boa Vista has always been "the last island".
The "last island"?
Nothing has happened here on Boa Vista in the past. And the government would rather look after the other islands than Boa Vista.
There are more and more water sports tourists here on Boa Vista these days, aren't there?
Yes, at least that's the case from November to April. And whale watching starts in March/April and lasts until the end of May, and the turtle season lasts until the end of September. This is followed by the fishing season, starting in June, when up to 50 boats with tourists go out to sea and fish for blue marlin, most of which is eaten here on the island. I also organise an annual marathon event.
Did you see this development coming more than 25 years ago?
Hmm, hardly. Nevertheless, our beautiful town of Sal Rei has remained so beautifully unspoilt. I don't like the big buildings, which are now seven storeys high, but it's still worthwhile for everyone to experience Boa Vista!
