Europe | Swish in Sardinia

On Italy’s Costa Smeralda, the megayachts are back

But their owners are nowhere to be seen

|PORTO CERVO

FRANCO BLOISI is puzzled. Mr Bloisi is the chef of Assunta Madre, a restaurant attached to Billionaire, a nightclub on the Costa Smeralda. With its turquoise waters and hidden coves, this region of north-eastern Sardinia has long been a summer playground for Arab potentates, Russian plutocrats and Silicon Valley tech czars. “We’ve got the stylish Italians this year,” says Mr Bloisi. But he has seen no trace of the super-rich foreigners. “Their yachts are here. But they’re not going out.”

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The megayachts are back”

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