On Italy’s Costa Smeralda, the megayachts are back
But their owners are nowhere to be seen
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”
Europe August 14th 2021
- Angela Merkel’s successor could be left, right or Green
- Why so many French people fear dictatorship and civil war
- Poland’s proposed media rules threaten press freedom
- On Italy’s Costa Smeralda, the megayachts are back
- With just 15% fully jabbed, Bulgaria is giving away vaccine shots
- Six Balkan nations keep trying to join the European Union
- Two flights explain EU asylum policy
From the August 14th 2021 edition
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Ursula von der Leyen has a new doctrine for handling the hard right
The boss of the European Commission embarks on a second term
Marine Le Pen spooks the bond markets
She threatens to bring down the French government, but also faces a possible ban from politics
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It needs to spend to defend, but voters may balk
Ukraine’s warriors brace for a Kremlin surge in the south
Vladimir Putin’s war machine is pushing harder and crushing Ukrainian morale
Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats
The attack on Ukraine is part of a new era of missile warfare
A rise in antisemitism puts Europe’s liberal values to the test
The return of Europe’s oldest scourge