Punta del Este, Uruguay's main seaside resort, is no longer a seaside resort. The beaches still have their charm, but little by little the peninsula and its surroundings are acquiring the label of "all-year-round city".
After a record 2021 of applications for residency in Uruguay - more than 40 per day from Argentine citizens who settled in Montevideo, in the private neighborhoods of Canelones or in Punta del Este and surrounding areas - in the first seven months of 2022 there was a slowdown but at a much higher rate than the pre-pandemic average: about 23 per day.
These official figures from the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry “do not move the needle in the great economy, but in some areas (such as Punta del Este) they may boost some services and, above all, they may have potential for innovation,” explained Matías Brum, adjunct professor at the Institute of Economics of the University of the Republic. “Joseph Schumpeter, the pope of innovation, spoke of how the introduction of new processes already contributes to innovation. The mere fact that new people come, with new ways of doing things, can be a great contribution.”
Laguarda is another example of this. Before the boom, it was almost impossible to find a bar or café open in the middle of winter to meet up for tea with friends. Now, however, “there are bars and cafés all year round.” It doesn’t have the appearance of the famous Buenos Aires cafes, but it does have the range of options that characterise gourmet and vegan cafés. The other indication, in addition to the traffic and the cafés, is the increase in enrolment in the private schools in the area. The educational centres capitalised on this boom and are a reflection of the new profile of immigrants: families of high socioeconomic levels, with children of school or high school age.
At the International College, the number of Argentine students now outnumbers Uruguayan students. “Before the pandemic, there were about 50 Argentine students and now there are about 220 (45% of the school’s enrollment),” says CEO Rolando Rozenblum. At the Uruguayan-Argentine Institute (IUA), one of the oldest on the peninsula, there are generations with three groups when before two were not full. The Garzón School, a new institute that is building its permanent location, already has more than 30 students in an alternative location.
The International College alone has students from 23 nationalities, and for next year students from Russia, Belarus, Germany and Croatia have already enrolled (or are in the process of enrolling). According to Rozenblum, this is a demonstration of another phenomenon that is populating the eastern region: “They are escaping the instability of Europe due to the war and are looking for a quiet area with quality services, so they can be supplied all year round.”
In this regard, Magno insists that "this phenomenon should not be measured only by the number of residences, but by the profiles of those who arrive, including mega-entrepreneurs, and because it is an economically active population."
Source: El Observador
