From the luxury of the Ritz to the refuge in the Algarve – which became revolutionized with it
In Portugal, Bardot didn’t just come to parade — she came to escape. Accompanied by her husband at the time, actor Jacques Charrier, the actress stayed at the Hotel Ritz, in Lisbon, which had opened a few months earlier (in November 1959).
The Ritz was the ultimate symbol of modernity and luxury in the capital, the only place capable of hosting a star of this magnitude with the necessary protocol.
The stay in Lisbon was, however, marked by a constant siege. That was why, according to news at the time, the actress — truly distressed by the crowd that gathered outside the hotel and by the persecution of photographers every time she tried to walk through the streets of Baixa — decided to shorten her stay in the capital.
His next destination was the south. Bardot traveled to the Algarve, a region that, in 1960, was still a well-kept secret, far from mass tourism. The French woman sought refuge in the Albufeira area, having stayed in a private villa to escape curious eyes.
Indeed, It was this visit, along with that of other international figures in the same decade, that began to put the Algarve on the world jet-set map, transforming the quiet fishing village of Albufeira into a place of worship for European bohemia. And from here onwards, tourism in the area never stopped…