On the eponymous Venezuelan paradise island, the Margarita hotel’s facade once featured five stars, but one of them has since fallen off. Not that anyone is around to notice.
The deserted hotel’s deteriorating exterior serves as a metaphor for the fall of an island that was formerly known as the “Pearl of the Caribbean” but has since lost its lustre due to a serious economic crisis.
A little drive away, in front of Lagunamar, another abandoned former five-star hostelry, a herd of cows grazes.
It appears as though an earthquake tore through this area, destroying the roof of a pavilion by the pool, scattering toilets and lighting throughout the garden, and leaving behind piles of debris.
The damage is, in fact, the work of vandals, who steal scrap metal to sell at a profit or to build shacks.
Margarita, a major source of pearls in the 15th and 16th centuries, used to be a playground for American tourists, drawn to its palm-fringed white-sand beaches and turquoise waters.
However, the 500,000-person island has been overtaken by Venezuela’s economic collapse, high crime rates, and increasing international isolation following hotly contested elections.
There are indications of deterioration everywhere.
Along Santiago Marino, the main retail drag, a number of clothing and souvenir stores are deserted.
And there are regular power outages. Blackouts lasting up to 20 hours at a time were caused by an explosion that occurred at a gas facility in the neighbouring state of Monagas last month.
“This is not the Margarita of the past,” Jose Padobani, a 26-year-old barman, told AFP.
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