Philippe Starck himself recommended travelling in style. According to one of the world's most successful designers, you can only get to a marina by boat. And if it was one designed by him, then by boat anyway. It would be impossible, indeed downright sacrilege, to get there by car. But more on that later ...
So we set off from Portals Nous in an almost 25-metre-long Princess V78 towards El Toro (just before Santa Ponsa), where the extension of Port Adriano, designed for superyachts, is celebrating its opening today - 82 new berths for formats from 20 to 80 metres plus an exclusive promenade. The trip takes just under 30 minutes at 24 knots, then a rather large and rather grey concrete wall appears on the starboard side. Hmmm, the visitor thinks, that doesn't look very inviting. However, as the Princess curves around the wall, which is around five metres high, the impression is put into perspective. The marina is full to bursting, the restaurants are busy and the building designed by Starck fits perfectly into the scenery - only two storeys, a wooden structure covered with vegetation on the roof, Cumaru planks on the floor. Stairs lead down to the yachts, which, incidentally, currently belong mainly to German owners.
According to statistics from marina operator Ocibar, 65 per cent of the berths have been sold so far, 50 per cent of which belong to customers from Germany. The prices for a 25-year term range from 1.08 million euros (20 x 6 metres) to 9.6 million euros (80 x 15 metres). "We are satisfied with our berth sales," says Ocibar Managing Director Antonio Zaforteza, who invested around 90 million euros in the development of Port Adriano. "The idea came from my uncle," he explains, "the suggestion to hire Philippe Starck came from my mother."
