Hello 

How are you doing? I hope everything is going really well with you.

I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the Cabo Polonio nature reserve in eastern Uruguay in the department of Rocha?

Those of us who have ever been to Cabo Polonio will never forget it, right? It’s a mythical beach community in the department of Rocha. Magical because it has the longest and most deserted beaches of the Uruguayan coast, dunes, islands inhabited by sea lions, numerous colourful ‘ranchos’ (cabins) and a tiny year-round counter-culture. In Cabo there is no running water, no roads for vehicles and no electricity.

But what many people don’t know is that while it’s a national park, only one part of Cabo is owned by the government. Another two sectors have been in private hands for many years.

The owners of La Calavera beach to the east for the longest time have been the Tisnés family. However, the land was expropriated by the government. Already a home for fishing folk and seal hunters, a few free spirits arrived post-dictatorship in the 1980s to settle, not really aware that the land was in private hands. Others didn’t settle permanently but built beach shacks which they travelled to every summer. When the state finally returned the land to the heirs, numerous homes—both permanent and holiday—were (illegally) dotted along La Calavera. To complicate matters, in 2015 a group of settlers banded together and negotiated with one of the heirs to buy that heir’s part of the property and legitimise their possession.

However, the majority of settlers, lacking the $$$ to negotiate, remained in limbo. People like Ajo, a settler of 35 years, who has raised his family in Cabo Polonio. His son and grandchildren live there too. They’ve lived in constant uncertainty—never knowing when they could be ordered off the land. In addition, the laws that rightfully regulate the area—it is a national park after all—have made it almost impossible to make home improvements as building materials were banned from the national park. And we all know the wear and tear a property on the ocean is subject to.

Now, after two years of negotiations, the heirs of the Tisnés estate and the settlers of Cabo Polonio have reached an agreement that puts to end more than three decades of uncertainty. The chief negotiator and now owner is Canelones real estate developer, Balsa and Associates. You may remember that my family and I have bought a property that they are building near the airport (if you don't, check our YouTube channel).

Juan Balsa is a huge fan of Cabo Polonio. It’s where he spends every summer with his family for the last few years. Balsa is committed to triple impact development: which takes into account the environmental, economic and the social.

The agreement reached includes the eighteen permanent settlers who make up the cultural heart of Cabo Polonio. In the case of non-permanent residents, it seems negotiations are being offered to regularise their situations.

Encroachment of the dunes and sanitation are two huge problems in Cabo Polonio.

Balsa and Associates is developing a plan along with neighbours and the Uruguayan environmental agency (DINAMA) to stop the advance of exotic pine forests on the dunes. The idea is to convert the pines into cross laminated timber for neighbours to use for improvement on their ranchos. Sanitation has also been a major problem. There is no organised drainage system. This will need to be tackled as a matter of urgency.

So what does Balsa get out of this? The site in question covers 200 hectares of which only 10 hectares is authorised for new construction. Around eighty lots are up for sale.

Any new housing has to meet strict Cabo Polonio management plan guidelines. The houses that Balsa is proposing are small, made entirely of wood and unfenced—just like the existing houses in Cabo Polonio.

I went to visit Cabo back in July. I know and respect Juan a great deal. But if I’m absolutely honest, I think like anyone in Uruguay who knows el Cabo, when I first heard private developers were taking over a third of Cabo Polonio my heart sank.

I wanted to talk to some of the long-time settlers to find out what they really thought (and to be fair, Juan encouraged me to do so). We are going to be posting videos on YouTube about the visit in the coming weeks. However I can share that one local told me he see this as “a development model for South America”. You’ll be able to hear his actual words in the coming weeks.

If you’re excited by triple impact development, you can learn more here.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

I hope you’re having a great weekend.