| Grande Hotel da Beira | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Grande Hotel (2012) | |
  | |
| General information | |
| Type | Former hotel, now a vertical slum |
| Architectural style | Art Deco,Modernist |
| Location | Crossing Rua Afonso De Paiva and Avenida Sansão Muthemba,Beira, Mozambique, Mozambique |
| Coordinates | 19°50′50″S34°50′26″E / 19.84722°S 34.84056°E /-19.84722; 34.84056 |
| Elevation | 10 m (33 ft) |
| Current tenants | Squatted |
| Completed | 1954 |
| Inaugurated | 1955 |
| Cost | 90,000$00Portuguese Escudo (estimated: 30,000$00) |
| Client | Companhia de Moçambique |
| Owner | Gruppo Entreposto SA |
| Height | 25 m (82 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 4 |
| Floor area | 21,000 m2 (230,000 sq ft) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architects | José Porto, Francisco de Castro |
TheGrande Hotel Beira is an abandoned luxury hotel inBeira,Mozambique. It was opened in 1954 and operated until 1974, when it was closed due to lack of guests. The building was used as a military base during theMozambican Civil War. It is currently home to over 3,500squatters.[1]
In 1932, the urban plan of Ponta Gêa was designed by the Portuguese architect brothers Rebelo de Andrade, and the plan included a hotel with an Olympic swimming pool in a spot overlooking theIndian Ocean, the mouth of theBuzi River and the sea harbour of Beira. Architect José Porto of theGabinete de Urbanização Colonial produced the original concept design for the hotel; and in 1953, theCompanhia de Moçambique commissioned architect Francisco de Castro to develop the original design and the final detailing. At the time, the Companhia de Moçambique had the concession to exploit the area now known as the provinces of Manica and Sofala. When the concession ended in 1942, the Companhia still owned local businesses and continued to dominate the local economy. One of its directors was Antonio Arantes e Oliveira, who was a brother of the futureGovernor-General of Mozambique and who had a close connection with the fascist Portuguese dictator,Salazar. Arthur Brandão was the chief officer of the Companhia and also held a prominent position within the Salazar regime.[citation needed]
Although Beira was aPortuguese colony, it had been heavily influenced culturally by Britain due to the neighbouringBritish colony ofSouthern Rhodesia's use of its sea harbour.[clarification needed] The PortugueseEstado Novo and the ending of the Companhia concession gave rise to increased Portuguese influence throughout the city: the PortugueseEscudo became the only official currency, the government became dominated by the fascist Salazar regime, and the streetscape changed with the newArt Deco andModern Movement architecture. The Grande Hotel became a symbol of the success of theEstado Novo in Beira, as it was intended to provide luxury accommodation for VIPS, business travelers, and wealthy tourists fromSouthern Rhodesia, theUnion of South Africa, and fromPortugal or its colonies.[citation needed]
The exterior of the Grande Hotel was done in theArt Deco style that was popular in Portugal during theEstado Novo era of the 1930s and 1940s. Art Deco's geometrical shapes and repetition represented modernity and a rejection of theneobaroque style of the previous era. As such, the exterior of the Grande Hotel had no ornamentation or intricate patterns. The interior, however, was done in an eclectic style and with the use of modern materials in a manner unusual in Beira at that time and even seldom used in other works of the architect, Francisco de Castro. De Castro also designed the famousCFM train station in Beira.[citation needed]
In 1955, the Grande Hotel opened in an event officiated by the Roman CatholicBishop of Beira, Sebastião Soares de Resende. White residents of Beira could use the swimming pool, and they recalled the Grande Hotel as a palace of unlimited luxury where one could eat the finest chocolate. Hollywood starKim Novak stayed there when she came to hunt in the nearbyGorongosa National Park. Still, the expected clientele—wealthy tourists and business travelers—never materialised. Although Beira was a popular holiday destination, its tourists were primarilywhite middle-income families from Salisbury (now calledHarare), the capital ofSouthern Rhodesia (now calledZimbabwe), which was 550 km or 9 hours away by car. They could not afford the luxuries of the Grande Hotel, instead preferring beach holidays in the tourist district of Macuti, 8 km from the city centre. Although the Grande Hotel was only a 2 km walk from the city centre, swimming at the beach was forbidden.[citation needed]
Several sources refer to proposals for the Grande Hotel to host acasino.[2][3][4] However, the building plans do not show any facilities that would suggest a casino. Francisco Ivo, an architect and former student of Francisco de Castro, claimed that De Castro told him that there was no intention to create a casino. The clients of the Grande Hotel had close associations with the Portuguese dictator Salazar, and Salazar thought it was morally inappropriate to have gambling in the African colonies. Indeed, casinos inLourenço Marques and Costa Bello were forced to close in the early 1930s.[citation needed]
After twenty years, the Grande Hotel Beira was closed, deemed by the company to be unprofitable and too costly to keep open. The hotel had never made a profit in any year of its operation. The construction costs had come to three times the original budget. Anticipated wealthy guests never came, and the staff necessary to maintain and operate a luxury hotel was too large for the number of guests actually served. Everylift, for example, had apersonal operator.[citation needed]
In several documents it was claimed that the reason for closure was the refusal of the regime to grant the hotel a casino permit. However, the white residents of Southern Africa could not afford this level of luxury, and Beira was not known as a holiday destination for wealthy people, who already preferred theBazaruto Archipelago atVilanculos, the Mediterranean city life style of the Mozambican capitalLourenço Marques, the South AfricanKrüger National Park and theVictoria Falls inRhodesia. Business travelers stayed at the Ambassador Hotel, a less expensive alternative situated in the Baixa (downtown) area, where most of the business offices were located. Arthur Brandão, the chief officer of the Companhia, also owned the Ambassador.[citation needed]
The Grande Hotel closed for business in 1963; it remained available for large events and conferences, although it was used only twice. The first time was to accommodate members of theUnited States Congress who were on a cruise along the East African coast. The second time was in 1971, for the wedding of Petusha Jardim, daughter of Jorge Jardim, then Minister of State of Mozambique andGovernor-General of Mozambique, a very senior-ranking official within theEstado Novo. Traditionally, Portuguese weddings involved a large number of guests, and this wedding was attended by VIPs from all over theEstado Novo and the neighbouring 'White Laager' countries. The Grande Hotel was the only place large enough to accommodate the event.[citation needed]
The swimming pool remained open to the public and, as it was the only Olympic-size swimming pool in the colony at that time, it became the main training facility for the Mozambican Olympic swimming team.[citation needed]
On 25 June 1975, Mozambique gained independence as a result of Portugal's nonviolentCarnation Revolution the previous year; the Mozambique Liberation Front, later known asFrelimo, assumed power. On the first day of independence, the Grande Hotel hosted the first wedding in Beira under the new regime. Later, the bar at the swimming pool became the office of Frelimo's Revolutionary Committee, which was responsible for establishingsocialism in Beira and the province ofSofala. While the main hall of the Grande Hotel was used for party meetings and events, the basement became a prison for opponents of the new government.[citation needed]
In 1978, the communistFrelimo government assumed ownership of private land, a move that resulted in the exodus of the remaining Mozambican-Portuguese community that had dominated the local economy. However, the Grande Hotel was one of the exceptions, and its land and the building remain the property of the Portuguese Grupo Entreposto SA, the continuation of theCompanhia de Moçambique.[citation needed]
In 1977, theMozambican Civil War broke out in the province of Sofala:Renamo vsFrelimo. The civil war was in part the extension of the globalCold War; capitalism vs communism. Renamo was established by theRhodesian Army and theSouth African Defence Force with the aim of destroying the communist Frelimo regime. Renamo launchedguerrilla attacks at social and economic targets. The Grande Hotel, as the Frelimo political base in this area, became a Frelimo military base as well.[citation needed]
With the fall ofIan Smith's government inRhodesia, theZANU party came into power. They renamed the countryZimbabwe upon independence in April 1980, andRobert Mugabe became thePrime Minister of Zimbabwe, later becomingPresident. With this change, Zimbabwe needed to use the Beira corridor as its import/export route, since the alternate routes ran throughSouth Africa, which Zimbabwe now boycotted. In 1981, theZimbabwe Defence Force established a neutral zone in Beira and its import/export corridor. As a result, the city became a haven for refugees seeking safety and access to international aid entering through the sea harbour andairport. The Grande Hotel became a refugee camp with most of the refugees coming from rural areas.[citation needed]
The hotel survivedCyclone Idai in March 2019.[5]
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Since 1992, Mozambique has enjoyed peace and stability. The seaport of Beira is redeveloped and booming due to the transit of minerals to Asia.
The Grande Hotel has deteriorated, however. With only 116 hotel rooms, it now provides shelter for a fluctuating population of around 1,077 inhabitants (Ivo 2008), with large families inhabiting a single room. They do not pay any rent and cannot claim a right of ownership. There is little formal maintenance of the collective space, resulting in accumulating garbage, leaking rain water, open elevator shafts and inaccessible stairs. The Olympic swimming pool, now polluted, is used for bathing by inhabitants who cannot afford to buy water at the privately owned water pump opposite the Grande Hotel. According to the localRed Cross, there is a high risk ofcholera,diarrhoea,HIV/AIDS,malaria andscabies in the Grande Hotel. The water, sewer and electricity infrastructures have been removed and sold in order to obtain money for food and water. The parquet floor is used as fuel for cooking.[citation needed]
Most inhabitants find work only in the informal economic sector; they are, as implied by their nickname of 'whato muno' (not from here), excluded from the formal socio-economic life of Beira. As the city's formal economy grows, this puts pressure on the informal economy. It has become harder for Grande Hotel inhabitants to meet basic needs. The nickname 'whato muno' is used in Beira as a derogatory term for the inhabitants of the Grande Hotel. The hotel is considered to be a place where robbers live and where the police do not have any authority. There was at one time an advanced three-layered chief structure which kept order, but this no longer exists. The local municipal secretary of the neighbourhood (who also lives in the Grande Hotel) is now seen as the unofficial chief, but without the power that a chief would normally have in a Mozambique community.[citation needed]
These days, there are only two common rules of the Grande Hotel: Respect one another. And, the Grande Hotel is open to anybody who wants shelter.[citation needed]
The hotel and its squatters are the subject of the 2007 documentary filmNight Lodgers.[citation needed]
The local municipal authority would like to relocate the current inhabitants, providing housing in the slum of Chipangara, and then demolish the structure and develop the land for commercial uses. However, the municipal authority is not the legal owner; neither does it have the funds nor the investors currently willing to participate in this project.[citation needed]
Meanwhile, new residents keep coming, and many people remain trapped in the Grande Hotel by poverty, some of them third generation inhabitants.[citation needed]
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By Amy Fallon and Mark Tutton in 2011.