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The artificial island simulates the shape of pearls
“If Qatar is a bubble within the world, The Pearl is a kind of bubble within Qatar.”
The phrase comes from Briton Siobhan Tulley, resident of the lavish artificial island that Qatar built for wealthy immigrants.
The streets of A Pérola do not seem to face the Persian Gulf: their constructions imitate the buildings of Mediterranean Europe. But they are all brand new since the island was built in 2006 and they mix styles from different countries, almost like a theme park.
There are Spanishstyle squares and canals and Venetian buildings. The fountainadorned roundabouts are sidewalks where hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of sports cars zip by. The island’s bays are surrounded by huge buildings of more than 20 floors, with swimming pools and even private beaches. In the Marina of Porto Arabia there are buildings that imitate the Arabian architectural style.
Various nationalities, much more western looking than the rest of the country, indulge in pavement cafes and bistros at night.
Here are scenes that are not so common in other neighborhoods of Doha, such as the group of Saudi girls who enter a Lebanese restaurant and after a few minutes discover their entire hair. At the marina, women walk around with plunging necklines, bare shoulders and short skirts. The island also has the highest concentration of hotels and bars serving alcohol in the country.
Credit, José Carlos Cueto / BBC Mundo
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Gustavo and Sabrina are Venezuelans and live on the island of Qatar
4 million m² recovered from the sea
The Pearl is the flagship project of United Development Company, Qatar’s leading public works company. The island was created artificially and about 4 million m² were “taken” from the sea.
It was the first municipal project to allow immigrants to buy real estate in Qatar. Currently the island has 25,000 housing units and 33,000 residents.
A studiostyle onebedroom apartment can cost US$300,000 (R$1.6 million), and a fivebedroom oceanview house exceeds US$12 million.
Annually, fifteen million tourists visit this place, which houses restaurants, luxury hotels one of which houses the United States selection shopping malls, bars, cinemas and other leisure facilities.
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There are more bars and restaurants serving alcohol on the island than in the rest of the country.
Oasis for wealthy migrants
Siobhan and Ian Tulley are a British couple who have lived in Qatar for the past seven years, including six and a half years at The Pearl. She’s English, he’s Scottish.
Both work in healthcare and live in a building in Viva Bahriya, a cluster of 30 tall towers arranged in a semicircle around the beach.
“When we arrived here there were almost no services nearby, but in a short time it is already full of restaurants, cafes and shops. It’s really nice to be able to walk and not have to drive so much,” says Siobhan.
Doha is a modern city crisscrossed by huge multilane avenues. Except for a few streets, squares and several shopping centers, it is not designed for pedestrians and it is difficult to find shade and parks. The high temperatures over most of the year also make walking not easy.
Credit, José Carlos Cueto / BBC Mundo
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Roundabouts have fountains in the middle
The Pérola, “inspired” by Mediterranean cities, is much more walkable.
“We actually wanted to stay here for three years, but now we’ve been here for seven years. We’re very happy and I feel very safe,” says Siobhan.
Qatar is generally a very safe country. But residents in the country tell BBC Mundo that some Western behaviors, such as the way they dress, have caused some problems with conservative Qataris. Something harder to happen on the island.
The Tulleys enjoy the benefits of Qatar’s public sector, which pays part of the couple’s rental costs. Ian also takes around 90 days of paid vacation a year.
Initially, La Pérola was primarily home to a wealthy immigrant community, many of them from Western countries. “But more and more Qataris are coming. There are properties here that belong to the royal family,” says Ian, showing a huge photo of Emir Tamim bin Hamad al Thani on top of a skyscraper.
Credit, José Carlos Cueto / BBC Mundo
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A threebedroom apartment in the Qanat Quarter costs over $1.2 million
Venetian streets, private islets…
“It’s like Venice without the gondolas,” says Venezuelan Gustavo Jaramillo in the Qanat Quartier, a neighborhood modeled after the famous Italian city.
The engineer lives in A Pérola with his Venezuelan partner Sabrina Masciovecchio in a tall tower with a swimming pool and direct access to the beach.
“With the current situation in Venezuela, almost every place is better, but life in Doha and Pérola is on another level,” Masciovecchio told BBC Mundo.
The couple show BBC Mundo the island during a car ride.
“Be careful filming here because it’s restricted,” warns Jaramillo as he passes Isola Dana, one of the latest real estate developments where buyers can buy private islets and build their villas.
Credit, José Carlos Cueto / BBC Mundo
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The swimming pool of one of the buildings in the Viva Bahryia district does not have sun all day due to the height of the buildings
Jaramillo works in the energy sector and has benefits for rent, transport and telephone. He spends about 25% of his monthly salary. He saves what is left almost taxfree.
As he continues to talk about the benefits of living in this country and island, we pass a large square building that resembles a Renaissance palace.
“This is a kind of super air conditioning unit. This is where the cold water that circulates through pipes throughout A Pérola is treated, and each building has its own distribution system for this cold water,” says Jaramillo.
“The service is paid separately to Qatar Cool, the company that manages it. This does not include electricity costs,” he explains.
In addition to Isola Dana and the Venetian Quarter, the island also includes highrise office buildings, marinas, residential towers and landscaped neighborhoods with villas.
Credit, José Carlos Cueto / BBC Mundo
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Porto Arabia Marina has Arabic style buildings
“The Bubble Within the Bubble”
When Siobhan Tulley says The Pearl is “a bubble within a bubble,” she’s talking about issues plaguing the world like the pandemic and the war in Ukraine and how little they’ve hit the island.
References to these bubbles in Qatar, where western women can wear bikinis on the beach, are common in conversations with locals and journalists.
However, the situation is different for poor migrants. On the outskirts of Doha, Labor City welcomes migrant workers from Southeast Asia and East Africa. Access to the site is restricted and monitored by the government and the available reports do not paint a comfortable situation.
Critics say this is one of the agencies keeping workers locked out and hidden, which Qatar denies and says it is to ensure their safety.
Credit, José Carlos Cueto / BBC Mundo
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Ian and Siobhan Tulley say they love living on the island off the coast of Doha
“Although we get along well with everyone, in our case our environment is Latin American and Spanish. We don’t spend much time with local Qataris or Arabs,” explains Jaramillo.
Jaramillo and Masciovecchio also mention the lack of hospitals and schools, which is complicated considering that the island has only one access and traffic is often congested.
At the moment, a large hospital is under construction as well as a number of other developments.
“The worst thing here is the constant drilling. It is constantly being built. Do you see that the building is almost finished? They started at the end of September,” says Siobhan.
* With information from José Carlos Cueto, broadcast by BBC News Mundo to Qatar