Explaining Brazil #296: Privatizing Brazil’s beaches?

Could Brazil's beaches be opened up to privatization? Photo: NiarKrad / Shutterstock

Brazil does a lot of things very well. But beaches are perhaps what the country does best.

In fact, spending the day on a beach in Brazil will spoil you for life: you can go anywhere you want on the planet, and though you might find strips of sand that are as beautiful or even more beautiful than the beaches in Brazil, the experience just isn’t going to be as good.

I’d try to explain why, but, if you’re listening to this podcast, I think you already know what I’m talking about.

The beach is often referred to as the most democratic place in Brazil. However much money you earn, wherever you come from, whatever your color of skin, and even whatever type of music you like to listen to, in Brazil the beach belongs to you, just as much as it belongs to everyone else.

But a bill currently pending in Brazil’s Senate, could be about to put all of that at risk. Or will it? That’s what we’re going to discuss this week.

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This episode used music from Uppbeat and Envato. License codes: Bossa Nova by Remstunes (S9FTJEC), Aspire by Pryces (B6TUQLVYOWVKY02S), Casino by GentleJammers (ZPRHCT6AQV), and Lofi Brazil by EightBallAudio (JLV9CD32NE).

Background reading:

Our Brazil Daily newsletter explained the ins and outs of the bill’s provisions, opening possibilities for the creation of private beaches in Brazil and representing a risk to biodiversity in the country.
Our weekly cartoon lampooned the Beaches Bill, and the idea of privatizing Brazil’s beaches.
In 2019, we explained Jair Bolsonaro’s plan to turn part of the Rio de Janeiro coast into the “Brazilian Cancún.”
Read our report on a major resort development project backed by big money threatening a fishing community on the idyllic island of Boipeba in the state of Bahia. Such an endeavor would be facilitated by the approval of the Beaches Bill.

Do you have a suggestion for our next Explaining Brazil podcast? Drop us a line at podcast@brazilian.report.

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Euan Marshall and Cedê Silva

Originally from Scotland, Euan Marshall traded Glasgow for São Paulo in 2011. Specializing in Brazilian soccer, politics, and the connection between the two, he authored a comprehensive history of Brazilian soccer entitled “A to Zico: An Alphabet of Brazilian Football.”