Buzios, “Brazil’s Saint Tropez,” shuts down and throws tourists out

Located just 130 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro on a jutting peninsula with 17 beaches, Armação dos Buzios is a picture-perfect location for tourists. Its Mediterranean feel and cobblestone streets earned the city the nickname “Brazil’s Saint Tropez.” Cosmopolitan magazine once described the vibe in the lazy fishing village as “sea, little fishing boats, colourful wildflowers, and total silence. Bliss.” 

But during a deadly pandemic, bliss is nowhere to be seen in Buzios.

A court ordered the city to be shut down on Thursday and gave tourists 72 hours to check out from their hotels and hit the road. The ruling came after Buzios registered 490 new coronavirus cases between December 9 and 16 — a 3,700-percent increase from averages in October.

Judge Raphael Campos said the explosion of new cases in Buzios has put the region in a “red...