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But Spanish Wells is changing. One of the oldest and most isolated settlements in the Caribbean—with a rich history going back to the days of Blackbeard and the Spanish Armada—has finally opened up to outsiders. For Sale and For Rent signs beckon to visitors in front of many of the charming, colourfully painted houses. The Bahamas' 300,000 inhabitants hope to cash in on a US$11-billion resort/condo boom that is transforming the nation of 700 islands. Prime Minister Perry Christie calls the planned projects the largest direct investment of foreign capital in history.
These projects are fuelled by American tourists' post–9/11 desire to stick closer to home. They are also a spillover from the real-estate bubble in the nearby U.S. (Miami's glow is visible at night from the Biminis, the Bahamian island group where Ernest Hemingway lived.)
But locals are being priced out off their own islands. Complaints are spreading about nightclubs where Bahamians aren't welcome. Anxiety is growing about loss of sovereignty as the government sells off entire islands to cruise-ship lines.
Back on Spanish Wells, the real-estate boom has caused a sea change in how the islanders view outsiders. Gone are the days when the older fishermen would mutter at newcomers when they stepped off the ferry. Also gone are the dark times when black Bahamians were unwelcome on the island at night. Many black people and interracial families now live on Spanish Wells and the adjoining Russell Island. At the local all-ages school, about a quarter of the students and teachers are black.
But not all of the changes are necessarily for the better. Ten years ago, locals were stunned when Canadians and Americans arrived with $60,000 to $80,000 for an oceanfront property. The fishermen, who know what saltwater and hurricanes can do to a house, preferred to build inland. But during our vacation, the United Nations released its latest report on global warming, which warned that much of the Bahamas will soon be underwater if climate change isn't addressed.
Still, those beach homes are now worth over $1 million. Now, however, outside investment is drying up as the U.S. real-estate boom has turned into a meltdown. Many owners are trying to cash out, but no one is buying, and asking prices are already heading south. It appears that many of those outsiders are in fact absentee landowners who bought their little corner of Spanish Wells as an investment, rather than to enjoy it.
So the beach is ours, for now.
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