Monaco villas

It was successful in this, but the influx of new investors and workers resulted in a wave of demolitions of Belle Epoque villas to enable the construction of apartments and new hotels.

[5] The 2013 demolition of the Art Deco Sporting d'Hiver ("Winter Sporting") Club building, and the rotunda of the Hôtel de Paris and its 1900 extensions, caused further dismay,[6][7] and the establishment of protest group "Monaco Patrimoine", whose leader was quoted as saying: "Monaco is destroying, without scruples, villas from the Belle Epoque…Monaco is losing its identity", and it was termed "a genocide of memories".

[6] In 2015, a major row broke out between the Government and the elected National Council over the demolition of the picturesque Belle Epoque-style 1931 apartment building Le Palais de la Plage[8] (37 Avenue Princesse Grace – originally Boulevard des Bas-Moulins), which sat on the beachfront,[9] and was replaced by an apartment building of the same name.

The President of the Cultural and Heritage Mission of the National Council, Daniel Boéri, termed the demolition "brutal", and that Monegasque citizens were being treated by the Government as "children incapable of reason".

"[10] In 2015, it was revealed that Monaco state officials had, in a town planning document, identified 93 'remarkable' buildings and 29 'remarkable' facades worth preserving.

The list also offered no guarantee of protection and was criticised for its major absences, including entire streets, and the Hotel de Paris, the Sporting d'Hiver, and the Hermitage.