Port Saplaya, the Valencian urbanization that wanted to be Venice

Port Saplaya, north of Alboraia, just a few minutes from Valencia towards the coast, is one of those polarizing enclaves that does not allow lukewarmness: it represents a twisted urbanism seeking stylistic trompe-l'oeil, but at the same time it is a marine refuge for its 2,000 neighbors who –sometimes– have the feeling of spending their lives inside a boat.

Fifty years after its construction, as a real estate appendix seeking to fill seventies Valencia with color, it has entered the club of Venetian claims. Nicknamed Little Venice, it is clickbait fodder among tourism promotion. In mini format it fits perfectly with the drift that historian Salvatore Settis explains regarding the emergence of hundreds of Venices that, supposedly, try to emulate the real one: “What if just the opposite were happening? What if the false versions that spread around the world end up perverting the image that the true Venice has of itself? What if they became the latent model? What if a Venice without a people was looking for its identity in Las Vegas, Dubai or Chongging?” asks Settis in If Venice Dies.

The tourist apartment buildings of Port Saplaya could be, on the inside, the same as those of any enclave on the Spanish coast, only on the outside, like a papier-mâché stage, they are configured from a magician's tower, a castle , of squares with arcades, of towers and Romanesque windows, of scaffolds. A supposed medievalizing character, only around a nautical port and in the middle of a beach spirit.

The color of their houses, very pastel tones, has had to have a municipal ordinance that seeks to establish a defined palette, without transgressions, with the aim of maintaining the style of the complex.. Ochers, siennas and maroons were established as permitted tones – truly inspired by Saint Tropez – but for decades the artistic inventiveness of new owners threatened to alter the most relevant feature of Port Saplaya: its unitary theming..

Far from conforming to an aboriginal typism or wanting to recreate the real style of a small Valencian village in front of the sea, its key is the staging. A Disney-effect main road that allows us to offer a travel experience, but next to home. The viral significance of the urbanization has demonstrated the success of the idea. It attracts for its eccentricity and also compensates for some of its urban deficiencies..

It does not seek to be stuck to reality, with the anchor set, but rather to go sailing. Therefore, being an emblem of authenticity – that of the romantic seafaring towns of France and Italy –. As the Italian journalist Marco d'Eramo explains, “the more theatrical the staging of authenticity is, the more it is homologated, the more the 'typicality' is filed down.”. Continuing with the thought of Venturi and Brown (as opposed to Mies and his less is more), “less is boring”. Saplaya is more is more.

Although originally it attracted mainly second homes and urbanites wanting a Venetian-style dalliance, its close proximity to the city has turned it into a settlement for habitual residence.. A quiet and summery place all year round, right on the beach, less than ten minutes from Mestalla. The fable of living far from the urban bustle, although fifteen minutes (by car) from everything. Pointed out by architects and urban planners as a place out of context, the endless summer is instead a powerful incentive that has meant that, far from declining, Port Saplaya is seen as an opportunity..

In the midst of the real estate furor, the developer Quabit together with the municipal land company of Alboraia (Egusa) agreed to build 900 homes, a hotel, a new marina and an auditorium. The beginning of a new era of growth. The bursting of the bubble, on the other hand, frustrated plans that ended up in court.. In 2017, the Provincial Court of Valencia confirmed the ruling that obliged the public company to return the 23.4 million that Quabit had advanced for the development of the operation..

Unlike Venice, Port Saplaya aims to gain population. Without a primitive nucleus or a previous culture as a people, it is defined by its invention. Its own neighbors, already rooted, now refuse to let it continue growing. Faced with the risk of new urban developments, they argue that there is no space left, that there is already enough density and, on the other hand, there is still a lack of school facilities, green and sports areas.. Little Venice can't get any bigger.

But apart from real estate issues, the main attraction of the demarcation is the effect it causes. Evidence of how building theming is more fashionable than ever. It's not what there is, it's the effect it causes.