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A few kilometers north of Necochea there is a stretch of coast that emerged from a crush: a pilot got out of his plane, looked at the sea and the beach and felt that this landscape deserved a future. “This is a beautiful coast!” summarizes the architect and writer from Necocha Nestor Jorge Freitas.
Over the years, the place attracted hippies and artists and even left its mark in the songs of an emblematic Argentine rock band. Darker stories also emerged around him: there were those who linked him to National Socialism. This is the story of Costa Bonita.
-Néstor, how did Costa Bonita come about?
-The history of Costa Bonita is closely linked to the world of aviation. We’re talking about the end of the 1940s. During the first Peronism, the airlines were united and Aerolíneas Argentinas was born. In this context, two men associated with aviation, Müller and Mario Corte, set out to “soften” engines, as they said at the time: piston engines required hours of use to loosen the rings. On one of these flights, they decided to fly down this stretch of coast, saw a beach and said, “This is a beautiful coast.” The place shocked them, especially Corte, who decided to buy the land. That’s where it all begins.
Corte bought several hectares of seafront land from the Gil family: this was the starting point for what would later become the Costa Bonita Resort. To announce his discovery, he placed a sign on Route 88 near the access road that promised no return: “The Fabulous Costa Bonita.” He then began dividing the place, almost immediately building an inn with a name adapted to the landscape: “Song of the Sea.”
-However, there are many legends circulating about Costa Bonita…
-Yes, there is quite a myth. Some say that an inn was built to monitor and protect German submarines, others speak of Nazi leaders hiding there. This is historically impossible: Nazi Germany fell in May 1945 and Costa Bonita did not yet exist. But legends also form reality and are part of the symbolic history of the place.
-What was the founders’ original project?
-You had big dreams. They didn’t think about a few summer houses: they built important buildings, apartments and also a hotel that we now know as an inn. The idea was that Costa Bonita would become a city, a strong area with its own identity. Like every father who looks at his son and dreams the best for him.
-Did the founders live there?
-Not Corte, but Müller yes. When he retired he moved to Costa Bonita where he was one of the great fighters. He loved this place until the end. Not only did he care about basic issues like water, but he always thought big. They are the kind of men who die because they love a place and fight for it. This is no small thing.
– Was there a golden age of spas?
-Yeah, sure. I place it around 1960. It coincides with the golden age of the Argentine middle class, when salaries were sufficient and many couples were able to build something with the excess salary, especially as women entered the workforce. This has given a huge boost to tourism and the development of places like Costa Bonita.
-In Costa Bonita, three emblematic buildings of the town attract attention, including large apartment blocks and also the inn. Are they still open?
-The buildings were built around the mid-1960s. And the inn was a landmark of the place for a long time: in the 90s it was fully functional, it was beautiful and very busy. Then it was closed, although I don’t know the exact date, and today it is abandoned. The apartment buildings, on the other hand, continue to function, bourgeois, simple but solid. People come there in summer because there is a tourist circuit that connects Quequén, Bahía de los Vientos, Arenas Verdes and Costa Bonita.
-Why wasn’t Costa Bonita consolidated like other resorts?
-For several reasons. A very special thing was the construction of the port of Necochea: the breakwaters collect sand on one side and suck it out on the other side. Necochea gained huge, very extensive beaches, and Costa Bonita began to lose them. The sea began to advance and erode the coast. Where there used to be sand, there are now stones. Logically, people started going to Necochea, where all the equipment was also available. Added to this was a lack of planning, chaotic assembly and road layout. Also the lack of a block tourism policy.
During the last military dictatorship in the late 1970s, the Buenos Aires provincial government redrew the boundaries between the districts of Lobería and Necochea. By Legislative Decree 9327/1979, on July 1, 1979, the urban areas of Quequén ceased to belong to Lobería and became Lobería Necocheawith the argument of its greater integration into this city and the distance from the capital Loberense. Then Legislative Decree 9710/1981 expanded the amendment by including Necochea, a rural part of the Quequén district; Later institutional reconstructions will link this area to the coastal sector in which they are located Costa Bonita And Bay of Winds.
-Did the cultural movement of the 70s also influence you?
-Much. In the 1970s, hippie groups arrived and settled all along the Atlantic coast, and Costa Bonita was no exception. Some gave the place a cultural identity, others abandoned it over time. In this context, the Arco Iris group was created under the direction of Gustavo Santaolalla. Many artists frequented the area and this was part of a very special phase for the spa town.
Arco Iris was one of the pioneering Argentine rock groups of the late ’60s. Their music combined rock with folk roots, psychedelic atmospheres and a distinct spiritual search. At the beginning it consisted of Gustavo Santaolalla, Ara Tokatlian, Guillermo Bordarampé and Horacio Gianello, then Danays “Dana” Wynnycka was added. Among those who follow the group’s history closely, the idea is circulating that their most popular song, “Mañana campestre”, was born on the Costa Bonita and that the song “Dunas” directly evokes this coastal corner.
-Has this cultural change also influenced your lack of consolidation?
-Yes. Argentine hippieism as a phenomenon ended in the 80s and at the same time many of the movement’s founders and leaders stopped visiting the beaches. This weakened the original project.
In addition to its connection to music, Costa Bonita preserves a special place between the beach and the dunes: the grotto of the Virgin of Lourdes (patron saint of the sick) and its small chapel. According to legend, the grotto was built by a woman suffering from a serious illness. On a trip to the Lourdes Grotto in France, he promised the Virgin that if he was cured, he would build a grotto on the Costa Bonita. Today it is a local landmark, the scene of festivals and processions, and in summer the chapel usually opens its doors for Sunday masses.
– Finally, Néstor, what do you feel when you look at the history of Costa Bonita?
-I feel like it’s a story of big dreams, of men who thought beyond the individual. Costa Bonita failed not for lack of love, but for reasons beyond those who imagined it. I am a firm believer in learning that comes from failure. This is a beautiful country with beautiful stories, even if sometimes we don’t know how to care for them the way they deserve.
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