“Avenida Praia da Falésia,” next to the Lake Resort, will be renamed “Avenida Comendador André Jordan”, to pay homage to a pillar of tourism.

André Jordan (Andrzej Franciszek Spitzman Jordan) was born on September 10, 1933, in Lviv, Poland (now a city in Ukraine). He left his country as a child when the threat of World War II and Nazi persecution became real. The family, which had lost everything in Poland, had a brief stay in Portugal but it was in Brazil that they settled. There, Jordan began his career, first as a journalist and then in real estate, later passing through other countries, such as Uruguay, Argentina and the United States of America.

He returned to Portugal in 1970 and became known for his large project of Quinta do Lago, recognised today as one of the most famous golf and leisure developments in the world.

Inspired by American country clubs, Quinta do Lago was adapted to the characteristics of the Algarve landscape. The concept was new in Portugal, but Jordan believed in its bright future.

With a career spanning more than 50 years, he also created Belas Clube de Campo, a residential community with a golf course, near Lisbon, and carried out one of the most extraordinary revitalisation plans in the Vilamoura area, as well as the creation of the Vilamoura XXI Programme, also in the Algarve.

In 2014, he was considered one of the 12 most influential personalities in tourism worldwide.

André Jordan participated in the foundation of several important institutions in the areas of business and culture.

He is the author of books, the most recent being “Uma Viagem pela Vida”.

For Vítor Aleixo, mayor of Loulé, this is “a fair and well-deserved tribute to a visionary man, who contributed so much to catapult the Algarve as a tourist destination of excellence, making the region a world reference in the sector”.