Spatial productions of a legendary holiday village: Club Med Foça

Abstract

At the time of its appearance on the outskirts of the infrastructurally underdeveloped and culturally conservative village of Foça in 1966 Club Med was already a widely known international holiday village chain promoted as an antidote to civilization. The term legend was commonly attached to it at an international scale to refer both to its stunning localities and the atmosphere of abundance offered within its guarded boundaries. Arguably a sense of Oriental exoticism was also a source of attraction to the Western patrons of Club Med Foça. This article is based on the hypothesis that Club Med had a significant impact on the cultural environment of Foça which exemplified the porousness of spatial boundaries. Hence our aim is to surface the spatio-cultural role of the Club for both Foça residents and the Turkish population at large. Our findings reveal that for Foça residents the Club was both an economic resource and an agent of significant socio-cultural transformation. For the Turkish population it was publicized as a microcosm of Europe and offered a glimpse of a highly desirable modern culture. Generating a small town bourgeoisie of sorts in Foça Club Med introduced unprecedented forms of spaces pleasures and desires. Engaging with archival research on-site spatial analysis and oral histories we explore the mutual production of spatial and cultural boundaries in the historical context of 1960s and 70s Foça vis-à-vis Club Med.