Residents of Lisbon have called for help from Rafael Nadal to save a famous pastry shop in Lisbon that is threatened with closure because an investment fund, in which the Spanish tennis player has a stake, purchased the building.
“Do not kill our memories!” reads the open letter in Spanish.
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The Suiça pastry shop was founded in 1922 and its terrace overlooks Rossio Square, a traditional meeting place for Lisbon residents and tourists.
Rafael Nadal, the current world number 1 in tennis, has a stake in the investment fund Mabel Capital, which purchased a whole series of buildings in February, one of which houses the pastry shop that is expected to close its doors at the end of August.
“Jewish intellectuals who fled Europe to the USA during World War II used to meet in this pastry shop,” the letter recalls, adding that other famous personalities such as director Orson Welles, opera diva Maria Callas, and American senator Edward Kennedy also enjoyed it.
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“There are still historical venues in this neighborhood that the city should not lose,” say the residents of Lisbon who signed the open letter.
