Was kostet die Welt

The Price of Paradise

The island of Sark lies in the English Channel, west of Normandy. Subordinated to the British Crown, this picturesque spot was the last feudal state in Europe until 2008. Today, the 600-something inhabitants elect their own parliament and have their own laws, shaped by ideas of community, property and law that have developed and been consolidated over the centuries. But the islanders see their idyll threatened: two British billionaire brothers have been buying up land piece by piece for many years and taking action against local laws and regulations. They themselves see this as a democratisation of Sark, but critics believe that the two want to turn the island into a tax haven for the super-rich. They feel slandered by the shy tycoons' dirty campaigns and threatened in their livelihoods. But mistrust has also prevailed between the islanders, some of whom are on the side of the investors, since the clashes. Thus the tiny island became the scene of a dramatic conflict in which media savvy and financial strength, awareness of tradition and power play a central role.