Tomorrow the Blue Wave Makes History

Tomorrow the Blue Wave Makes History

June 24, 2026

This morning, the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant reports on its front page that Curaçao is being developed at a rapid pace to accommodate tourism. Tourism is booming. In 2019, fewer than half a million visitors came to Curaçao. Last year, that number had already grown to more than 700,000.

The article also highlights the downside. The island is becoming increasingly unaffordable for local residents, who are gradually being pushed aside by foreign investors.

At the same time, we read that healthcare is in crisis, despite—or perhaps partly because of—the opening of the new Curaçao Medical Center (CMC) in November 2019. There are reportedly around one thousand people waiting for surgery. Waiting times can stretch for months. I recently heard that it can take as long as eight months to undergo eye surgery. The advice seems simple: try not to get sick. And if you do get sick, make sure you have enough money to purchase healthcare abroad.

Last Sunday, I visited the restaurant at Caracas Bay. The same bay that appears destined to be developed for tourism at any cost. The same bay that will increasingly be sacrificed to concrete, even though we do not have enough workers to support all the development projects already underway.

There, I ran into a senior professional from the mental healthcare sector. She told me, “You write interesting pieces, but you should also write more about the crisis in mental healthcare.”

I replied that I do so regularly. Still, she had a point. It is no longer only young people and the elderly who are struggling. More and more people are experiencing mental and emotional pressure. Ironically, nature is one of the most effective medicines for mental well-being. Yet it is precisely that nature that we are rapidly sacrificing.

Later today, I received a message from my former lawyer, who is no longer my attorney but has become a dear friend. She was seeking information following an article about the poor state of elderly care on Curaçao. Perhaps I am generalizing, but not in a way that does violence to reality.

Tomorrow, the Blue Wave will make history. That alone is an achievement of extraordinary proportions. Yet after the final whistle, the challenges we face will not have disappeared. If anything, some of them may become even greater. A successful World Cup campaign will only increase international interest in Curaçao. More visitors, more investment, and greater demand will place additional pressure on our infrastructure, natural environment, healthcare system, and society.

We used to be the best-kept secret. Perhaps that was a blessing. At the time, we did not see it that way. We wanted to be visible. We wanted to be on the world map.

Now we are.

Be careful what you wish for. You might just get it.

Miguel Goede