Colombia: a macabre holiday destination

Seventeen years after being gunned down by police as he fled over the roof of his hideout, Colombian cocaine king Pablo Escobar is back. This time he’s not public enemy number one but a tourist attraction, drawing visitors to his old stomping ground, the city of Medellin.

The man who declared war on the Colombian state, blew a commercial airliner out of the sky, assassinated a presidential candidate and murdered thousands is now an asset like the colonial architecture of Bogota or the beaches of the Caribbean coast. Medellin, an industrial city without many places of interest to tourists, now offers a variety of “Pablo tours,” which allow the curious to visit the grave of this “real-life gangster,” as well as his luxurious prison and the house where he died. One tour operator has hit the jackpot: an afternoon with the Escobar family, where for only $96 members of the public can chat to Escobar’s brother, have coffee in the deceased drug lord’s house, and even try on his signature fur hat.

Pablo’s old country estate, the Hacienca Los Napoles, where he kept his collection of exotic animals, threw wild parties, and drowned enemies in the pool, is now a theme park with rides and the trafficker’s giant dinosaur models. The main attraction of the national police museum in Bogota is a reverential display of Escobar’s possessions: his custom-built Harley Davidson, gold-plated pistols, and desk with hidden compartments. The Escobar family home in Medellin is slowly being turned into a museum complete with Pablo memorabilia, and exotic animals from his private collection are on display in the city zoo.

Medellin, once the world’s most dangerous city, has become a poster child for urban regeneration. Instead of trying to hide from its notorious past, the city is turning its notoriety into profits by trading on the dark old days.

“Medellin has moved on,” says Jamie Gerig, who runs the meet-the-Escobars tour. “It’s now a beautiful, safe city, but we can’t ignore what happened.”

Colombia as a whole faces the same dilemma: how to reconcile its violent history, which is far from over in some parts of the country, with its bright future as a leading oil exporter and holiday destination. The tourist board’s latest slogan plays on the country’s dangerous image, rather than trying to ignore it: “Colombia: the only risk is wanting to stay.”

With Escobar gone, many of his old associates dead or in US jails, and the cocaine cartels broken up into more manageable chunks, Colombia is moving on. But the burgeoning Pablo industry reveals the country’s conflicted relationship with its past. Escobar remains a controversial figure who funded schools and sports clubs with his drug millions as well as spreading terror and death. “He is both loved and hated in Colombia,” says Gerig. “Pablo is more than just the man who killed."

Colombia can’t escape its history—but it can convert it into a lucrative tourist attraction.

Read Tom Streithorst's "Letter from Colombia" in Prospect's September issue, out 26th August