About
André Jordan
About
André Jordan
“We do the difficult now; the impossible takes a little longer”
Andrzej Franciszek Spitzman Jordan, known as André Jordan, was born on 10 September 1933 in Lwów, then a Polish city (today in Ukraine). Shaped by adversity, he was uprooted at the age of six, after the Nazi invasion of Poland. His family crossed Europe and reached Portugal, staying six months before moving to Rio de Janeiro - time enough to forge lasting ties in a Lisbon welcoming refugees.
His father, Henryk Spitzman Jordan, arrived in Brazil with limited means but soon founded Companhia de Importações, Industrial e Construtora, known as CIIC, responsible for iconic works such as the CBI Esplanada Building in downtown São Paulo, which would become a landmark of modern Brazilian architecture. or the Chopin Building in Rio de Janeiro, inaugurated in the 1950s, still among the marvellous city’s most luxurious buildings.
Educated at a boarding school in the United States, André Jordan developed an interest in politics, particularly in civic issues, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and economic and social action that led to the creation of several market regulating instruments. This was an early foundation for his humanistic, socially minded approach that would later shape his developments, always in close connection with community and nature.
Back to Rio de Janeiro, he began work at 17 as a reporter for Diário Carioca. His passion for journalism and writing continued throughout his life, reflected in several books, including his memoir “A Journey Through Life”.
He also joined his father’s real estate ventures, specialising in sales. After Henryk Jordan’s death in 1967, he wound up the companies - by then internationally spread across France, Portugal and Argentina - and moved to New York, becoming the Head of International Development at Levitt & Sons, a leading U.S. residential developer. With international experience already gained in his father’s businesses in Buenos Aires, he then worked in Puerto Rico. and later in Paris overseeing European sales for a Bahamas development.
“I sat on the hill, looked across the marshes and had a vision.”
In 1971, disenchanted with big international organisations, he returned to Portugal, where his father had had businesses. He founded Planal S.A. and acquired Quinta dos Descabeçados in Almancil, Algarve, where he would build Quinta do Lago, a 645-hectare resort - today one of Europe’s most luxurious.
With architect João Caetano, he launched Quinta do Lago’s master plan, presented to the international press in 1972 after restoring Casa Velha, the first building. André Jordan always believed that major cultural events are a key driver of tourism development, so he launched Algarve International Music Festival in 1973 - a unique event in a region then lacking this type of cultural initiative. A year later, after the Carnation Revolution, Quinta do Lago’s golf course opened.
The State intervened in the project in 1975, and André Jordan returned to Brazil, launching new ventures independently and with the local developer Carvalho Hosken - until he returned to Portugal and regained Quinta do Lago in 1982, relaunching it with a major golf event and a visit by the King and Queen of Spain.
This defining project became synonymous with his name: a visionary able to imagine futures and build them, elevating an entire sector. Hence, he became known as the “father of Portuguese tourism”.
After selling Planal in 1988, André Jordan became Executive Director at Bovis Abroad in London. This real estate company was part of the Bovis Group and had projects in Spain, Portugal, and the Caribbean, including the famed La Manga Club in southern Spain.
In partnership with Bovis Abroad, he created Planbelas SA two years later and acquired the first 100 hectares in a countryside area of estates and manor houses within the Serra da Carregueira forest park, in the Lisbon region. This was the first phase of Belas Clube de Campo, which he called “an ideal place for the worship of nature and the belle vie that defines romanticism”.
He chose to live there, in a residential community with a strong environmental ethos - now in its third expansion phase - earning numerous sustainability awards and pioneering several environmental certifications in Portugal.
In 2011, National Geographic magazine named the Belas Clube de Campo golf course among the world’s top 10 certified by GEO for best environmental management practices, notably in water usage.
“Urban regeneration on this scale had never been seen before.”
Golf brought him immense joy, as he used to say. He built nine golf courses that hosted major events such as the Portugal Open and the Portugal Masters on the European Tour. In 2000, he created the President’s Cup, a charity tournament under the patronage of the President of Portugal, Jorge Sampaio. The tournament would would later be resumed under President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
From Quinta do Lago to Vilamoura XXI, André Jordan made the Algarve a premier golf destination, drawing international players and placing the region among the world’s best places to play.
In 1995, back to major projects in the Algarve, André Jordan acquired control of Lusotur – launching the Vilamoura XXI megaproject with the Municipality of Loulé, including the regeneration of Vilamoura and a 1,700-hectare resort centred around the marina and five golf courses.
Despite the high challenge of revamping this site, within a year, Vilamoura had been transformed through the joint effort of both private owners and the resorts management company, Lusotur. The success of this endeavour became a case study for the Urban Land Institute, an organisation of international experts in real estate studies.
In addition to golf, new restaurants and nightlife venues followed. Expansion brought new villages, environmental awards and certifications. A decade later, André Jordan sold Lusotur to the Spanish group Prasa. Also in 2005, Victoria Clube de Golfe hosted the World Cup. Avenida Praia da Falésia was recently renamed Avenida Comendador André Jordan.
A Duke of Edinburgh's Award Fellow in the UK, with the goal of fostering active citizenship and initiatives that complement academic education among young people, André Jordan launched its Portuguese version - the Infante Dom Henrique Award. He was also the first Chair of the Urban Land Institute Portugal and one of the four co-founders of the Portuguese Association of Real Estate Developers and Investors (Associação Portuguesa de Promotores e Investidores Imobiliários, APPII), in 1991.
A lifelong patron of the arts, he joined the Serralves Foundation’s Board of Directors, in Porto and remained active in writing and in the Group’s holding company.
André Jordan passed away on 9 February 2024, at the age of 90. He left four children, nine grandchildren, having lived a rich and fulfilling life, with a remarkable contribution to Portugal’s development.
Awards and Honours
Across Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, England and the United States, André Jordan stood out as an entrepreneur, real estate developer, and driving force in tourism – renown also for his human quality, character and commitment to international cultural and social organisations.
His unique life and work were repeatedly recognised at the highest level.
Admiral Tamandaré Medal awarded by the Brazilian Navy.
André Jordan receives the Key to the City of New York.
Appointed Honorary Consul of Brazil in the Algarve.
The main axis of Quinta do Lago was named Avenida André Jordan, upon decision by the Municipality of Loulé.
Commander of the Order of Commercial Merit by the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic.
André Jordan becomes the chair of the Infante Dom Henrique Award.
Appointed Fellow of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award World Fellowship.
Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, awarded by President Jorge Sampaio.
Gold Municipal Medal of Merit, Municipality of Loulé.
Gold Medal of Tourist Merit, Turismo de Portugal.
Best Foreign Real Estate Developer, Marbella Meeting Point.
Grand Officer of the Order of Rio Branco, Government of Brazil.
Grand Officer of the Order of Infante Dom Henrique, Presidency of the Portuguese Republic.
Honorary Citizen of Rio de Janeiro.
Algarve Tourism Gold Medal.
Doctor Honoris Causa at ISCTE.
Doctor Honoris Causa at Universidade do Algarve.
Gold Municipal Medal of Merit, Municipality of Sintra.
World Travel Leaders Award, Londres.
Pedro Ernesto Medal of Merit, Municipality of Rio de Janeiro.
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE-Hon) by Queen Elizabeth II.
National Tourism Award - Career, Turismo de Portugal.
Grand Cross of the Order of Commercial Merit, awarded by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.