Where A Spy Was Born

In The Heart Of The Portuguese Riviera, Estoril Was Once A Hub For Espionage, And The Birthplace Of The Fictional James Bond

- Akanksha Singh

There is something about the half-hour drive from Lisbon to Cascais. Perhaps it is the azure seaside and palm-lined roads of the Portuguese Riviera. Or perhaps it is the fact that I am en route to Hotel Palácio in Estoril, where World War II spies cooled their heels on neutral Portuguese soil and where, consequently, agents and double agents openly crossed paths.

I’m particularly interested in one agent, James Bond. Or rather, I am interested in his creator, Ian Fleming, a former member of the Naval Intelligence Division. Fleming created Bond after having stayed in Estoril in 1941. In fact, the casino in Casino Royale is none other than Casino Estoril, one of Europe’s largest.

When I pull up to the hotel, with its grand 1930s facade— ivory and cream with wrought iron balconies—I recall the scene in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service where Bond, played by George Lazenby, arrives in his Aston Martin. I arrive via a comparatively less glamorous Uber, albeit, on an equally important mission: to have the famed martini in Bar Estoril, aptly nicknamed the “spy bar.”