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CARTAGENA, Colombia — The history, tropical charm and improved security of this exotic Spanish colonial city, so in vogue with conventioneers and cruise ship passengers, has been luring increasingnumbers of foreigners interested in real estate.
As the effects of the global financial crisis have eased, people from Spain, Italy, Venezuela and the United States are buying restored colonialmansions inside the old city as well as modern condos in beach areas, particularly the booming coastline north of this city of 1.4 million.
“I wouldn’t have considered it five or six years ago, but Uribegave the country relief from the guerrillas,” said Mr. Cabrera. He was referring to the former president, Álvero Uribe, who used United States military aid to subdue the leftist insurgents who had beenchallenging the government for decades.
At the time, guerrillas controlled one third of Colombia, including much of the rural area south of Cartagena. There were an average of 10 kidnappings a dayacross the country.
But Colombia, and especially Cartagena, has experienced a remarkable turnaround in recent years, morphing from tourism pariah to global hot spot before Mr. Uribe left office lastsummer. An average of 29 cruise ships a month now stop at the city during the eight-month season, up from just four a month in 2004, said Luis Ernesto Araújo, the city’s tourism director.
The ships’passengers spend their time in Cartagena shopping in places like the Bodegas, a converted slave dungeon, and exploring narrow streets like those in a Gabriel García Márquez novel. The NobelPrize-winning writer owns a mansion here.
“People come here and are enchanted by something that’s hard to define. The national slogan, ‘Colombia Is Passion,’ says it well,” Mr. Araújo said. “People come andrealize Cartagena is a colonial relic that hasn’t been seriously touched.”
Tourists’ increased familiarity with the area has turned many foreigners into buyers, said Rafael Abondano, a developer who...