“I’ve seen the protests in Albania. What’s going on?” With this question, Dua Lipa opened the conversation with Lea Ypi on her podcast, turning the spotlight on the protests against construction in protected areas. Lea Ypi spoke about a development model that, according to her, links nature protection with democracy and accountability, arguing that Albania should not sell its natural resources for short-term interests. (Instagram)
Even the choice of the interlocutor had its own symbolism. Lea Ypi is the author, whose first book was publicly promoted by Edi Rama in an event that was widely used as a cultural success of the government. Today she is one of the most critical voices against the development model followed by the government. This is her right and no one asks an intellectual to remain loyal to a government. But equally legitimate is the question of whether principles have the same weight when you are in the spotlight of the government and when you are no longer.
However, the biggest paradox is neither the podcast nor Lea Ypi.
The paradox is called Cape Merli.
For years, Dua Lipa has bought a villa in this exclusive complex. The villa is actually built in a protected area and has so little transparency that you could say it is without a permit. There has even been criticism that Edi Rama gifted her the permit precisely to use her fame to invite as many tourists to Albania as possible. Not in Kep Merli, because you can't enter there if you want to go beach-hopping as an ordinary citizen. The barrier at the entrance is an obstacle for those who don't have villas there or who don't know the builder. Many of the protest's inspirations even spend their holidays in this privileged place "fulfilling" these conditions.
It is an area that has been at the center of debate for years about the way it has been developed and the restrictions on public access. It is precisely this development model that is being protested in Albania today.
No one denies Dua Lipa's success or wealth. The issue is not whether she can afford a villa. The issue is whether you can talk about protecting protected areas, while the symbol of your vacation is a complex that for many Albanians embodies precisely the debate about how those areas have been treated.
Next time, they don't have to bother explaining the protest. Just record the podcast from Kep Merli. Let the camera not focus on the guests, but on the panorama. It will show much better than any argument how thin the line between activism and privilege can become.
