Brazil Ponders an Erotic Theme Park, With No Sex Allowed
Erotic sculpture park? Check. Bumper cars designed like genitalia? Check. Snack bar serving aphrodisiac recipes? Check. Sex on the premises? Uh, better not.
Entrepreneurs in Brazil are seeking to build an adults-only theme park called ErotikaLand near the city of Piracicaba, about two hours’ drive from São Paulo, and they hope to open its doors by 2018. But the project is setting off debate over public displays of sexuality in Brazil, where Carnival celebrations feature scantily clad dancers and thousands of short-stay love motels strive to please an exacting clientele.
“We cannot be known as the capital of sex,” Matheus Erler, a member of the Christian Socialist Party who leads the Piracicaba City Council, told reporters. He said he was worried that the park would attract “debauched individuals.”
“If attendees want to take things to another level, they can go to a nearby motel — which we will operate.”
The businessman in charge of the project, Mauro Morata, tried to ease some local concerns when he made clear that the park would be built outside the city limits. Still, municipal leaders in Piracicaba and nearby São Pedro have maneuvered to block the project. Mr. Morata says he is pressing ahead anyway with his search for an acceptable site, and emphasizes the project’s economic upsides: 250 new jobs and thousands of visitors who can afford $100 apiece to get in.
As for the racy theme, the investors behind ErotikaLand say the park will promote a healthy approach to sex. Parkgoers will be able to tour a museum exploring the history of sexuality, and employees will promote condom use. The park will have a “sex playground,” but it will feature a labyrinth, Ferris wheel and water slide.
What the customers cannot have, the investors say, is any actual intercourse — at least, not in the park.
“This won’t be a place for nuns, but it’s not like we’re trying to recreate Sodom and Gomorrah,” Mr. Morata said. “If attendees want to take things to another level, they can go to a nearby motel — which we will operate.”