The avenue of the Elysian Fields (Champs-Élysées) is no longer French. As the French newspaper Le Monde reports in an article, 20% of the properties on what many consider to be “the most beautiful avenue in the world” are owned by Qatar, or rather by Qatari families and investment funds.

According to the newspaper, this development is due to the transnational agreements signed in the 1990s between France and Qatar, which provided for tax and other incentives for Qatari citizens who would like to buy property in France, while the presence of property buyers from other countries, starting with the US, is also significant.

According to the newspaper’s calculations, the facades of the shops located on the avenue and owned by Qatari citizens are at least 390 metres, out of 1,300 metres of the facades of all the buildings on the avenue. The result of this situation is the soaring property prices on Elysian-Pedian Avenue and the gradual shrinking of the number of people living in the area. According to the newspaper, the monthly cost of renting a shop on the avenue is between EUR 1,000 and EUR 1,500 per square metre, while the number of residents has fallen by 50 % in the last 50 years. The newspaper also points out that 36% of the apartments around the Champs-Elysées avenue are vacant and belong to foreigners who tend to visit Paris for a few days a year.