Six black Mercedes transfer vehicles moving through the streets of Paroikia, the main town of Paros, on Saturday night signalled that someone of note was travelling through the island.

The presence of the imposing 147-metre superyacht Opera, valued at 500,000,000 euros and anchored off Alyki, largely solved the mystery of who that person was.

The owner of this floating palace, and a passenger in one of the transfer vehicles, was Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, and a senior member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi.

Al Nahyan chose Greece for his holidays again this summer, just as he did last year, once more picking Paros.

On Saturday, the last Saturday of August, he dined at the restaurant Crios with around 30 guests, while at least 10 members of his personal security detail kept a discreet watch nearby.

To prepare for the dinner, the sheikh’s personal chef, named Namig, had visited the restaurant at least three times beforehand to sample dishes from the menu. He tailored the final selections to the preferences of Al Nahyan and his party while keeping the character of authentic Greek cuisine intact.

The 10 bodyguards discreetly accompanied Al Nahyan and his guests at Crios, which had been booked exclusively for the group. Only two or three additional tables were used, seated with specific parties, so that the restaurant would not appear empty.

Starters included dolmades, spanakopita and veal meatballs, while the main courses featured steamed sea urchin, veal with orzo pasta, slow-roasted lamb and grilled goat. Dinner concluded with a chocolate dessert and seasonal fruit.

Afterwards, the deputy prime minister and the rest of the party boarded the vans again, which took them to where Opera’s tenders were waiting to return them to the yacht.

Last year, Opera was spotted off Sardinia, in the cosmopolitan Costa Smeralda area, anchored in Cala di Volpe bay, where many of the world’s largest superyachts moor.

Al Nahyan is considered one of the wealthiest people in the world and is a prominent member of the Al Nahyan family, which rules the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The secrecy the family maintains around its business affairs is such that even authoritative financial publications like Forbes have been unable to determine the exact size of his personal fortune. Estimates gathered with difficulty place it somewhere between 20 billion and 40 billion euros, though even that figure cannot be considered fully reliable.

Al Nahyan is the ninth son of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder of the United Arab Emirates, and was born on 30 April 1972 in Abu Dhabi. He studied political science and, at 51, holds the position of Deputy Prime Minister in addition to Foreign Minister. He is married with five children.

Opera, which he took delivery of from the Lürssen shipyard two years ago, cost 400,000,000 euros to build. It can accommodate 36 guests across 18 suites, with a crew of up to 50. The yacht has a gym, sauna, cinema room and beauty salon, typically cruises at 18 knots, and can travel 5,000 nautical miles thanks to fuel tanks with a capacity of 900,000 litres.

A few hours after the dinner, the yacht left Paros bound for Athens, where it docked at Flisvos Marina on Sunday.