Bluceira designs senior longevity retreats in Portugal

November 7, 2024

Bluceira is bringing the longevity secrets of the world's 'Blue Zones' to the Portuguese coast with retreats designed specifically for older adults. Olivia Palamountain reports

Bluceira is a wellness retreat located in Ericeira, Portugal, offering holistic programs focused on improving the quality of life for individuals over 60.

The company has now released a series of specialised retreats to help older guests adopt the lifestyle habits of "Blue Zone" communities known for their exceptional longevity, such as Okinawa and Sardinia.

The concept represents a novel approach to later-life wellness, with an extended duration of three weeks designed to embed lasting lifestyle changes rather than offering a brief retreat experience. "People that live in the blue zones – Okinawa, Japan; Ikaria, Greece; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; and Loma Linda, California – can often live past 100 years, and Ericeira closely matches those areas in terms of what makes the people who live there thrive," explains co-founder Antonie Debuse.

Launching in 2025, the programme takes place in a region just a 45-minute drive out of Lisbon that mirrors these celebrated blue zones - areas where people frequently live beyond 100 years.

The 20-night retreats, limited to eight guests, combine daily physical coaching with workshops on nutrition, sleep and stress management. Unusually for wellness programmes, they emphasise community integration, with guests participating in local projects including collaborative gardening and creating ceramic murals in the town.

Meals are created by private chefs who prepare food using local ingredients, while activities include cooking classes, market tours and community dinners, alongside guided visits and evening social gatherings.Bluceira's origins stem from co-founder Amélie Roujou de Boubée's search for alternatives to traditional senior care. Inspired by an innovative Dutch dementia village and watching her toddler interact with her grandfather, she envisioned a different approach to later-life living.

She partnered with Antonie Debuse, her friend of nearly 50 years, to develop the concept, timing their venture with their own life transitions as their children entered adulthood.

"It turns out that you can, in fact, still learn new tricks when you're over 60, and we've developed an experience that is long and instructive enough to cement real changes that will improve daily life for the better long after guests return home," says co-founder Amélie Roujou de Boubée.The retreats are based in two different venues in and around Ericeira: Quinta Raposeiros and The Long Barn. Prices start from €290 per day for a double room or €350 per day for a single room, inclusive of accommodation, meals, beverages, all activities, guided visits, and daily coaching. Rates vary depending on the selected period.