PORTRAIT. The ‘Ewings of West Flanders’: Vandermarliere tobacco family builds luxury complex on Tenerife: “Money has to roll”

The Vandermarliere family is making itself heard again. After selling their tobacco company in Wervik for 475 million euros ten years ago and thereby taking over, among other things, biscuit manufacturer Destrooper, they are now building a luxury hotel complex on Tenerife. Portrait of a family that seems to have walked right out of ‘Dallas’ and in which ancestor Guido (80) – eternal cigar in the mouth – has only one credo: “Being a good patron, that gives pleasure in life. And don’t put the money in the bank.”

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