Punta del Este is a city and resort on the Atlantic Coast in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. Punta del Este is also the name of the municipality to which the city belongs. Although the city has a year-round population of about 9,280, the summer season greatly adds to this number.

Punta del Este – with its many beaches, elegant seaside homes, yacht harbor, high-rise apartment buildings, pricey hotels and glitzy restaurants – is one of South America’s most glamorous resorts, extremely popular with Argentines and Brazilians, and easily the most expensive place in Uruguay. Celebrity watchers have a full-time job here. Punta is teeming with big names, and local gossipmongers keep regular tabs on who’s been sighted where. Surrounding towns caught up in the whole Punta mystique include the famed club zone of La Barra to the east and Punta Ballena to the west.