the beach of Areia Preta is a faithful picture 3 x 4 of what has been happening in Natal in last the 20 years. From 'bucolismo' to modernity. In years 1960´s of the last century it was a beach that was difficult to access, where in the afternoons the bohemia occupied its small bars and peixadas, among them the Lara Bar, hangout of the intellectuality of the potiguar. The houses along the seaside were all side by side and only occupied during the summer. A beaten dirt road, below the falésias, was the only narrow way to the beach.

When a visitor (at that time nobody understood very what was a tourist) arrived in Natal, the natives if hurried to take them to Areia Preta, for a swim in the sea and later scaling the hill of Mãe Luiza, where at the top was the beautiful lighthouse imperial and majestic, painted in black and white stripes, indicating the port of Natal and the falésias that advanced to the sea, along its coast..

With passing of the years, it gained a double paved access road, a railing and the Praça da Jangadas, beyond a springboard that signaled the end urbanization, interrupted by the sands of the dunes of Mãe Luiza. And the chic of the natalense began to frequent the stretch not urbanized that became known as Miami Beach. At its beginning, good, next to the Ponta do Morcego, an area of difficult access was chosen for more intimate swimming and, because of this it received the name of the Praia dos Tarados (Perverts).

With the Via Costeira initiating to leave it, Areia Preta gained more visibility and importance. A new appearance modified the bucólica landscape of the old times. Small houses of taipa had yielded their place to that, which we could call - for our standards - mansions and the poor population, pushed by the growth of Natal went up the hill, appearing as the first slum quarter, of Mãe Luiza.

Today, the ridges have taken account of Areia Preta and hide the dunes occupied by the old slum quarter, now transformed into a quarter with good infrastructure. The seaside received a treatment to protect it against the advance of the sea and where the waves broke randomly against the falésias, were filled with earth, originating a beach, divided by gabions, which leave it less pretty, but guarantee its survival.

Along side the jangadas of the fishermen of Mãe Luiza, a sun clock that marks the time of the transformation, the now all white lighthouse almost hidden by the forest of rocks, appears a chic Areia Preta, address of the power and high-society of Rio Grande do North, castled in their apartments, with their sea views, and that reflects the new face of the City of the Sun.