By Klodian Tomorri
The history of the global economy is filled with well-documented episodes of collective madness. Often, these episodes have culminated in crises that brought even the greatest empires to their knees—such as the Mississippi Bubble or the South Sea Bubble. In other cases, they have devastated the lives of thousands, like the Dutch Tulip Mania.
Yet despite the endless lessons of history, one of humanity’s most enchanting flaws remains forgetfulness. Otherwise, collective economic frenzies would not repeat themselves time and again.
Just look at Albania. Despite its brief experience with a free-market economy, Albania has witnessed multiple waves of collective delusion. First, the infamous pyramid schemes of 1996-1997. Then, a banking sector panic triggered by a priest’s declarations. And more recently, a vertical euphoria—an obsession with 100-story skyscrapers that swept across the capital four or five years ago. A flight toward the skies, but with a leek stuffed in the back pocket.
And yet, the collective lunacy of high-rise towers is now crashing into the cynical limits of reality. Those who once thought they could fly have begun to return to earth—leek and all.
In 2022, Albania’s National Territorial Council approved the development permit for a 60-story tower on Kavaja Street, dubbed the “Bofill Tower” in honor of the Spanish architect behind its design. A year later, the developer received the building permit. But nearly three years on, the site—once known as the Volkswagen corner—shows no sign of a tower, no excavation, not even a fence.
“For three consecutive years, developer Agron Papuli, one of Albania’s largest entrepreneurs, has tried every possible avenue to finance the Bofill Tower—loans, new partners, even a full sale. But there are no loans. No investors. And certainly, no buyers.”
The Bofill Tower is not the only phantom skyscraper haunting Tirana. Another of Bofill’s projects, exotically named “Barcelona,” was also granted a construction permit, but no progress has been made, and the project appears to be heading toward cancellation.
Further along, near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, sits another madness—two 100-story towers called the “Society Towers,” cylindrical in shape and reportedly reaching up to 300 meters high. Elsewhere, another cylindrical folly of nearly 60 stories is planned on Gjergj Fishta Boulevard, near the former European University of Tirana. And these are just a few among the countless PDF blueprints for Tirana’s “New Boulevard.”
The more time passes, the more Tirana is being “invaded” by ghost towers—projects that will never be built—as the collective madness fades at the speed of light, colliding with hard facts. Many of those who once soared on the wings of this skyscraper euphoria are now quietly requesting reductions in their planned floor counts. That, in itself, speaks volumes.
Those who thought they could finance this madness with easy money overlooked a basic detail. Money laundering involves injecting dirty funds into an economic activity to retrieve clean, legitimate profit. When dirty money is injected with no return, it is no longer money laundering—it’s simply a loss. And even the dumbest criminals on Earth don’t burn their cash for nothing.
Fortunately for Albania, this skyscraper lunacy didn’t infect the banks. To their credit, financial institutions have stayed away from these speculative adventurers trying to sell assets they don’t possess. And it’s essential that they continue doing so.
Because one thing is now certain: the skyscraper euphoria is fading fast. The most telling proof lies in the vacant construction sites of these phantom towers—and a revealing anecdote involving a banker. The man initially sought a nine-story building for his bank’s headquarters. Along the way, he was persuaded to go for 16 floors. Eventually, the permit was approved for 21. Now the banker wanders around Tirana asking: “Where on earth do I put these extra 10 floors?” And that, too, is a powerful signal—for the Bank of Albania. The only channel through which this collective skyscraper mania could spiral into a full-blown financial and economic crisis is the banking sector. If that happens, the blame will lie with no one else but the central bank itself.
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