Porsche heir’s plans to build private tunnel to villa riles up Austrians

AFP | Vienna

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Plans by a billionaire heir of luxury sports car maker Porsche to build a private tunnel and underground garage beneath his mansion on one of Salzburg’s most iconic hills have sparked outrage in the Austrian city.

Emotions have run high since local media revealed that Wolfgang Porsche struck a deal with Salzburg’s former conservative mayor, Harald Preuner, in 2024 to drill an underground private tunnel below his villa on the Kapuzinerberg.

Under the deal, the billionaire paid 40,000 euros ($43,300) to gain the rights to dig a tunnel -- with a garage designed to hold up to a dozen cars -- on city-owned land.

A steep and narrow road that can turn icy when temperatures drop currently leads up to Porsche’s mansion.

Some politicians have expressed outrage since news of the deal broke, complaining that the city council had not been briefed about the heir’s plans.