Report from the Free Cities Conference 2026 in Prospera, Roatan

This year's Free Cities Conference took place for the first time in the free private city of Prospera on the Honduran island of Roatan. I first heard about Prospera from Titus Gebel more than ten years ago, when nothing had yet been built there and negotiations with the Honduran government had only just begun.

Because of the long journey – a flight via Miami with an overnight stay – I had never visited Prospera before. The conference was my opportunity to make up for that. Today, Prospera's Beta Tower is the tallest building on the island of Roatan: a high-rise with a ground floor, three parking levels and ten floors of apartments and offices. As befits a high-rise in the Caribbean, there is also a swimming pool on the roof terrace. Two more towers are planned. Prospera is not yet a state, but it is a place with a great deal of entrepreneurial spirit. Anyone who wants to set up a company under common law can complete all the formalities within 48 hours and get started.

At the conference itself, a large number of projects were once again presented or gave updates. One highlight was certainly Joe Quirk's talk “Let's Make Seasteads Legal”, which was not only interesting and entertaining but in which he was also able to announce that the first house in international waters is ready for occupancy and has been given a Panamanian flag – a house on the open sea is thus treated like a yacht. Tim Stern of Crypto City (a project in Venezuela) was able to report that interest has grown considerably now that the Maduro era is over.

At the Free Cities Awards, one of the winners was the freedom ranking by staatenlos.ch. This ranking compares not only states but also territories within states. Various settings let you find the ranking best suited to your personal situation. In the standard ranking, Prospera comes out on top, ahead of El Salvador. The canton of Zug, the best-placed Swiss territory, only appears in 20th place. On Saturday, the highlight was the debate between Stephan Kinsella and Brian O'Beirne on whether free private cities should protect intellectual property. Kinsella had the better arguments for the view that intellectual property should not be protected.

If you would like to find out more about the conference, a recording of the entire event is available on YouTube on the “Free Cities Foundation” channel.