It sat like a ball on a  Ultimately, it had to roll down one side of the hill and collapse into democracy, or roll the other way and devolve into the personality-cult despotism of a local tyrant.
It could go either way, politically.
There are good beaches, 10 golf courses within a 20-km (12-?­mile) radius of the town, and ample opportunities for tennis, horseback-riding, and windsurfing.