António Muchaxo, founder of iconic Guincho beach restaurant and hotel, dies at 96

António Muchaxo, universally known as Tony do Guincho, died on Saturday, 19 July 2026, at the age of 96. His funeral took place on Monday, 20 July, at the Cemitério da Guia in Cascais, where the municipal council decreed official mourning. For more than five decades, Muchaxo was a central figure of the Cascais coastline, turning a remote beach into a destination that drew European kings, a Hollywood visionary and generations of Portuguese social life.

A life built on the Guincho shore

Muchaxo opened his first restaurant, A Barraca do Muchaxo, in 1975 at the age of 15, working alongside his father. The modest beachside stall grew into an empire of emblematic venues: the Restaurante Muchaxo, the Casa de Chá dos Oitavos, the Restaurante do Abano, and the Estalagem Muchaxo Hotel on Praia do Guincho. The hotel’s official social media account captured the collective sentiment after his death.

There are people who end up becoming part of a landscape. Not just because they are there, but because they help give it identity. Tony was one of them.

The statement reflected a man whose personal story became inseparable from the region’s tourism identity, a view echoed by the mayor of Cascais.

Royal guests and Hollywood in Guincho

Over the decades, the Muchaxo complex welcomed some of the most recognisable names of the 20th century. António Muchaxo himself recalled visits by Umberto II of Italy, the country’s last king, Juan Carlos of Spain, and Argentine first lady Eva Perón. He also described a visit by Walt Disney at a time when Guincho was still a remote and underdeveloped stretch of coast. The restaurant hosted milestone events of Portuguese high society, including the wedding of former President António Ramalho Eanes and his wife Manuela, as well as the wedding of socialite Lili Caneças.

Municipal mourning and civic recognition

Nuno Piteira Lopes, president of the Câmara Municipal de Cascais, announced municipal mourning on the day of the funeral and praised Muchaxo’s civic role.

He leaves an enormous legacy, intertwined with the very history of tourism in Cascais.

Lopes described him as a founder of the Rotary Club de Cascais e Estoril and a figure who supported institutions that consolidated the municipality’s identity. The Rotary Club itself, as well as Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia, issued statements remembering his community work.

Personal tributes

Lili Caneças, who married at the Muchaxo, shared a photograph of a past Christmas dinner and wrote that her family had celebrated with him there only two years ago.

A good part of my life has left with your departure … soon we will meet in another dimension, surrounded by people we love, and we will have a party our way … rest in peace.

Her post drew comments describing the restaurateur as a reference of Cascais, marked by simplicity and a remarkable life journey. António Muchaxo’s funeral rites, held between Sunday and Monday, drew the community he had served and the coastline he helped define.