Nestled in the wooded hills above Marbella, La Zagaleta is considered to be one of the most exclusive country clubs in all of Europe. We look at the reasons why.
Security and Privacy
The gated villa community of La Zagaleta has a certain aura about it. This begins with the fact that not everyone can just drive in and out of it. In fact, you need special clearance or to be an owner to pass through the security entrance, which is the most strongly enforced in all of the Costa del Sol. This is why many of the most prestigious and famous people choose to own and live there.
Setting
The setting is another principle of privilege, for as you leave Marbella and the coastal strip behind, and follow the road that winds gently uphill, you enter a world of wooded hills with spectacular vistas back across the valleys, golf courses and suburbs to the sea—with Gibraltar and Africa in the distance.
Space and Nature
With no apartments or hotels, and just 200 luxurious villas and mansions set upon a former hunting estate of 900 hectares, La Zagaleta offers space, views and tranquillity within a beautiful natural setting where deer roam and cascading rivers follow down the gradient to the sea. It is the perfect place for hiking and horse riding, but exclusive to residents and their guests only.
Provenance
A former royal hunting estate, the entire area was acquired by the Roussel family in the 1960s, with the area concomitant to La Zagaleta bought by Adnan Kashoggi some years later. He hosted lavish parties at his villa in what he called La Baraka, but the name of the estate definitively became La Zagaleta when it was acquired by a Spanish-Swiss consortium of investors in the early 1990s, with a view to creating one of the most prestigious country clubs in Europe.
Country Club de Luxe
This is exactly what they did, limiting building to luxurious villas and mansions on large private grounds – some with personal helipads – and ensuring architectural standards and a very high level of infrastructure and services. Today La Zagaleta offers a select clubhouse and two 18-hole golf courses, a riding centre, tennis club, fresh produce convenience store and a dedicated concierge service.
Outstanding Villas
Many of the most beautiful villas in Marbella are located in La Zagaleta, ranging from rustic and traditional to modern and avant-garde. Most are architectural works of art, with luxuriously styled interiors and an inimitable range of features that include home entertainment areas including even bowling alleys and cinemas, bars, private spas, outdoor pools and leisure zones, guest accommodation and professional service areas.
The properties and lifestyle offered here, just ten minutes from Marbella and the coast, indeed represent a European elite class of living.