La Zagaleta Golf and Country Club is considered by many to be one of the most exclusive private residential estates in Europe.
“La Zagaleta is the gold standard of country club living!”
La Zagaleta Golf & Country Club is a private residential and golf estate set in about 900 hectares of natural woodlands and hills in Benahavís. “Only the best is good enough” was the concept behind the exclusive project of La Zagaleta Golf & Country Club, with unparalleled views of the surrounding mountainside, the Mediterranean Sea and further on out to Gibraltar and the North African coast.
It is a privately owned estate open only to residents, their families, and their guests. The building volume is low density, about 32%, with a maximum of 420 homes on the estate, extensive luxury detached houses on big plots, and the remainder being a natural reserve with lakes and woodland.
The estate offers two championship golf courses, two clubhouses, an equestrian centre, tennis and paddle courts and a heliport. The estate has stringent access control with security 24/7, entry is by invitation only, and all guests are obliged to ID check-in at the gate.
La Zagaleta Golf & Country Club is all about a very private, luxurious lifestyle. The natural environment is stunning, and living here means enjoying the long summers and blue skies of Southern Spain.
La Zagaleta Golf & Country Club in Benahavís, Spain, is situated south of Marbella, in the hills of the Sierra de las Nieves Natural Park. Only 12 kilometres from glamorous Marbella city at the foothills of La Concha mountain. La Zagaleta lies 70 kms from Malaga´s international airport, about a 40-minute drive on the Mediterranean motorway.
La Zagaleta offers residents and visitors to Marbella convenient access to all the city´s cultural activities, shopping experiences and nightlife.
La Zagaleta´s stunning location has unparalleled 360-degree views of some of the most beautiful scenery, including the Mediterranean sea coastline, Gibraltar and North Africa, and the La Concha mountain range. It is also an excellent base for exploring nearby beaches, cities or mountain retreats like Ronda.
La Zagaleta has a fabled history. It was a hunting estate owned by the Saudi Arabian businessman and arms dealer, Adnan Khashoggi, known for his lavish business deals and lifestyle. In the early 1980s, he was estimated to have been worth US4 billion, a colossal fortune in the 80s.
A member of the international jet, his extravagant lifestyle became synonymous with the images of the rich and famous of the time. Khashoggi was one of the first to have a superyacht and private jets and entertained in grand style in his hunting lodge “La Baraka” in Behahavís.
In this luxurious environment, he wooed some of the most influential people of his day.
In 1990 La Baraka was purchased by a group of investors led by Mr Enrique Pérez Flores and thus started La Zagaleta SA. He envisioned creating a super private estate to live in harmony with the surroundings in the foothills of the Ronda mountain. However, only 420 homes are to be built, and top facilities are offered for the use of the residents.
Firstly they had to put in the infrastructure, a colossal undertaking to turn 900 hectares of rustic mountainside into plots, and over 80km of internal roads had to be built.
The first golf course, known as the old course, was opened in 1992, and Club de Campo La Zagaleta was born. His son Mr Ignacio Pérez Díaz, is the board´s executive chairman and carries on his father´s vision to create the most private and secure estate in Spain.
Today La Zagaleta is a fully secure exclusive, luxurious residential development with two 18-hole golf courses, clubhouses, stables and a country club. The facilities are maintained to an incredibly high standard, and it is the very epitome of privacy and discretion.
La Zagaleta is considered one of the most exclusive private estates in Europe, offering its residents a unique lifestyle experience. It is a privately owned estate, meaning the interior roads are private and only accessible to residents and authorized personnel. La Zagaleta operates a strict access control with ID required and has fully licenced armed security guards on duty 24/7.
La Zagaleta Golf & Country Club has almost 900 hectares of forests, green areas, low-density buildings, and only 420 homes ever planned.
La Zagaleta´s on-site facilities are unrivalled in the south of Spain, with two private championship golf courses and a private members club with country club facilities.
Properties in La Zagaleta are some of the grandest homes in Southern Spain. Magnificent Villas and mansions with stunning sea views to Gibraltar and North Africa from their elevated position in the municipality of Benahavís.
La Zagaleta started to develop in the early 90s. The trend then was to build beautiful Andalusian-style mansions, in a modern rustic style, with features utilizing authentic materials and sourcing from Spain artefacts and antique doors, more or less hacienda-type homes.
Over the past ten years, the trend has been to build modern contemporary homes designed by some of the best architects in the world.
These mansions are equipped as super homes with every extra feature demanded by discerning buyers at this level. Properties in Zagaleta have evolved to offer the most exciting innovations and the latest technology available in smart homes, energy saving and sustainable homes.
Since the Covid pandemic, La Zagaleta has seen a surge in demand as our mindset changed and working from home became a real option. In 2022 a record number of homes changed hands and all the older villas which tended to be on the best plots were suddenly gone!
Currently, the starting price for an older home with at least 700m built is going to be from about Euro 4.5m upwards, and it will be necessary to renovate that property. Villa Cullinan started a trend of mega-modern villas and was sold in 2020. The asking price was 28.000.000. Currently, Villa Enso is on offer at 34.0000.000 euros; it has 16 bedrooms and 3.500m2 of built area.
These amounts indicate that La Zagaleta now ranks as the most expensive real estate in Spain, according to a survey by the top real estate portal Idealista. The average price of a property advertised with Idealista is about 6.7 million euros. More than the palaces and mansions sold in Barcelona in the Avenida de Tibidabo, the second-highest real estate according to figures from the Idealista big data.
La Zagaleta is, without doubt, the most secure private estate in the South of Spain and Marbella. Entry to this 900-hectare estate is only possible via two strictly controlled and monitored gates. In addition, the entire estate is fenced with cameras positioned along the way, and routine patrols keep watch 24/7.
Privacy within this gated community is guaranteed. Each home is set on its grounds with extensive green zones between each property.
Owners can rely on complete discretion as staff are expected to uphold a code of silence regarding residents in La Zagaleta. The estate has owners from many walks of life, some household names, celebrities and CEOs of major corporate companies.
La Zagaleta offers its owners a country club lifestyle with two private championship golf courses. Other sports facilities include tennis courts and an equestrian centre for owners of horses and ponies. The equestrian stables have a riding club with Arab and Spanish horses and ponies for the children. Members may use the Club´s horses or use livery for members´ horses.
There are two championship golf courses with 36 parkland holes. The original course, known as the old or members course, was designed in 1991 by Bradford Benz and redesigned by Marc Westenborg in 2016. The picture-perfect views from the clubhouse down along the Old Course integrate perfectly with the wildlife and vegetation of the environment.
The second golf course designed by Steve Marnoch opened in 2005 and was a demanding project to shape the golf course and landscape design. There are no tee times on these exclusive courses, and members have availability at will. Bringing services and facilities to an unprecedented level, La Zagaleta offers its Club members its second and exclusive par 70 golf course.
The peace, tranquillity and silence are only broken occasionally by the sighting of deer, buck or mouflon, permanent residents in La Zagaleta. There are marked walking and cycling trails, which is a beautiful way to see the estate, enjoy the breathtaking views and natural surroundings, and keep fit!
Tennis and paddle courts offer tennis lovers the chance to practice their favourite sport with two professional tennis courts, one hard court, one clay court, and a paddle tennis court.
The original country club has a golf pro shop, a gourmet supermarket with exceptional fresh produce and a full-time restaurant and bar for the members. In addition, members can use the facilities for private events such as weddings and parties for families and guests. The new course has a second clubhouse with a restaurant and snack bar.
Last, there is a private helipad for owners and a complete concierge-style property management and services company.
La Zagaleta operates a private members club which is only open to the owners and their guests and family within the estate. The number of owner members is capped to ensure availability and accessibility to the golf, tennis and equestrian facilities and clubhouses.
Membership is by application only and is not automatic when buying a home. It is an individual or family membership and does not transfer with the property.
La Zagaleta, from the beginning, was aimed at the elite client and attracted top CEOs from multinational companies, particularly in Switzerland and Austria. The kind of client who prefers to remain anonymous values their privacy and expects discretion.
The exceptional facilities of La Zagaleta, particularly the golf courses, lend themselves to corporate clients who not only want a refuge for themselves and family but also play golf and entertain and invite clients and friends. Residents in La Zagaleta come from all over the world, and it is a very International group of owners nowadays.
More recently, the residents are younger, particularly from the tech and start-up industry, and either work or have already sold their companies. Looking for a better European climate for all-year living, they move to Marbella with their families, and the children attend the excellent International schools in Marbella.
With privacy and security being of utmost importance, the facilities available within the urbanization are private. For the sole use of residents, the kids can learn golf with the pro teacher at La Zagaleta or tennis or learn to ride at the equestrian centre.
It is effortless to look at something and take it for granted as a pretty picture, but sometimes it is necessary to look under the surface to appreciate that what you are looking at is unique.
At la Zagaleta, the rich and abundant flora fills the air with fragrances; cork trees, conifers, olive trees, oaks, dogwoods and rockrose bushes all provide shelter and food sources for the animals living on the estate.
Species such as deer, buck, mouflon, Hispanic goats, wild boar and many types of birds have their homes here, and the deer, in particular, can often be seen on the golf course or the hills or crossing the roads. The wild pigs are hardly ever spotted, but now and again, you see a mommy pig with her tribe.
La Zagaleta estate offers stunning natural scenery: horse trails, hiking and mountain e-biking with guided routes from 30 mins to a couple of hours.
Residents have endless opportunities to discover nature and enjoy stunning views on their doorstep without leaving the estate.
La Zagaleta has a full-time Property Management company called La Zagaleta Services. Set up to specifically cater for the residents´ requirements and includes home-delivery laundry, garden and pool maintenance, catering and entertaining services, chauffeur and secretarial services, babysitting, insurance and banking facilities.
Peace of mind for owners who do not live full-time at La Zagaleta, and they can arrange to have their homes wholly taken care of by professional gardeners and maintenance teams.
La Zagaleta has gained international recognition for location, exclusivity, privacy and security, but also it is planning, to reduce the number of homes built from thousands to just around 420.
Plots within the urbanization range from 3,000 m2 to 10,000 m2, each separated from the next by 10 metres of a green zone. It means no one is too close to their neighbours and assures residents a high level of privacy. It also allows wildlife more freedom of movement, hence protecting the natural environment.
This magnificent Country Club has been granted various awards as a development and including the following: International Property Awards, Homes Overseas Awards, Bellevue Best Property Agents and Developers Awards, CNBC Europe and Africa Property Awards, and Overseas Living Luxury Lifestyle Awards.
La Zagaleta development has been featured and received acclaim from numerous national and international editorials, including Diario Expansión, Propiedades, ABC, The European Magazine, Finest Magazine, Country Life, The Times and the Financial Times, The Telegraph, International Homes Magazine, Der Spiegel, Golfers & Co., and has been presented on various television channels like CNBC, Via Digital, Swiss and German T.V., etc.
Mary Dunne Owner & CEO
Mary Dunne is an experienced Real Estate Broker in Marbella with over two decades of expertise in the luxury property sector. She offers profound insights into Marbella’s luxury market, backed by her extensive experience with property transactions’ financial and legal facets. Her deep market knowledge positions her as a trusted expert, providing tailored experiences for high-end clients and showcasing Marbella’s lifestyle.
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