La Zagaleta Golf and Country Club is considered by many to be one of the most exclusive private residential estates in Europe. Located only a short drive from the centre of Marbella on the Costa del Sol of Spain, and offering the ultimate in security, privacy and views, “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, near the vibrant town of Marbella.
First opening in 1994, it is considered to be one of the most exclusive gated private residential areas in Europe, open only to residents, their families, and guests. “Only the best is good enough” was the concept behind La Zagaleta, which offers unparalleled views of the surrounding mountainside, the Mediterranean Sea, Gibraltar and the North African coast. The building density is low, with a volume of about 32% and a maximum of 420 homes on the estate, offering luxury detached homes on spacious plots. As a result, La Zagaleta has gained international recognition for its location, exclusivity, privacy, security, and low-density planning, offering the ultimate private elite and luxurious lifestyle in the Costa del Sol area.
With privacy and security being of utmost importance, La Zagaleta offers a complete range of private facilities for the sole use of residents, members and their guests, including two golf courses and a driving range, two clubhouses, sports activities, a heliport, a horse riding club, a luxury supermarket, and a choice of restaurants.
La Zagaleta Golf & Country Club in Benahavís is situated north-west of Marbella, Spain, in the Sierra de las Nieves Natural Park hills. Only 12 kilometres from the glamorous Marbella city located at the foothills of La Concha mountain, La Zagaleta is 70 km by car from Malaga´s international airport, about a 40-minute drive on the Mediterranean AP7 motorway. La Zagaleta´s stunning location has unparalleled 360-degree views of some of the most beautiful natural scenery and convenient access to all the Marbella´s high-end amenities, beaches and sporting activities, shopping experiences and nightlife, including the vibrant offerings of places like Puerto Banus, Puente Romano and the Marbella Golden Mile.
There are several schools within a 15-minute radius of La Zagaleta, including Aloha International and the British International College, among other excellent schools in the Marbella area. It is also an excellent base for exploring nearby beaches, cities or mountain retreats like Ronda. All the major towns on the Costa del Sol are within a comfortable driving distance and day trips can be easily enjoyed in the beautiful cultural cities of Ronda, Málaga, Sevilla, Cadiz, Córdoba, and even Granada, where you can enjoy skiing during the winter months.
La Zagaleta has two championship golf courses that offer 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 that shaped the golf course and landscape design. There are no tee times on these exclusive courses, and members have access 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 old clubhouse is a members-only full country club-style facility, while the new course clubhouse is a smaller-scale version with a restaurant and snack bar also open to non-members. The main clubhouse offers several lounges, a library, a billiard room, a function room for private events, tennis and paddle courts, changing rooms, a sauna, a swimming pool, a golf pro shop, a gourmet supermarket with exceptional fresh produce and a full-time restaurant and bar. Members can use the facilities for private events such as weddings and parties for families and guests.
La Zagaleta also has other sports facilities including tennis courts and an equestrian centre that offers Arab and Spanish horses, as well as ponies for hire for younger guests and livery services for residents who have their own horses or ponies. La Zagaleta´s tennis and paddle courts allow tennis lovers to practice their favourite sport. There are two professional tennis courts: one hard court, one clay court, and a paddle tennis court. Members & residents can also enjoy outdoor leisure pursuits like cycling and hiking via many trails and tracks in the stunning natural surroundings of Marbella and Benahavís.
In addition, La Zagaleta has a private helipad for its owners and guests, and operates a heli service for personalised private pick-ups or transfers perfect for arriving your destination punctually or enjoying day trips to Morocco or other parts of Andalucia, that can take you to and from Málaga Costa del Sol airport in about 15 minutes. The helicopter service features a powerful six seater twin-turbine helicopter with a range of around 800 km and cruising speed of around 275 km/hr.
La Zagaleta also offers a full-time Property Management company called La Zagaleta Services. These services can be easily set up to cater to residents’ requirements and include home-delivery laundry, garden and pool maintenance, catering and entertaining services, chauffeur and secretarial services, babysitting, insurance and banking facilities. In short, all those concierge services can be catered for. Owners and residents who can arrange to have their homes wholly taken care of by professional gardeners and maintenance teams.
La Zagaleta has a fabled history. It was a hunting estate owned by the Saudi Arabian businessman 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 Benahavís. 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, who 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. This was a huge undertaking at the time and required substantial investment. It was a visionary project, as it could have been up to 4,000 dwellings, but Mr. Perez opted for low density. Firstly, they had to build the infrastructure – a colossal undertaking involving converting 900 hectares of rustic mountainside into plots and building over 80km of internal roads. The first golf course, known as the old course, opened in 1992, and Club de Campo La Zagaleta was born. His son, Mr Ignacio Pérez Díaz, is the board´s executive chairman and continues 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, offering the ultimate privacy and discretion.
What makes La Zagaleta unique is that only one-third of the estate has been set aside as a residential area for 420 luxury villas, while the remainder is a natural reserve with lakes and woodland. No apartment or townhouse complexes are planned or zoned for La Zagaleta. Apart from this exclusivity and the incredible views offered by its elevated location, it is a privately owned estate, meaning the interior roads are private and only accessible to residents and authorised personnel as well as a full range of on-site facilities that are unrivalled in the south of Spain.
The magnificent Country Club has been granted various awards as a development, including the 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 has also 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, and Golfers & Co., and has been presented on various television channels like CNBC, Via Digital, Swiss and German TV
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; entry is by invitation only, and all guests must ID check-in at the gate. 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, including some household names, celebrities, and CEOs of major corporate companies.
La Zagaleta is home to a diverse range of wildlife that residents may encounter throughout their days. 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 other types of birds have their homes here. The deer, in particular, can often be seen on the golf course, 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 lasting 30 minutes to a few hours. It’s a beautiful way to see the estate and keep fit while enjoying the breathtaking views and natural surroundings, including a mountain nearly 2000m high that sometimes enjoys snow in winter. Residents have endless opportunities to discover nature and enjoy stunning views on their doorstep without leaving the estate. 
Properties in La Zagaleta are some of the grandest homes in Southern Spain. They are magnificent villas and mansions with stunning sea views of Gibraltar and North Africa from their elevated position in the municipality of Benahavís. Plots within the urbanisation range from 3,000 m2 to 10,000 m2, each separated from the next by 10 metres of green zone. This not only assures residents´ level of privacy but also allows the local wildlife more freedom of movement, hence protecting the natural environment.
When 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 utilising authentic materials and sourcing from Spanish 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. Over the past few years, many homes changed hands, and all the older villas that tended to be on the best plots were suddenly gone!
In 2024, the cost of homes in La Zagaleta will generally range from €4 million to upwards of €20 million, reinforcing its status as Spain’s most expensive real estate market. Currently, plots start at €2 million, with prime locations fetching up to €6 million or more, particularly those with direct access to the golf course or panoramic sea views. The starting price for an older home with at least 700 square metres built will be from about €5 million upwards, which would require renovation. For those preferring ready-built modern houses, luxury villa prices in La Zagaleta can soar to €40 million, with some properties never officially hitting the market. Sold in 2020, Villa Cullinan was considered Europe’s most expensive mansion at €32 million.
In 2024, Villa Enso is listed at €34 million, offering 16 bedrooms and a 3.500m2 built area. These figures indicate that La Zagaleta now ranks as Spain’s most expensive real estate, backed up by surveys by the top real estate portal Idealista and various other sources, including a 2023 Hiscox International Report. The average price of La Zagaleta property advertised with Idealista is about 8.7 million euros, with the average cost per square metre currently sitting at around €7,000, more than three times the cost in 2012. These prices are higher than the palaces and mansions sold in Barcelona in the Avenida de Tibidabo, which are the second-highest priced real estate, according to figures from Idealista big data.
From the beginning, La Zagaleta 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, valuing their privacy and expecting discretion. The exceptional facilities of La Zagaleta, particularly the golf courses, attract corporate clients who want a refuge for themselves and their families, play golf, entertain, and invite clients and friends. Residents in La Zagaleta come from all over the world and are 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 one of the many international schools in Marbella. With privacy and security being of utmost importance, the facilities available within the urbanisation are private. For the sole use of residents, the kids can learn golf or tennis with the pro teacher at La Zagaleta or learn to ride at the equestrian centre.
La Zagaleta Golf and Country Club operates a private members club that is only open to the owners, guests, and their families. 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 that does not transfer with the property.
Mary Dunne Founder & Private Office Adviser
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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