Huelva’s El Rompido - Seal of approval from Jimenez and Ballingall
If your Spanish property aspirations stretch to the upmarket rather than the mass market, sharpen your sleuthing skills and decipher where Spain’s city sophisticats decamp for their beach breaks. The trail may lead you to Huelva’s El Rompido, a relative newcomer for Northern Europeans but a familiar favourite for discerning natives. And, thanks to Señores Gea and Soroa, wealthy entrepreneurs from Seville and Bilbao respectively, El Rompido is redefining the meaning of luxury.Starting out life as a quaintly traditional Costa de la Luz fishing village, El Rompido hangs on to this legacy whilst welcoming a gradual process of environmentally-friendly gentrification. At the turn of the 21st century great friends and great minds, José Maria Gea and José Miguel Soroa, masterminded a plan for an exclusive golf, hotel and residential offering to blend harmoniously with the unblemished coastal landscape. A new era for El Rompido began to take shape, creating thousands of jobs for local inhabitants in the process.
Prestigious Spanish designer Alvaro Arana was tasked with 36-holes of golf where nature not property commanded the spotlight. An 18-hole south course was inaugurated in 2003 followed by a north course in 2006. Soroa worked personal connections with the Menorca-rooted Set Hotel chain giving rise to the five-star El Rompido Golf opening in 2004, whilst Gea turned his attention to a low density 165-unit villa project, Marina El Rompido, flanking a purpose-built marina on one side and the perimeters of the south course on the other. Success was declared when word-of-mouth sold out each and every villa before completion and the likes of ponytailed professional Miguel Angel Jimenez started to choose El Rompido for regular family holidays.
Jimenez is not alone as a golfer in his affinity for El Rompido. One of Europe’s most respected golf coaches, Peter Ballingall, protégé of John Jacobs, was moving into his 30th year heading up the golf school at Norfolk’s Barnham Broom before Soroa enticed him to transfer his skills to El Rompido. Peter picks up the story, “Soroa’s son-in-law to be was a struggling golf pro and I was tracked down on the internet as being a possible solution. Soroa explained that he was in the throes of crafting El Rompido and I should take a look. I’d never been to Huelva but had run golf schools in La Manga and Portugal before so could see perhaps an opportunity for El Rompido to be a winter golf destination for my clients, so I hopped on a plane. I saw the sheer scale and beauty of the project, fell in love with the area and when I met with Soroa I found him to be incredibly sincere. In January 2004 my wife and I made a permanent move and the Peter Ballingall Golf School at El Rompido was born.”
Fittingly Peter selected a villa within Marina El Rompido as his home address and is so taken with this delightful Huelvan beachfront resort that he says he is ‘here until the finish’. Peter concludes, “For those who can afford superior build quality in a beautiful area, El Rompido is a frontrunner for a holiday home or indeed permanent living. Best known to the Spaniards there are no British communes or German communes so its authenticity is rarely questioned, and from the summer months to Christmas through to Semana Santa, the restaurants, hotels and golf courses are thronging with activity, El Rompido never shuts down – of course the weather helps. It’s little wonder that with their love of beach holidays, many city dwelling Spaniards escape to El Rompido at every opportunity.”
On the Market – Villas del Rompido
Demand has dictated that Gea is adding an additional 193-unit gated community – Villas del Rompido – adjacent to its predecessor, available exclusively through Titan Properties. Although this time with slightly larger built areas, up to 450m², and on slightly larger plots, up to 800m², the formula for excellent finishings and facilities remains the same. With two styles on offer, one single-storey and the other arranged across two floors, the three and four bedroom villas are distinctly contemporary in design making bold use of glass to soak up the natural light.
Residents can access an on-site social club with 800m² swimming pool feature, tennis and paddle courts, as well as a bar and restaurant. Cycle tracks and footpaths wind through the pine forests within the boundaries of the securely gated resort whilst a bridge will provide direct access to El Rompido’s golf courses a short buggy ride away. Closer to the doorstep plans are on the drawing board for a 9-hole Arana course complete with academy next to phase two. Ingeniously designed with many different tees to play from at each hole it will be possible to play the 9-hole as 18. The bars, cafés, shops, beaches and marina at El Rompido are within walking distance with Seville Airport an hour’s drive, Faro even closer.
Prices start from 553,200 euros for four bedrooms and 634,050 euros for three with open basement and extensive terracing. Private pools are optional but must be purchased at time of contract.
Titan Properties has negotiated attractive payment terms, no deposit just a verbal hold, 26% at private purchase contract one month later, 14% stage payment on 31 March 2009 and 60% at completion scheduled for April 2010. To ease financing at completion there is an option for an additional stage payment on 30 September 2009. Each is bank guaranteed.
If further incentive were required, a purchase within Villas del Rompido guarantees free golf membership to both courses until August 2026, a free golf buggy to Titan Properties’ first five completions and the option to buy a berth in the marina, a pleasure closed to the general public.
For more information, visit titan-properties.com.
