Guadalmina Baja, Marbella
By Gonzalo Goizueta Saenz de Heredia on request of Christopher Clover
In 1933, my grandfather Norberto Goizueta, with his family on board the “Serva La Bari”, discovered Guadalmina and purchased the estate shortly thereafter.
Initially, the estate was used for farming but in the following years this started changing and the grass and greens of a golf course substituted the corn and wheat.
In 1959, when the “Campo Sur” was inaugurated, the tenant farmers from San Pedro Alcántara said to Norberto innocently, “You are a little crazy, because you sow, fertilize, water and when you need to glean, you cut. You will not reap a harvest in your life!” To which the pioneer from Navarra replied, “Ah, men, the harvest of a golf course takes many years to collect!”
During that same year the Hotel Guadalmina was opened, also owned by the same family, a hotel with a 9-hole golf course (the first on the Costa del Sol), and a swimming pool surrounded by bungalows that almost met with the shore.
Click here to view properties in Guadalmina Baja
This is the story of a family and a Golf Club which has been the venue of important tournaments like the Spanish Championship in 1965, the qualifying rounds of the European Tour School in 1995 and 1996, and the Spanish Championship of APG (Asociación de Gestores del Deporte Profesional) Professionals in 1998.
Since then and with the collaboration of important architects, as for example Gutierrez-Soto, the Goizueta brothers developed the urbanization with the aim of creating an environment of quality and luxury which was to become a reference point for the whole of Spain. Important developments were built, such as the apartments “Parque del Sol” right on the Guadalmina beach, which have been architectural points of reference on the coast and winners of important prizes. From the beginning, the plots in Guadalmina have been designed with a minimum of 1,000m2 in order to standardize the criteria of quality, both in the higher and in the lower part of the Urbanization.
Today Guadalmina is one of the most prestigious residential areas in Marbella. Some of the most luxurious mansions in Marbella are to be found in Guadalmina Baja, while Guadalmina Alta has smaller plots and offers apartments and even a new Hotel.
September 24th, 2010 at 11:42 am
[...] In 1933, my grandfather Norberto Goizueta, with his family on board of the “Serva La Bari”, discovered Guadalmina. Initially, the estate was used for agriculture but in the following years this started changing and the grass substituted the sweet corn and wheat… Read more about the history of Guadalmina Baja [...]
July 23rd, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Great article on the history of Guadalmina and agree it is was one of the most prestigious residential areas in Marbella.