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Private Balearic island where Prince William wooed Kate sold for £16 million

The paradise Spanish island of S’Espalmador has been bought for £16 million (Wikimedia)
The paradise Spanish island of S’Espalmador has been bought for £16 million (Wikimedia)

A paradise Balearic island where Prince William reportedly wooed Kate Middleton has been bought by a Luxembourg family for £16 million.

S’Espalmador – located in the Balearic Islands between Formentera and Ibiza – has a 13-bedroom house, chapel and watchtower on the private island.

At just 137 hectares, it can be reached on foot from Formentera when the tide is low and is part of the protected Las Salinas Natural Park.

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The island, which is under two miles (3km) long and half a mile (800m) wide, is “a remarkable location that few other private islands of this calibre can match”, according to estate agents Vladi.

Its previous owners are Catalan architect Norman Cinnamond and his sister Rosy – whose ancestors are believed to have bought the island for the equivalent of €252 in 1932. They put it on the market almost three years ago for €24m (£17m).

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Prince William and Kate, pictured here on safari in India, visited the island in 2006 (Samir Hussein/WireImage/via Getty Images)
Prince William and Kate, pictured here on safari in India, visited the island in 2006 (Samir Hussein/WireImage/via Getty Images)

Though the island is privately-owned, its seafront beaches are open to the public.

William and Kate visited the island in 2006 on a day trip. They were photographed covered in mud after taking one of the island’s mud baths – said to hold healing properties.

The island was first offered to the Formentera local government but proved too costly.

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“Like the majority of people from Formentera, we would’ve preferred for local government to have reached an agreement to use state funds to buy s’Espalmador and make it available to the general public,” local politician Silvia Tur told Spanish media.

Agents Vladi add: “And after the buzz of Ibiza, Espalmador is the perfect sanctuary to retreat to, somewhere to get away from it all and unwind in beautiful surroundings, with zero stress.”