Yahoo News Yachts! Helipads! VIPs! Meet Boris Johnson’s Marbella massive
It’s a slight step-change from last year’s camping trip on the Applecross peninsula. After a year off in Scotland, the Prime Minister has ditched the staycay for a 600-acre luxury estate in Marbella, Spain, owned by Tory pal Zac Goldsmith.
Boris and Carrie Johnson are believed to have flown to the famous Costa del Sol resort this week with their 17-month-old son Wilf, who is enjoying his first trip abroad before becoming a big brother.
Goldsmith might not be sunning it with the Johnsons himself but if previous summers are anything to go by, the PM and co will be in gilded company - Marbella has become a magnet for an eclectic list of celebs. Hugh Grant, Michelle Obama and Princess Diana are among Marbella’s VIP visitors over the years and everyone from Cristiano Ronaldo to Vladimir Putin is believed to own a house there.
From the (surprising) VIP neighbours to the beach clubs they should head to for date night, this is what the Johnsons can expect as they join the Marbs set...
An estate fit for royalty
“A big luxury villa on the border between Marbella and Benahavis” is how a Spanish police source described the Johnson’s private hotspot, but the location has since been confirmed: a hillside villa owned by Tory peer Zac Goldsmith, set in a 600-acre private woodland estate known as Torre Tramores. According to owners, it’s the “most enchanting, picturesque and serene private estate in southern Spain”.
Patrol cars have been spotted outside the property over recent days and reports suggest it has the security fit for a PM: the exclusive estate comes with its own helipad and the main 13-bed house features a two-bedroom apartment with private access, perfect for a pregnant Mrs Johnson and their toddler son Wilf.
Dilyn the dog - photographed with the Johnson’s last year in Scotland - has not (yet) been sighted, but presumably he would enjoy a frolic in the forest.
The Johnsons join a long line of VIPs to have stayed on the estate, from Hugh Grant to members of the royal family. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, a former professional cricketer, was pictured there on his 1995 honeymoon with then-wife Jemima Goldsmith, Zac’s sister, and Princess Diana is rumoured to have stayed there after her divorce from Prince Charles.
Neighbourhood watch
The PM might need to go incognito if he and his wife want to nip out for tapas - according to locals, the area has been nicknamed The Superstars’ Cul-De-Sac for its growing playground of holiday properties owned by the rich and famous. Among them: Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who is rumoured to have built a lavish £20million ten-bedroom home in the gated community of La Zagaleta, just a few kilometres away from Goldsmith’s in the Andalucian hills.
The private estate reportedly features two pools, a helipad and a garage for 22 vehicles so the Johnsons should keep an eye out for one of the president’s fleet of bomb-proof vehicles and luxury limousines.
Other high-profile neighbours include Alan Sugar and Rod Stewart, who both own luxury seafront villas there, and Manchester United footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who recently bought a £1.4million waterfront property in Marbella featuring its own golf course.
Spain’s sunshine set
Statesman love the sunshine coast. Barack Obama jetted in for a stay in 2019, and his wife Michelle stayed there nine years earlier in 2010, spending her visit at Ricardo Arranz’s Villa Padierna hotel in nearby Benahavis.
Insiders recommend a day trip to Puerto Banús, where the Johnson clan can ogle at the superyachts including a £37million cruiser, Titania, which was recently used by stars including Emma Corrin to replicate Diana’s famous holiday with Dodi Fayed while filming the 2022 series of The Crown.
Other members of the Marbs set include Tom Cruise, Samuel L Jackson, Simon Cowell and Steven Gerrard, who love Marbella’s famous “Golden Mile” - home to £1,000-a-night hotel Marbella Club, known for its conveyor belt of glitterati from Audrey Hepburn and the Rolling Stones to the Towie lot.
It’s unclear if the PM also subscribed to their ‘no carbs before Marbs’ philosophy.
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