Laurence Dollimore
A STUNNING Marbella mansion with a one-of-a-kind Picasso artwork etched into the bottom of its POOL has hit the market for €30million.
Dubbed El Martinete, the beachfront property is the former home of the late world famous flamenco dancer Antonio Ruiz Soler – or Antonio El Bailarin (Antonio the Dancer).
Located in upmarket Puerto Banus, it is said to have played host to wild parties and secret love affairs over the years.
Antonio named the home after his favourite dance, the flamenco martinete, a fast and flexible style that is said to resemble the hammer of a blacksmith’s anvil.
If you don’t have the cash to purchase the sprawling palace, then it is still available to rent, for a mere €35-80,000 per week that is, depending on the season.
El Martinete stands on a plot of 4,017sqm, consisting of the main house and two independent outhouses.
There are a total of nine bedrooms, an outdoor jacuzzi, spa area, an indoor heated pool and even a small beauty and hair salon.
The master bedroom measures 120sqm and offers jaw-dropping sea views over the mediterranean.
The home is surrounded by gardens and boasts a basement and solarium, but the star of show is the outdoor swimming pool.
At the height of his career, Antonio was a global star, having toured the world with his iconic flamenco show.
He would often be seen with Hollywood elite, including Ava Gardner and Vivien Leigh, the latter of whom he was rumoured to have shared a torrid romance with.
Everyone from Nikolai Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev to Charles Chaplin fell at his feet – as well as a certain Pablo Picasso.
The story goes that the iconic painter from Malaga invited the dancer to his 80th birthday party and was blown away after watching the Seville man dance.
An obituary in the Independent following Antonio’s death in 1996 reads: “The painter was so enchanted that he jumped over the table that separated them, helping himself with one hand, began to dance rumbas with Antonio, fell on his knees, kissed him on the cheek, then got up, took a pencil, sketched a portrait of the dancer and dedicated it to him.”
Antonio El Bailarin not only preserved that sketch, but decided to engrave it on the tiles of his pool, where it remains to this day.
The original is on display at the Almagro National Theater Museum, in Ciudad Real.
