The Arbaizenea estate is largely unknown to the people of San Sebastián.
It is one of the most luxurious properties in the city, but it has always been kept tightly closed.
Arbaizenea is a country house built in 1881 that presides over an environment of two hectares of green and wooded land.
It was one of the jewels of the Duchess of Alba, where she went every year during the summer.
After the death of Cayetana Fitz James Stuart in 2014, the palace and its extensive gardens were inherited by Cayetano Martínez de Irujo.
The Duke of Arjona and Count of Salvatierra has knocked on the door of the San Sebastián City Council to request an official authorization that allows the estate to be opened to the public to do business with the celebration of events and public events.
Arbaizenea contains 143 years of history.
It was conceived as a summer house, in the style of those that the Spanish aristocracy and upper bourgeoisie built in San Sebastián between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.
What is known as “the house of the Duchess of Alba” is a unique building, built by order of the Duke of Sotomayor, grandfather of Cayetana's first husband.
“It is a magical place, unknown to most,” as the palace promotes on its website.
The house was built in a picturesque or English
cottage
style and is a property protected by municipal regulations that maintains its original structure practically intact.
Its façade of reddish tones contrasts with the green of the ivy that has grown along the walls.
The mansion has four floors of 480 square meters that have only been used as a family residence, although its current owner decided to open it to the public to celebrate weddings, baptisms and other events for a select few, or for the filming of the Woody Allen film
Rifkin's Festival
.
It is located on one of the city's hills, in a very central area, close to the Aiete Palace (Franco's former summer residence, today the House of Peace and Human Rights).
Image of the interior of the Arbaizenea estate, in San Sebastián, obtained from the palace's website.
Martínez de Irujo has decided to offer this privileged location so that official events organized by the San Sebastián City Council can also be held.
The aristocrat wants to make a financial return on a mansion that remains closed and locked for most of the year.
The former rider has held meetings with Mayor Eneko Goia, which have also been attended by the Councilor for Urban Planning, Nekane Arzallus.
She has publicly explained that the offer has been made within the framework of the “affection that the [Alba] family has for the city.”
Municipal sources confirm the economic motivation behind the owners' initiative. Cayetano Martínez de Irujo has declined, through his personal assistant, to give details to this newspaper about his proposal to the City Council: “Cayetano is not going to talk about this affair".
In the meetings that the Duke of Arjona has held with municipal officials, the owner of the property has been interested in the urban planning and administrative procedures that would have to be completed so that public events can be held in this space.
It currently hosts specific events in a 500 square meter tent and a second smaller one that are mainly used for wedding gatherings: “We offer a global proposal, which combines gastronomy and an innovative and magical staging,” says the company. Arbaisenea website (this name appears on the entrance sign to the palace, located on a privileged hill in the center of the city).
“Arbaisenea Palace is a magical place, unknown to most and that now allows you to celebrate, go crazy and feel in it,” it is added on the same website.
The Urban Planning Department explained this week that Martínez de Irujo's initiative could respond to his desire to “help pay the maintenance costs of the house.”
Councilor Arzallus has denied that the intention is to obtain a municipal permit to open a restaurant or a hotel, but rather to "celebrate events and meals in a tent" on the premises.
From the conversations held, it has not emerged whether Martínez de Irujo would be willing to accept that the public can take guided tours of this premises, as has been the case for several years at the Dueñas palace in Seville, owned by the Alba family.
In Arbaizenea, Luis and Amina Martínez de Irujo, the two twin children of the aristocrat, celebrated their coming of age in September 2019.
Courtesy of him, his ex-wife Genoveva Casanova spent his confinement in his San Sebastian mansion in 2020 (they have been divorced since 2007).
The gossip press reported that she took refuge in Arbaizenea after the scandal that arose last November, when she was photographed in Madrid with King Frederick of Denmark.
The Arbaizenea estate and palace is currently a part of what the House of Alba initially owned.
The duchess's family, who used to come to this place every year in summer, had 14 hectares of land until the end of the last century.
An agreement signed then with the City Council led to the sale of a part to build luxury homes in the area and a public park.
The current owner of the property would be willing to cede a wooded part of the property to the City Council in exchange for other city land, according to municipal sources.
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