Tiny Balearic islet sold to Luxembourg family for €18 million

s’Espalmador is now owned by a family from Luxembourg, who paid €18m for the pleasure of their own private Spanish island.

When it comes to luxury homes in Spain, the sky is the limit. If your wealth knows no bounds, then Spain’s exclusive, high-end property market can certainly cater to your needs, which is why the stunning hills behind the Costa del Sol play host to the world’s rich and famous…

Privacy, security, luxury and exclusivity are assured, as are breathtaking Mediterranean views and that delightful Spanish climate (which is thankfully free for us all to enjoy).

But what if you still craved something more? What if you yearned for even primer property than that available in, for example, La Zagaleta, where villas and mansions sell for many millions?

Well, if money is no object, then you could always enquire about snapping up a Spanish island. But you had better move quick, for there is one less available piece of land left following the recent sale of s’Espalmador to a wealthy Luxembourg family.

The islet lies off the north coast of the tiny Balearic island of Formentera, and when the tide is low the 150 metres that separates the two land masses can actually be walked across.

s’Espalmador is a pristine part of the Balearic islands, measuring a mere 800 metres in width and three kilometres in length, and surrounded by calm, shallow, turquoise waters. Dotted at bays across the islet are small mud baths, which have in the past been frequented by the likes of Prince William and Paris Hilton.

The islet, therefore, is already rather exclusive, but former owners Normand Cinnamond – a Catalan architect – and his sister Rosy (the pair’s British ancestors reportedly bought the islet for just €255 in 1932) decided to sell up to the Luxembourg family, who intend to close it off to the public and enjoy it for their own use.

The low-lying patch of sand and rocks hosts a single, 13-room mansion, which is likely to be where the new owners spend a great deal of their time in the summer.

Before the sale, the Formentera government was offered the chance to buy the island, but apparently the necessary state funds required could not be raised. Instead, s’Espalmador was put up for auction, and now an idyllic slice of the Balearics is likely to be closed off to the general public.

The new owners must, however, ensure that the islet’s environmental and ecological standards are upheld – s’Espalmador sits inside the protected Salinas National Park area, and so the government still has some deal of control over how the islet is developed.