As you round the hilltop on horseback through a meadow of wildflowers, a table comes into view. On it is a basket of rosé on ice and paper-thin slices of oily Iberian ham from the estate’s wild pigs. The spring sun is setting on this corner of Andalucía and I have a 360-degree view of the fiery sky — complete with a vulture swooping across it, like a paid-for display.
The following day it happens again, this time in the heat of the day at the end of a shingly track. As I ride in on a hair-raising ebike I find another table waiting under an oak tree on the shady side of a lake, cool glasses of gazpacho waiting. Red deer lope around the edge of the water and a black stork descends above the 5,000 acres of Caballo de Hierro. With the Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche Natural Park surrounding me it’s hard to believe that this oasis is only an hour and a quarter away by car from the heavy heat of Seville.
Later that morning we met the estate’s caballista, Jesus (handsome, silent, effortlessly nonchalant), in the stable courtyard. He’d just returned from a night at Seville’s Feria with his grey Arab stallion, the kaleidoscope of clattering hooves and flamenco dresses a world away from this tranquillity. And this is the secret to Caballo de Hierro’s luxury: the peaceful silence and the eerily vivid blanket of stars at night.
A decade ago the owners of this grand finca, the Belgian countess and her Spanish financier husband, who then had three little children, had begun their search for a slice of wilderness in which to escape their frenzied life in London. The highlands of Scotland were toyed with and discounted (too cold). It was the theatrical traditions here — and year-round sun — that caught their imagination: an endless stream of richly coloured fiestas, pilgrimages and religious processions.
Last summer the family opened the doors of its estate to the public, with space for private groups of up to 20 guests in 11 bedrooms, alongside a chef, butler and guides, as well as a natural outdoor and an indoor swimming pool and a small spa complete with a sauna, hammam and masseuse. There are horses and bikes, fishing rods and walking sticks — but they’re all just tools for taking a deep breath and following a track across the estate, a maze of paths, wildflowers and hidden lakes.
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The cows that grazed the barren landscape that the family inherited have been replaced by a gradual rewilding under the guidance of their young estate manager, Gaspar. While atop one of the string of impeccably schooled Spanish and Arab horses that weave through the 3,000 oak trees that have been planted, guests can break into a gentle canter, scanning for wild boar or the elusive lynx that’s been reintroduced here.
For a dose of civilisation Aracena is a 30-minute drive away, a town where locals descend on Restaurante Casas for plates of ham washed down with fino and you can visit the storybook-worthy caves of Gruta de las Maravillas. An hour away is Valverde del Camino, which is the place to pick up smart boots, shoes and bags from makers whose trades date back to the early 18th century. Or for a full cultural fix one can head to Seville, with its orange-scented streets, royal palace and cathedral, all an easy day trip away.
Back at the whitewashed stables the horses are cooled down in a green-tiled wash bay, Spanish saddles embroidered with the children’s initials hanging in the wood-panelled tack room — all serving as a taster of the detail that’s to come in the house. The property has been rebuilt almost from scratch on the site of the original dilapidated building that surrounds a cobbled courtyard. The countess has sourced antique chests from Camden flea market and Lots Road in Fulham, pairing them with Ikat cushions and embroidered headboards picked up in Antiksuk in Seville — a trove of colourful homeware. There are freestanding baths, battered brass wall lights, rattan benches and splatterware glasses but also antler door handles, framed butterflies and the kind of curios you’d expect in a hunting lodge. It’s grand and old-school but cleverly pared back — a family home with a savvy injection of cool.
Within this sanctuary every detail is taken care of, whether that’s jugs of freshly squeezed orange juice at breakfast, picnics that magically appear beside lakes or guides who know exactly where to spot the fallow deer. This all leaves you the mind space to lose track of time and let each day lazily fade into the next.
From £630pp per day, with a minimum of five guests for a minimum of two nights, full-board with all activities; caballohierro.com
