Last Saturday’s Starlite Gala was the event of year for Marbella society, with the red carpet at the luxurious Villa Padierna lit up by Hollywood film and television stars and host of Spanish and international celebrities, aristocrats and business barons.

This new, annual international has been created by Sandra García-Sanjuán and María Bravo as a platform to bring together the worlds of business, celebrity and philanthropy to raise money for fiscally responsible charities.

Media

A press pack of over 150 journalists jostled and called to capture a shot of the countless famous faces and VIPs that graced the red carpet, dressed for the occasion, in black tie, elegant designer evening gowns and glittering jewels. Guests included retired tennis ace Boris Becker with his wife Lilly Kerssenberg; Marbella-based tennis pro Manolo Santana; Luis Alfonso de Borbon, Duke of Anjou with his wife Margarita de Vargas; Gunilla Gräfin von Bismarck, great-granddaughter of Otto von Bismarck; supermodel Eugenia Silva, who was the ‘MC’ for the evening; Alexandra and Victoria Swarovski; the fashion designer Purificación García; as well as Marbella’s own Olivia Valère (with husband Philippe), who hosted an exclusive after party at her prestigious nightclub.

Other celebrities included socialites Carmen Lomana and Paloma Cuevas; Chenoa, and David de María (who were amongst the singers entertaining the guests); Manu Tenorio; Angela Carrasco; the flamenco dancer Rafael Amargo who also performed at the gala; and the flamboyantly dressed Argentinean artist and media personality, Patricio Moreno.

Marbella’s Mayor, Angeles Muñoz joined the party too, clearly pleased that Marbella is enjoying a renaissance in its reputation as a place for the rich and famous.

Deepak Chopra, public speaker and expert in ayurveda, mind body medicine and spirituality also flew in to support the event and as one of the highlights of the evening, he received the first Starlite Humanitarian Award for his 'global force of human empowerment, wellbeing and for bringing light to the world'.

Tight security

Security remained tight during the day and throughout the evening, with Civil Guard officers patrolling the grounds in quad bikes, officers on foot and in 4 x 4 patrol cars as well as Spain’s national special Police, the ‘Geos’ covering each exit.

Once guests had climbed the sweeping steps, with photographer’s flashes popping, and entered the elegant Tuscan-inspired palatial interior of the Villa Padierna Hotel, they enjoyed an intimate exhibition of works by Ronda-born painter Jorge Barea Tejado. The exhibition, called ‘Sentir Barroco’ from his FusionArt initiative, is of paintings inspired by the artists of the era and featured interpretations of outstanding flamenco dresses designed by Vicky Matin Berrocal, which were displayed alongside. Eva Longoria took a particular interest, pausing to talk to both the artist and designer and pose for photographs.

As the stars and VIPs continued along the red carpet, lined with candle-lit Brompton-style lanterns, they passed through an exquisitely designed floral arch of exotic flowers with clusters of orchids and ferns, into the hotel’s private courtyard and gardens to enjoy alfresco cocktails; canapés of pata negra ham, and tiny pinchos; and a gourmet dinner featuring the best of Andalusian and international cuisine including gazpacho, fois gras salad, and sea bass in sherry sauce; all served with champagne and Tierra de Cubas Roble white and red wines.

Fund-raising

Over 500 tickets are believed to have been sold, at prices between 800 and 1000 euros, and with the rumour that America’s First Lady might make a showing, there was a waiting list of over 200 people wanting to be part of this exceptional night.

Guests’ generosity didn’t stop with purchasing the tickets, as the party-goers bid for a number of unique experiences ranging from spending a day on the set of the hit TV show ‘Desperate Housewives’ in Los Angeles with Eva Longoria Parker (which went for 25,000 euros); to being on the set of ‘CSI:Miami’ shot in LA, with Adam Rodríguez. The charity auction alone raised half a million euros; a large proportion of this being achieved by the bid given for the amazing opportunity for two people to fly business class to New York, be the special guests of Antonio Banderas at his Broadway Musical Zorba, dine with him after the show and stay at the Trump Tower Hotel. This item attracted a successful bid of 125,000 euros.

Another surprise of the evening was when the Chopard jewels modelled by Eugenia Silva were spontaneously auctioned, raisingalmost 70,000 euros, even Antonio Banderas joined the bidding, hoping to secure them as a gift for his wife Melanie.

The evening continued until 2am Sunday morning, with a Chopard fashion show and entertainment that also included four songs performed by Spanish super star Rosario Flores.

The Charities

Antonio Banderas gave a moving, impassioned speech about the charities to benefit from the evening, and their associated objectives. These included ‘Fundacíon Lágrimas y Favores’, the charitable organisation of which Banderas is President, which aims to offer 30 scholarships to the University of Malaga; ‘Eva’s Heroes’, founded by Eva Longoria Parker, which will fund 50 programmes for special needs children; and ‘Niños en alegría’ established by Alejandra Alemán and Sandra García-Sanjuán, which hopes to build a primary school in Mexico for 300 children.

Event sponsor Ford also donated three cars, two of which were personally autographed by Eva and Antonio at the start of the evening.

The Cudeca hospice charity in Benalmádena will also be benefiting from the evening.

Marbella-based Danish painter and artist Mugge Fischer was amongst the guests and commented, “It was a truly fabulous gala, where a great deal of money was raised for some very worthy causes; and it was wonderful to be part of such a high profile event with such interesting guests and world-class entertainment.”

Mrs Obama spent the evening with friends at La Meridiana restaurant, close to Marbella.