Founder of iconic restaurant leaves 2.5-million-euro gift to the people of Marbella
Paolo Ghirelli of La Meridiana, who died in August, left the fortune to the town hall in his will with the express wish that it be used to care for the elderly
Paolo Ghirelli, founder of the iconic La Meridiana restaurant in Marbella, who died in August, has left 2.5-million-euros to the town hall. The donation will be used, according to the wishes of the Italian businessman, for the care of older people.
"Paolo's generosity, involvement and love for Marbella has been demonstrated once again with this gesture that he made before leaving us," said the town's mayor, Ángeles Muñoz, who announced the donation and the municipal government's intention to fulfil his wishes. "In addition to his legacy as a reference point for the business, gastronomic and social life of our town that will be remembered, he leaves us this charitable legacy that confirms his altruistic spirit and his intention to contribute to making our town better," she added.
Marbella town hall will manage the inheritance donated by Ghirelli to contribute to the care and improvement of the quality of life of older people, but it has yet to define exactly how the money will be used.
Working with executors
The mayor pointed out that the town hall has drawn up a proposal and is working with the executors of Ghirelli's estate to define the precise destination of the donation. "This proposal contemplates various alternatives in terms of the distribution of the legacy within the framework of satisfying Paolo's wishes," said Muñoz, who detailed that among the possibilities are the financing of municipal programmes including immediate care, home help and tackling unwanted loneliness, as well as the option of investing part of the amount in equipping the Trapiche del Prado public care home.
An Italian in Puerto Banús
Paolo Ghirelli arrived in Marbella at the end of 1969, just a few months before Puerto Banús's grand opening (18 May 1970). His first home was in the old town but when the first flats were ready in this new Marbella icon he had no doubts: he moved to this area and would go on to consider himself a Puerto Banús native.
In those years Italian cuisine was largely unknown and Ghirelli, who had worked in gastronomy in Italy, ran Da Paolo and opened in the historic D. Leone district until he moved it to the "most picturesque" spot in Puerto Banús, as he explained in an interview with SUR in 2020. It was the birth of 'Rincón da Paolo'.
He was one of the first chefs to make fresh pasta on the Costa del Sol, before opening La Meridiana, where countless national and international personalities and artists dined. He left when he turned 70 and continued to live in Marbella until his sudden death on 8 August.
