Take a peek inside a very special 30-million-euro luxury mansion on Marbella's Golden Mile which even features a swimming pool signed by Picasso

Talking about the villa El Martinete in Marbella on Spain's Costa del Sol is much more than talking about architecture and luxury. It is to speak of excesses, of unspeakable stories, celebrities, eternal parties and forbidden romances in the shelter of the Mediterranean that overlooks it. But, above all, to talk about El Martinete is to talk about the man who had it built: Antonio Ruiz Soler (1921-1996), better known as Antonio el Bailarín. Because if the walls could speak...

From Seville to the world, Antoñito el Bailarín conquered every stage he stepped on with the power and elegance of his movements. With such prestige and a growing fortune, the dance czar sought refuge in the home where he was born: Andalucía.

A person as sociable as the flamenco dancer, who loved to host the best parties, could not be satisfied with just any villa, so he had El Martinete built in 1959, a spectacular house of more than 4,000 square metres built on the beachfront located on Marbella's Golden Mile. The house was named after his most emblematic dance: the 'martinete'.

This little miniature Alhambra, as he liked to call it, was witness to a multitude of love affairs and the most eccentric parties. Over the years, the legends about what went on inside while the dancer lived there have continued to grow. It is said that only naked people were allowed to bathe and that the dancer was bisexual. Truth or myth, the truth is that it was common to see Hollywood stars, dukes and duchesses, among many other celebrities, coming out of its doors. The Marbella jet set and the dancer's enormous circle of friends led to a multitude of visits to the martinete gardens. Vivien Leigh, Ava Gardner, the Duke of Windsor, Rappel, Rocío Jurado and Gina Lollobrigida were some of the stars who were seen coming and going. With the latter, the dancer, who was not exactly famous for his discreet qualities, aired a possible romance. As he also did in his day with Manuel Benítez El Cordobés. Whatever the case, what is certain is that Antonio Ruiz Soler and his house have contributed to Marbella's prestige and fame.

Subsequently, it has been the setting for a multitude of series and films, such as Culpa Mía, Los Lioneses, and Torrente en Marbella, where it was the US embassy.

The year of inauguration of the Villa el Martinete, 1961, coincided with the eightieth birthday of Pablo Picasso, who invited the dancer to his celebration. Legend has it that, during the party, Antoñito began to dance, enrapturing Picasso with the power of his movements. At the end of his dance, the master of cubism jumped over the table, kissed the dancer on the face and painted a portrait of him on cardboard, called La Danza (the dance). Ruiz Soler, who did not want to lose such a sweet memory, had the portrait that Picasso dedicated to him silk-screened in his swimming pool, making it the most famous swimming pool in the whole of Spain.

This palace, the protagonist of so many stories, is also a work of eccentricity, opulence and excess. It stands on the shores of the Mediterranean, benefiting from its salty aroma and fine breeze. The paint used to give a golden colour to the decorative elements, such as parts of the furniture or the abacuses of the columns, among many other details, is real gold. The real estate agency in charge of running it nowadays stresses that, at the time, this painting job took a total of eight months of work for the professionals in charge.

It has a total of nine bedrooms spread over three houses: five in the main house and the rest in two separate guest houses. There is also a master suite of no less than one hundred and twenty square metres. The guesthouse or master suite alone is larger than most flats for sale on any real estate portal.

In the main house, life between indoors and outdoors, gardens, water features and marble floors converge in harmony with a space full of windows that let in large amounts of light. Carpets, furniture, lamps... everything here is the quintessence of luxury.

To refresh the body we have water of all shades: the Mediterranean at the door, the pool in the garden, the jacuzzi on the roof and a second indoor pool in the basement. And if you are not a water person, but you are hot, don't worry, there is air-conditioning in all the rooms.

Barbecue, mini-bar, audio system throughout the house, spa area, sauna, hairdresser... this small town of luxury has absolutely everything you can imagine.

Such luxury does not come cheap. The real estate agency mentions an average maintenance cost of between twenty-five and thirty thousand euros a month for a house that, although it is not for sale, is speculated to be priced at over thirty million euros. Although you can also rent it from 35,000 to 80,000 euros a week, depending on the season.