Lanzarote was not yet the international island we know today, but in those early years of the eighties, it had already begun to project a different image, the volcanic landscape had become one of its main arguments, César Manrique had shown that tourism could coexist with island identity and spaces like Jameos del Agua or Mirador del Río were beginning to make the island recognizable far beyond the Canary Islands, in that scenario appeared Hussein I of Jordan, one of the most famous monarchs in the Arab world, accompanied by Queen Noor.
The chronology of Memoria de Lanzarote itself places October 1, 1981, as the reference date for that visit and indicates that Hussein remained thirteen days on the island, even acquiring a villa in Costa Teguise, with Lancelot, number 3, pages 1 and 12, as a contemporary source.
The visit had aroused interest weeks before, the trip was initially private, but the presence of the Jordanian royal family soon became news, the couple sought rest and privacy, although the very nature of the destination made it inevitable that the stay would be linked to some of Lanzarote's most representative places, and one of them was precisely the space that best summarized the landscape revolution the island was undergoing, Jameos del Agua.
The night celebrated there was reported by El País on September 6, 1981, Hussein and Noor attended a dinner at the Jameos del Agua restaurant, after which they participated in a Canarian musical party, Queen Noor was invited to dance by the lead dancer of the Arrecife folk group and the king himself danced with the lead dancer, in addition, the sovereigns received Lanzarote handicrafts from the president of the Insular Council.
The image has enormous journalistic power, the King of Jordan and his wife inside an ancient volcanic bubble, transformed by Manrique into one of Lanzarote's great cultural symbols, sharing music and dance with the island's inhabitants, that night showed much more than a holiday anecdote, it showed the encounter between an Eastern monarchy and a Lanzarote that was beginning to present itself to the world through its own formula, nature, culture, and architecture.
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Hussein seemed to quickly grasp the appeal of that combination, he wanted to return, and to return he needed a place to stay with the privacy befitting a Head of State, thus the story of the estate that would later be known as La Mareta, in Costa Teguise, began to take shape.
The chronology of Memoria de Lanzarote places the news that the king had acquired a villa in the urbanization precisely on October 1st, a reference that makes that date something more than a simple protocol visit, because the trip ended up having a physical consequence on the Lanzarote territory.
The future residence would not be a conventional palace, and here lies one of the keys to the story, the project had to respond to the place, integrate into the landscape, and maintain the relationship between architecture and nature that had made Lanzarote a unique case within Spanish tourism.
The Fernando Higueras Foundation identifies La Mareta, in 1981, as a dwelling for King Hussein of Jordan, and explains that the project began with the restoration of an existing modest dwelling to which six bungalows for staff and entourage were added.
The collaboration between Fernando Higueras and César Manrique is especially important for understanding the result, Higueras provided the architecture and Manrique participated in the artistic and landscape integration, a professional relationship that had already produced other relevant interventions in Lanzarote, including the Hotel Las Salinas, and which was found again in this private residence.
The academic documentation of the University of La Laguna records the construction of the La Mareta holiday home between 1981 and 1983, noting that Manrique designed the swimming pool and the arrangement of the basalt stones, an intervention that helps explain the particular relationship between the dwelling and the volcanic landscape.
The residence ended up becoming a much larger complex than the expression "villa" might suggest, the complex currently occupies 30,900 square meters, with approximately 1,900 square meters built and about 9,850 square meters of garden space, according to official information from the Ministry of Industry and Tourism and National Heritage, the architecture combines white walls and flat roofs with references to traditional Canarian architecture and elements of colonial inspiration.
Even the name has a Lanzarotean history, La Mareta owes its name to the prior existence of a cistern dug into the ground, a traditional construction known on the island by that name.
There is, however, a paradox in this whole story, Hussein built the residence but never used it as his usual residence, according to the historical documentation compiled about La Mareta, one of his sons did use it during a holiday period after his wedding, while the monarch himself continued to visit Lanzarote on other occasions and stayed in other establishments on the island.
The house that was born to become Hussein's personal refuge ended up having another destiny, on June 22, 1989 it was ceded to King Juan Carlos I and on July 18 of the same year it became part of Patrimonio Nacional, according to official documentation.
La Mareta's journey did not end then, the residence began a new stage linked to the Spanish Crown and, subsequently, to different international authorities and personalities, the historical documentation of Memoria de Lanzarote itself records that the first visit of the Spanish Royal Family took place in April 1993 and that afterwards there were numerous visits by national and foreign leaders.
One of the most dramatic episodes in its history occurred in January 2000, when María de las Mercedes, mother of King Juan Carlos I, passed away there, an event that added a new dimension to the trajectory of a residence that had begun as a private project of a Jordanian monarch.
Decades later, La Mareta would continue to be part of Spanish public life, while maintaining its reserved character, in 2015 the Government and Patrimonio Nacional signed an agreement to put the residence at the service of certain Spanish tourism interests, with the possibility of hosting international events and visitors, always under the management and authorization of Patrimonio Nacional.
But all that began much earlier, it began with a king who came to Lanzarote to rest, discovered the Jameos del Agua, learned about the island's folklore, received Lanzarotean crafts and found in Costa Teguise a place where he wanted to have a house.
The story of La Mareta is also the story of a Lanzarote that was learning to show itself to the world, an island that had turned its volcanoes into heritage, its traditional architecture into inspiration, and its landscapes into an essential part of its tourist identity. Hussein arrived as a visitor and ended up leaving a permanent mark on that landscape.
October 1, 1981, thus became associated with one of those stories that begin as minor news and end up acquiring a much greater dimension. A foreign king discovered Lanzarote, decided to build his refuge there, and ended up leaving behind a residence that decades later would still be one of the most unique places on the island.
Hussein did not manage to make La Mareta his usual residence, but his decision did achieve something that lasted much longer: to forever unite his name with Lanzarote, with Costa Teguise, with Manrique, and with an architecture that is still part of the island's landscape today.
On that October 1, 1981, Lanzarote did not just receive a king; it received a visitor who was fascinated by the island and decided he wanted to have his own place there, without knowing that this decision would end up creating one of the most famous residences in the recent history of Lanzarote, La Mareta.
Documentary Sources
• Memoria de Lanzarote, chronology of October 1, 1981, with reference to the weekly Lancelot, no. 3, pages 1 and 12.
• El País, September 6, 1981, on the stay of Hussein and Noor and the celebration in Jameos del Agua. • Fernando Higueras Foundation, file on La Mareta, housing for King Hussein of Jordan. • Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism and National Heritage, official documentation on La Mareta, dimensions, characteristics, and transfer of 1989.
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• César Manrique Foundation, bibliography on the visits of Hussein of Jordan and La Mareta. • University of La Laguna, study on César Manrique and Haría, with reference to the construction of La Mareta between 1981 and 1983.
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