La Casa Grande by Rupert Eden

La Casa Grande is family-owned and run with great charm! On arrival you are treated to a glass of cool Manzanilla sherry and sat down in their spacious open plan living come dining room – baroque choir music plays in the background. Ferrán is a graphic designer and Elena worked in the media and theatre before coming to Arcos.

It has taken the couple years of meticulous renovation and interior decoration to create the relaxed and comfortable space within the palatial setting of a former nobleman’s home. The hotel is small and intimate with an informal atmosphere allowing you to completely relax amongst friends. Two spacious bedrooms and two luxurious suites with coloufully tiled ensuite bathrooms have seamlessly blended modern with the old using a mixture of Morrocan and local design. The most attractive thing about La Casa Grande is its location, perched on the edge of Arcos cliff looking across the rolling Cadiz plains.

Local Nuñez de Prado family built La Casa Grande in 1729 and coats of arms carved in mahogany remain on the doors as well as other reminders of the house’s illustrious past. Centuries later, the dancer Antonio Ruiz Soler, known internationally as Antonio, bought the house and lived there during his sojourns in Arcos de la Frontera. Antonio was born in Seville in 1921 was an openly gay, international public performer during the repressive regime of General Franco. His charisma allowed him to break down social barriers and danced for Spain’s royal family in 1929 and was presented to Franco on a number of occasions. Antonio travelled all over the world dancing including hundreds of shows across Europe and Latin America and the United States where he gained great acclaim especially in Hollywood.

Antonio was as infamous as he was famous and was imprisoned in Arcos for 15 days having blasphemed in front of the local priest during a film shoot. He later wrote an account of his experience in prison called "Antonio, Mi diario en la Carcel" – Antonio my prison diary. You can still visit the former prison where he was held which has been turned into a café aptly named “El Carcel”. In later life Antonio became a hugely accomplished choreographer and went on to direct dance productions until his death in 1997.