Culture
Inside La Finca, Madrid’s ‘Beverly Hills’ and home to Mbappe, Bellingham and more…
When Kylian Mbappe made his long-awaited move to Real Madrid this summer, the France superstar could have chosen to live wherever he wanted in the Spanish capital.
The Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has a luxury apartment in the vibrant city centre, which Mbappe already knew well from previous visits.
His new team-mates Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior have impressive residences in the established and comfortable La Moraleja neighbourhood, close to Madrid’s training ground at Valdebebas in the city’s northern outskirts.
Mbappe opted for La Finca, the exclusive private development in the swish Pozuelo de Alarcon suburb to the west of the city, following fellow galacticos Iker Casillas, Raul Gonzalez, Zinedine Zidane, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Eden Hazard, Toni Kroos and David Alaba.
It also helped that there was a suitably luxurious property available on the market. The minimalist, modern 1,100-square-metre mansion has eight bedrooms (all en-suite), ample kitchen and receiving areas including a large cinema screening room. There is also a home gym, sauna and heated indoor swimming pool — specially designed for the requirements of a top-level professional athlete.
(Antonio Villalba/Real Madrid via Getty Images)
The property had a listing price of €12million (£10m; $12.9m) but Mbappe’s representatives had an advantage. It had been on the market for two years, since the previous occupant left for a new career opportunity in Los Angeles.
That gave them more leverage during tough negotiations, and industry sources with knowledge of the deal, who asked to remain anonymous as they were not authorised to speak on the matter, have confirmed to The Athletic that it was sold for €10.5m.
Whether the deal-clincher for Mbappe was the golf putting green installed by Gareth Bale in the 3,000-square-metre garden is unknown. Mbappe is perhaps more likely to make use of the mini football pitch, basketball court and covered garage with room for six sports cars.
A view of some of the houses at La Finca (Dermot Corrigan/The Athletic)
La Finca’s extensive security meant The Athletic couldn’t get within 500 metres of Mbappe’s new house during a recent visit, but we did speak to multiple sources who live and work in the area, some of whom requested anonymity to protect their relationships with very rich and sensitive neighbours and clients…
For centuries, Pozuelo de Alarcon and its surrounds has been a refuge for Madrid’s wealthy, many of whom had summer residences close to royal hunting grounds which stretched up to the nearby Sierra de Guadarrama mountains.
In 1989, the site, which is now La Finca (The Ranch), was parkland when it was bought by Luis Garcia Cereceda, a successful developer of apartment complexes in the surrounding suburbs. Its 100 hectares were rezoned for residential use in 2000. Three different areas were mapped out amid the rolling contours of the existing landscape, utilising its existing pine forests, while adding 17 artificial lakes. Los Lagos I (The Lakes I) had the biggest plots for the most exclusive mansions. Los Lagos II had not quite as huge but still very ample chalets and duplexes. Prado Largo had more (relatively) affordable apartments.
“La Finca is an exceptional life-concept with residences surrounded by nature and recognised for their security, privacy and quality,” La Finca’s vice-president Jorge Moran told The Athletic.
Architect Joaquin Torres, of studio A-cero, was hired to maintain a uniform modern style throughout the development. Torres designed the apartments for Los Lagos II and Prado Largo, and worked with each individual buyer of a site in Los Lagos I to maintain a harmonious aesthetic within the entire development.
“Luis and his wife wanted to build the best urbanisation in Spain, and they did it,” Torres says. “It was a tremendously attractive project, an iconic job, for the bravery and the quality of the product.”
Houses originally sold for €2m, but the prices quickly rocketed in what was quickly dubbed ‘Madrid’s Beverly Hills’. Among the first buyers were aristocrats Borja Thyssen and Blanca Cuesta, actors Lydia Bosch and Paz Vega, former bullfighter Fran Rivera and singer Alejandro Sanz. Other high-profile residents included former Pozuelo mayor Jesus Sepulveda and businessman Jesus Correa, both convicted in the ‘Caso Gurtel’ corruption case. Gurtel’s investigating judge Baltazar Garzon was another neighbour within the same development.
(Photo courtesy of A-cero)
Privacy and security have always been key selling points for La Finca. Torres designed bunker-style guard houses and checkpoints at the entrances to each of the three zones. Private security keep a 24-hour watch, with infrared cameras all around the perimeter fence.
“(La Finca residents) can go for a run and nobody can even get close to them, the worst that can happen is to trip over a rabbit,” says a source who has sold plenty of properties in the area.
It’s impossible to gain access to any of the three areas of La Finca without an invitation from a resident. On a recent Saturday morning a black Mercedes SL 600 with black-tinted glass was waved past the security barrier, while a white Toyota delivery van had to wait while the guards checked their invitation, but The Athletic had to remain on the outside.
Security at La Finca is high (Dermot Corrigan/The Athletic)
From the very start, La Finca and football were closely associated. Madrid and Spain national team stars Raul and Casillas moved in during the 2000s — and many other galactico players and coaches have followed over the years.
Only the wealthiest like Mbappe can afford to live in Los Lagos I, where the mansions cost at least €10million to buy, or around €20,000 a month to rent.
“(Mbappe’s house) has bright open spaces, build quality, and a lot of care with the details,” says Torres. “The (La Finca) brand makes them feel secure — they buy luxury brand watches and cars, so obviously it’s the same in real estate.”
Torres has a long family connection with football and Madrid. His father Juan Torres was a co-founder of construction giant ACS, along with Los Blancos’ president Florentino Perez. The architect worked with players, including Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo, to fit the individual touches each client wanted for their house within the harmonious aesthetic of the development.
“Working with clients is the most difficult part of the profession, especially those who are famous, have money and are still young,” he says. “They always have their own ideas, but you have to know how to sell them your own vision. I couldn’t say that Penelope (Cruz) or Javier (Bardem) were easier than Cristiano or Zidane.”
Architect Joaquin Torres worked on houses belonging to Zidane and Ronaldo (Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
Madrid’s England international Bellingham and his mother Denise also live in Los Lagos I, in a 700-square-metre, six-bedroom house with a home theatre, sauna, gym and pool in the garden. Recently retired former team-mate Kroos lives a few doors down the street. Around the corner is the mansion Hazard bought from singer Sanz for €11m in 2019.
While Cristiano Ronaldo and his family were living in La Finca, his mother Dolores Aveiro lived in Los Lagos II, where luxury chalets with big gardens and private pools cost from €2.5m to €5m to buy, or at least €4,000 a month to rent.
Industry sources told The Athletic that Mbappe’s mother Fayza Lamari has recently rented a property in Los Lagos II. Neighbours include his France team-mate Antoine Griezmann of Atletico Madrid, Atletico coach Diego Simeone, as well as former Real Madrid players Guti and Alvaro Arbeloa.
On our visit to the area, The Athletic also caught a glimpse of the Los Lagos II properties from the adjacent pine-tree studded public park, where middle-aged joggers wearing designer sports gear and shades were enjoying a lovely sunny morning. One local resident said that footballers were rarely seen out and about, and that they make up a very small percentage of the total residents of La Finca.
A view into Los Lagos II (Dermot Corrigan/The Athletic)
The exposure that footballers bring may keep the house prices buoyant, but can attract unwanted attention and focus. In March 2014, three people were reportedly hospitalised after a fire in the apartment where Madrid starlet Jese Rodriguez then lived.
“Athletes are good for selling sports gear, but not for selling houses,” says a real estate source. “La Finca is a paradise and we want it to remain a paradise.”
After the founder Garcia Cereceda died in 2010, there was a public succession contest among his family. Torres’ connection ended abruptly, and a high-profile and bitter legal battle between the parties continued for over a decade. “I’ll always be connected to the La Finca project, for better or worse,” the architect says.
Meanwhile, La Finca and its surrounding area has continued to develop, with facilities and amenities expanding for its wealthy residents. Microsoft, Accenture and Uber are among the clients of its business park. The David Lloyd La Finca fitness centre offers state-of-the-art gym facilities and private tennis lessons. The steaks at upmarket Basque grill Urrechu restaurant have been popular with footballers over the years.
Ronaldo and partner Georgina Rodriguez’s daughter Alana Martina was born at the nearby El Quiron private hospital in November 2017. On school days, Kroos, Hazard, Torres, and Guti are often among the parents dropping or collecting their kids at exclusive private schools that offer education in Spanish, English, and French.
Under current executive president Susanna Garcia Cerceda, La Finca’s business has expanded recently. La Finca Grand Cafe centre opened its doors in 2023, while the first shots at La Finca Golf Club were hit last June. These have been accompanied by new exclusive residential developments — including chalets by the 15th green selling for €4.5m, and apartments nearby priced from €1.5m to €2m.
La Finca Grand Cafe’s ground floor outlets include upmarket fashion stores, interior designers, stylists, florist, perfumery and winery. The second floor has an array of restaurants offering international cuisines, often frequented by footballers who live nearby. La Finca Grand Cafe is open to the public, not just to those who live in the neighbourhood.
(Photo courtesy of La Finca)
Last March, Spain national team captain Alvaro Morata held a private birthday party for his former partner Alice Campello at Indochina. Staff say Mbappe and Bellingham have both eaten there recently. Currently injured Madrid defender Alaba is another frequent customer.
“Players usually come during the week, when it’s not as busy as at the weekends,” said an Indochina restaurant staff member. “We can set them up in a private area, so they can eat in peace. They often bring their kids too, people respect that and keep their distance.”
Ancelotti has come out from the city centre to dine at La Finca Cafe’s Italian restaurant Leonardo, and Bellingham and the Atletico Madrid captain Koke chatted briefly when they ran into each other at its Tottori sushi restaurant the week after a ‘derbi’ between their teams was interrupted by ultras throwing missiles onto the pitch.
“(Locals) don’t see me as Jude Bellingham the footballer, just Jude who goes for a coffee and is a nice guy,” Bellingham told Real Madrid TV midway through his first year in Madrid. “They look after me a lot. I feel at home.”
(Photo courtesy of A-cero)
The connection with football is important commercially. In early October, La Finca’s Golf Club hosted an event for Real Madrid’s charitable foundation. Objects from the Bernabeu club’s museum are currently on display all around the centre in an exposition called ‘Pegada al Corazon’ (Stuck to the heart) — including a match-worn Alfredo Di Stefano jersey, Ronaldo Nazario’s old boots and gloves of long-time resident Casillas. Kroos’ shirt from the 2024 Champions League final, his last ever club game, is on display across from the Instituto Smile Design orthodontists.
During our recent visits, The Athletic did not see any footballers (or ultras) among the customers strolling the shopping centre’s bright and shiny marble floors. We did note that its BM supermarket stocks Taylors Yorkshire tea and Twinings Earl Grey, though, if Bellingham and his mother are hankering after a brew.
It adds to the feeling that the exclusive project which began as a refuge for Spain’s richest and most private people is opening to the world.
(Photos: La Finca/Dermot Corrigan/Design: Eamonn Dalton)
Mr. Mudimbe was unapologetic. “To the question ‘what is Africa?’ or ‘how to define African cultures?’ one today cannot but refer to a body of knowledge in which Africa has been subsumed by Western disciplines such as anthropology, history, theology or whatever other scientific discourse,” he told Callaloo. “And this is the level on which to situate my project.”
Valentin-Yves Mudimbe was born on Dec. 8, 1941, in Likasi, in the Katanga Province of what was then the Belgian Congo, to Gustave Tshiluila, a civil servant, and Victorine Ngalula. At a young age, he said in 1991, he “began living with Benedictine monks as a seminarist” in Kakanda, in pre-independence Congo. He had “no contact with the external world, even with my family, and indeed had no vacations.”
When he was 17 or 18, he recalled, he decided to become a monk, this time among the Benedictine “White Fathers” of Gihindamuyaga, in Rwanda. But in his early 20s, already “completely francophonized,” he abandoned the religious life and entered Lovanium University in Kinshasa, graduating in 1966 with a degree in Romance philology. In 1970 he received a doctorate in philosophy and literature from the Catholic University of Louvain, in Belgium. He then returned to Congo to teach.
In the 1970s Mr. Mudimbe published, among other writings, three novels, all translated into English: “Entre les Eaux” (1973), published in English as “Between the Waters”; “Le Bel Immonde” (“Before the Birth of the Moon,” 1976); and “L’Écart” (“The Rift,” 1979). The principal characters in these novels “find it impossible to tie themselves to anything solid,” the scholar Nadia Yala Kisukidi commented in Le Monde.
At the end of the 1970s, when the offer came from Mr. Mobutu to be “in charge of, I guess, ideology and things like that,” as Mr. Mudimbe put it to Callaloo, he reflected that “I didn’t think of myself and I still don’t think of myself as a politician.” After he established himself in the United States, his focus turned to essays and philosophy; among other books, he wrote “L’Odeur du Père” (1982), “Parables and Fables” (1991) and “Tales of Faith” (1997).
Someone once defined poetry as “memorable speech.” By that standard, each of us has committed at least some poetry to memory. Nursery rhymes, song lyrics and movie catchphrases all find their way into our heads, often without any effort on our part.
More formal memorization used to be a common classroom ritual. Schoolchildren would stand and recite approved works for their teachers and peers. That kind of learning has mostly gone out of fashion, which may be a sign of progress or a symptom of decline. Either way, school shouldn’t be the only place for poetry.
And learning a poem by heart doesn’t have to be drudgery. It can be a way of holding onto something beautiful, a morsel of verbal pleasure you can take out whenever you want. A poem recited under your breath or in your head can soothe your nerves, drive away the noise of everyday life or grant a moment of simple happiness.
At a time when we are flooded with texts, rants and A.I. slop, a poem occupies a quieter, less commodified corner of your consciousness. It’s a flower in the windowbox of your mind.
There are millions of them available, in every imaginable style, touching on every facet of experience. You could store a whole anthology in your brain.
But let’s start with one: “Recuerdo,” by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
“Recuerdo,” first published in 1919 in Poetry magazine, is the recollection of a night out on the town — or more precisely on the water, presumably the stretch of New York Harbor served by the Staten Island Ferry. We asked some friends of the Book Review — poets, novelists, playwrights, actors and other literature lovers — to recite it for us, and a bunch said yes.
Today, Ada Limón, Ina Garten and Ethan Hawke will introduce you to the poem. Here’s the first of the three stanzas.
Recuerdo
We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable—
But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table,
We lay on a hill–top underneath the moon;
And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon.
Ada Limón, U.S. poet laureate
Why did we pick “Recuerdo”? We combed through our shelves like Goldilocks, looking for a poem that was just right: not too difficult, but not too simple; not obscure but not a chestnut; not a downer but not frivolous either. We didn’t want a poem that was too long, and we thought something that rhymed would be more fun — and easier — to memorize than a cascade of free verse.
Millay, who was born in Maine in 1892 and was a fixture of the Greenwich Village bohemian scene in the 1920s, caught our eye for a few reasons. In her lifetime, she was a very famous poet.
She was a decidedly modern author who often wrote in traditional forms, and who has stayed popular through 100 years of fluctuating fashion. Her verse, while serious and sophisticated, carries its literary baggage lightly.
When you get to the second stanza of “Recuerdo,” read here by Ina Garten, you realize that it has a hook.
We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry;
And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear,
From a dozen of each we had bought somewhere;
And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold,
And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.
Ina Garten, cook and author
It’s a city poem, but one that incorporates some arresting nature imagery (the sun, the moon, the wan glow of dawn). It delivers a confidential message — addressed to a “you” who shares the memory of those moments by the fire and in the moonlight — while striking a convivial, sociable tone.
The poem concludes with an impulsive act of generosity that carries a hint of melancholy. Here’s Ethan Hawke, reading the third and final stanza.
We were very tired, we were very merry,
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
We hailed, “Good morrow, mother!” to a shawl–covered head,
And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read;
And she wept, “God bless you!” for the apples and pears,
And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.
Ethan Hawke, actor
That’s it. The night is over; another day is here with its obligations and routines; we’re about to trade the open air of the ferry for the crowded underground platforms of the subway.
This poem stands up to repeated readings. It stays in your mind and your ear. It’s a fun poem about having fun, though of course there’s more to it than that. The poem expresses the desire to hold on to a fleeting experience, to fix it in words and images before it’s washed away on the tide of time.
“Recuerdo,” in Spanish, can mean recollection or souvenir, which is kind of perfect. The speaker summons bits and pieces of a memorable night, organizing them into verses that bring those hours back to life, even though they’re gone forever. We pick up those verses, and — impossibly but also unmistakably — we’re right there with her, inhaling the sea-kissed morning air.
So here is the challenge: Memorize this poem! Why? Because it’s unforgettable.
Below, you’ll find a game designed to help you learn “Recuerdo.” Today your goal is to master that wonderful refrain. (Once you’ve done that, you’ll have one third of the poem.) As the Challenge continues through the week, we’ll look closely at how the poem is made, at what it’s about and at the extraordinary woman who wrote it. There will be new games and videos every day, until we disembark on Friday, poem in hand. Bon voyage!
Your first task: Learn the first two lines!
Question 1/3
Let’s start with the refrain. Fill in the rhyming words.
We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
Tap a word above to fill in the highlighted blank. Need help? Click “See Full Poem
& Readings” at the top of the page.
Monday
Learn a poem with us this week. Keep it for a lifetime.
Tuesday (Available tomorrow)
How rhythm and rhyme make a poem memorable.
Wednesday (Available Apr. 30)
This is a New York poem. After you learn it, you can take it anywhere.
Thursday (Available May 1)
This poem is about staying up all night. Use it to greet the day.
Friday (Available May 2)
We’ve learned a poem this week. Now it’s yours.
Edited by Gregory Cowles, Alicia DeSantis, Nick Donofrio and Joumana Khatib. Additional editing by
Emily Eakin, Tina Jordan, Laura Thompson and Emma Lumeij. Design and development by Umi Syam and
Eden Weingart. Additional design by Victoria Pandeirada. Video production by Caroline Kim.
Additional video production by McKinnon de Kuyper. Photo editing by Erica Ackerberg. Illustration
art direction by Tala Safie.
Illustrations by Hannah Robinson.
Audio of “Recuerdo” from “Edna St. Vincent Millay in Readings From Her Poems” (1941, RCA); accompanying
photograph from Associated Press.
Blundstone Boots
There was a point when I wore kitchen clogs, which I found uncomfortable. Then, Birkenstocks, but your heel’s exposed. Your sock’s going to get soaked, especially when you’re flooding the floors to clean at the end of the night. Blundstones are waterproof and they look good. I can go from the airplane to out in the wild, right into the kitchen and I feel like they fit all those scenarios.
Palo Santo
When I opened my restaurant in the Line hotel in Austin, it was in every single room. My wife had to tell me what it was because I was like, “What are these wooden sticks in here for?” I travel with it and when I’m in dressing rooms, studios and hotels, it just makes everything smell familiar to me, regardless of where I am.
Dental Hygiene
When I’m eating different flavors throughout the day — snacking on things or trying 15 dishes on “Top Chef” — at a certain point, my mouth starts to just feel gross. Brushing my teeth, tongue scraping and flossing help me reset a little bit.
Deep Pockets
A lot of women’s pants have little pockets that go down maybe three inches. I need them to touch my thigh. Because I’m not a purse kind of person, I like to fit my wallet, keys and mints all in my pocket if I can. I have a stylist for any clothes that I wear in public or on television. When fending for myself, I’m going to wear pants that are two times too big, comfortable and with deep pockets. Lululemon dance studio relaxed fit mid-rise cargo pants are so comfortable. Not only do they have deep pockets, they also have cargo and back pockets.
Carmex
My preference is the stick. I always carry it in my left pocket; that’s just where it lives. I don’t leave home without it and it’s stashed in random places in our house — on my desk, in the junk drawer downstairs, two in our bedroom. I buy them in bulk and take great pride in finishing them.
Peppermint Gum
My mom used to tell me, “You look like I look like a cow chewing gum.” But it keeps cadence and there’s something in the rhythm of chewing where if I’m doing a task, especially if I’m cooking for hours, it’s a place for the anxiety to go. You know, how people relax with knee bouncing.
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