Casa del Duque

Casa del Duque is an imposing and stately structure located on the coast of Adeje that invariably grabs the imagination of tourists and residents alike and the inevitable question they all ask is who are the possible residents and owners. There are a lot of rumours when it comes to who has or still does live there, these include Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Elton John, Liz Taylor, Richard Burton, Ron Atkinson and even the King of Spain, Juan Carlos. In fact, it is someone else.

Casa del Duque, or Duke’s House, was built by the Duke of Abrantes, thirteenth in line, Diego de Zuleta y Carvajal. He had Portuguese roots and was elevated to the high nobility already during the Habsburg era, in the middle of the 17th century. This castle was built in the thirties of the last century, and the reason is probably the enmity of the nobles and the wealthy that took place during that period on the continent, or in the Third Republic of Spain. Anyone familiar with the history of Tenerife can imagine the conditions under which this castle was built. The entire southern coast was an empty stone desert, the nearest settlement was the village of Los Cristianos with a few illiterate fishing families living mostly in huts, there was no fresh water, no electricity, instead of roads there were goat tracks. This construction cost Señor Diego a handsome fortune. Fresh water reservoirs with filter systems were built into the rocks, there was a power station here. Don Diego’s grandson, Don Jose Manuel de Zuleta y Alejandro, or 15th Duke of Abrantes, is incidentally the secretary of Queen Letizia of Spain. Which, of course, means a little more than a typist. In the sixties, however, all this splendor passed into the hands of the family, which has most influenced the south coast of Tenerife and, in fact, the entire tourism in Tenerife in general. In 1965 Rafael Puig Lluvina started an ambitious project by acquiring land along the coast of Adeje and Arona. At the time there was nothing there, no roads, no beaches, no electricity, no water supply, just wasteland. What it did have was beautiful sunny weather that lasted all year round and this would make his plan a success. 1966 Don Rafael together with his son Santiago Puig, the owner of all projects that start with the name "Parque Santiago" built an urbanization which they called Playa de Las Americas. His enthusiasm, patience and vision of the future, became the first and most popular touristy part of Tenerife for many years. What else I would like to highlight about the Puigs is their role and initiative in the construction of TF1, the southern highway. 75 kilometers were built in four years. In the following almost forty years, next 35 kilometers have been built.