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Atlantic views, your own stretch of beach and an extinct volcano on 300 hectares of land: one of the last Spanish islands left in private hands has been put up for sale, offering a remote natural bolt hole to anyone with BD4.6 million to spend.
Montana Clara, the “pale mountain” that rises from the sea north of the Canary island of Lanzarote, boasts a virtually untouched habitat and a breeding population of protected White-faced Storm-petrels, apart from the beach and the 256 metre-high remains of a volcanic crater.
A cosy cove or two, some cliffs, some caves and a few natural rocky swimming pools filled with sea water all come into the package.
Views out across the Atlantic Ocean and warm winds blowing off the African coast some 160km away are among the free extras.
Montana Clara is now on a Spanish property company’s website, valued at nine million euros. “Make the most of this opportunity ... It is not every day that an island comes up for sale,” said the Look & Find company website.
The main drawback of the island is that whoever buys it cannot build there.
The island is being sold by the heirs to the last owner, Mariano Lopez Sorcas, who was mayor of a small Lanzarote town.
The real estate company billed him as a careful owner who, for the past 50 years, had done nothing to disrupt the balance of nature on the island.
Among those reported to be interested were a Dutch buyer and a finance company.
Tax breaks may be available to the buyer, and the property company suggested that a wealthy nature lover interested in protecting the island’s fauna and flora might be the ideal buyer. However, the Spanish government recently stepped in, saying it may also bid for the island.
In fact, the environment official responsible for Spain’s coastline, Jose Fernandez, said that Montana Clara may end up being expropriated.
He said the island, part of the Chinijo archipelago, formed part of a specially protected area.
By Giles Tremlett
