FILM STAR ANTONIO BANDERAS' GIRLFRIEND NICOLE KIMPEL

WELCOMES US INTO THEIR SPECTACULAR PENTHOUSE APARTMENT IN MALAGA

- MARTA GORDILLO

Hollywood star Antonio Banderas adores his home city of Malaga in Andalusia—and his property there is a true reflection of that passion.

As the A-list actor’s partner of six years Nicole Kimpel says in our exclusive photoshoot: “This place is Malaga; it’s located in the heart of the city and the city has taken it over. The architecture has some of the typical Arabic elements found here in Andalusia; there are local decorative elements and artists’ works, even some lines from Malagan poet Manuel Alcántara.”

You can see the whole city laid out from the terrace of the penthouse, its historic Arab fortress seeming close enough to touch. Right there, too, is the Roman theatre where Antonio performed when he was growing up, taking some of his first steps on the path to fame.

“The terrace is my favourite spot in the penthouse because from there, we enjoy vistas that are so colourful and amazing they could be paintings, and there are times of day when the light turns it all into a true show,” Nicole says. “We’re so lucky to be able to enjoy a perspective like this in the place Antonio loves so much, where I feel happy.”

CITIZEN OF THE WORLD

It’s perhaps not surprising Nicole has fallen in love with the city herself. An entrepreneur with a German father and Dutch mother, she considers herself a citizen of the world, but is proud to speak Spanish with a marked Malagan accent.

“I’ve adapted well to life in Spain because I’ve had a great teacher,” she says. “Antonio has helped me to understand and love the uniqueness of this wonderful country, so that now it feels as though it belongs to me a bit, too.”