THE SPANISH CO-FOUNDER OF A PROPERTY EMPIRE BEATRIZ RUBIO UNVEILS THE STUNNING RENOVATION OF HER UNIQUE FAMILY HOME ON THE PORTUGUESE COAST

Beatriz Rubio is an inspiration: a woman who’s built – literally from the ground up – a property empire that employs 20,000 people and takes in every aspect of the business, from construction, sales and financing to TV makeover shows. But whenever someone praises her achievements, Bea is quick to point out: “It’s not just me.

- VICTORIA DE ALCAHUD

There are two of us in everything. Manuel Alvarez, my husband, is the visionary, the one with the big ideas.” Her role, she says, is to put their plans into action.

WINNING TEAM

Teenage sweethearts, the Spanish couple moved to Portugal as newlyweds. They invested all they had in their first venture, a small campsite near Lisbon that opened in the late 1990s. Among their earliest guests was a party of nuns making a pilgrimage to the famous shrine at Fátima. Whether the appreciative sisters blessed the place, as Bea and Manuel like to think, or whether they simply spread the word, their business hasn’t looked back since.

And Bea’s own energy and drive have played a part in their success. “I’m so proactive that if we decide to do something and I’m sitting down, I instinctively get up so I can run off to do it,” she says, with a laugh.

DESIGN CLASSIC

Naturally, the home the couple share with their three children – Marta, Patricia and Manolo – is a true oneoff. Casal de São Roque, in the southern resort of Estoril, was built in 1902 on the site of a 17th-century Atlantic coastal fort. Although it had once belonged to sailing friends of Spain’s King Juan Carlos, the house had fallen into disrepair, and with the Covid-19 pandemic in full swing, restoration took two years. But it was worth it, Bea believes. “We love this place because, as its architect said, it brings together privacy, experience and atmosphere,” she says.