Minho Villas: Luxury Spanish / Portuguese Riverfront Quinta For Sale

Prestigious luxury quinta (large villa) directly overlooking the River Minho on the Portuguese / Spanish border near Vigo for sale. Extremely rare riverfront location complete with direct private river / boat access and opposite a praia fluvial (a "river beach" popular with local families in the summer). Immediate access to Monção Portugal, Salvaterra de Miño Galicia (Spain) and beyond to Vigo (25 minutes) and Porto (1 hour). The business zone of Porriño (Espana) and future (2010) high speed rail link station (to Europe) in Valença (Portugal) are each just 15 minutes away. This is a virtually crime free area where the cost of living is very low but where property and land prices are rising significantly, despite problems in other property markets; please visit the imobiliario (real estate) page for confirmation of this and links to lower priced properties.

One of the main reasons for a buoyant local property market is directly opposite the quinta, although mostly hidden from view and beyond hearing range on the Spanish side of the river. There you will find the site for the new low level / impact "Vigo Dry Port" (currently a brickworks). Vigo is bursting at the seams due to its commercial success and nearby Salvaterra de Miño has become a boom town, with many affluent Spanish preferring to buy property just across the river in Portugal where building regulations are stricter and guarantee lower building density / a better quality of life. Although the serene rural nature of this quinta is protected, the nearby economic success provides almost city like entertainment, dining and shopping opportunities. A 10 minute drive one way and you will find traditional Portuguese restaurants serving local cuisine and wine at under 20 Euros a head; 10 minutes the other way and you have shops, bars, tapas and Spanish seafood restaurants.

This quinta therefore should be of interest to any senior management connected with the Vigo project such as Citroen - Peugeot; they could even boat across to work! This quinta may also be of interest to property developers as five to six more luxury houses could be built in the grounds (including the separate adjacent plot) to turn it into a gated luxury housing estate as the vast majority of the grounds enjoy "Urbano" title status. Of course this quinta could be bought and enjoyed as it is now, as a prestigious residence with guaranteed privacy and stunning views.

This is the most prestigious property in the most prestigious suburb of the historic fortified town of Monção (Portugal), with its ancient architecture and sidewalk cafes; a road bridge across the River Minho (Rio Miño) takes you to fast developing Salvaterra with its designer shops and tapas bars. This villa is almost literally in both Spain and Portugal; paying low Portuguese utility bills, etc. while the views are of the border River Miño and the Galician mountains beyond. It also is and will always be the only riverfront property in the area courtesy of building regulations agreed mutually by both Portugal and Spain after its construction and land title designation.

Laid out over three floors, there are 5 bedrooms (one with en suite bathroom), a total of 4 bathrooms, a large family lounge, a study, a large dining room, large TV lounge, very large kitchen, breakfast room & kitchen, guest lounge, office, laundry room, adega (wine store) and large utility room, plus adjacent garages.

Set in approximately 10,500 sqm of grounds with around another 3,500 sqm in an adjacent plot available separately. In addition another 7,200 sqm of adjoining woodland is also available if required from a neighbour. This quinta can never be overlooked by anyone due to a) owning the land that overlooks it, b) neighboring woodland being protected by "preservation order" (designated permanent rustic land), and c) river conservation / building permit regulations; the later making this luxury home extremely rare as very few properties exist which overlook rivers with no new permits being issued now because of a conservation treaty between Spain and Portugal. The river is a designated International conservation area, so the views from the property over the river and Galicia Spain beyond are pretty much guaranteed.

Currently around 9000 sqm of the land (including what the quinta is built upon) is "Urbano" title. Even allowing for building restrictions regarding proximity to the river, it is likely two more substantial houses could be built in the grounds (where the main fruit orchard and vineyard are at the moment) if desired to form an exclusive gated riverside community with swimming pool just outside up and coming Monção. With the scope to build 2 more family houses on adjoining land also for sale by the present quinta owners, it is feasible a gated community of the original quinta plus 3 additional family sized homes could exist here. For details of the separate additional 3,200 sqm plot of land, please see Extra Land

The granite and wood rich grounds have everything from 255 grape vines (234 for quality Alvarinho white wine, the rest for eating), 2 small streams feeding a duck pond / irrigation tank, around 80 fruit and nut trees (including cherry, plum, walnut, hazelnut, sweet chestnut, orange, lime, lemon, clementine, peach, apple, pear, nectarine, pomegranate, persimmon, quince, black / red and white figs), kiwi fruit vines, olive trees, oak trees, cork oak trees, summer house, granite pagoda with table and seating, garages, dog kennels, gate house / additional dog kennel, family garden, flower gardens and of course a full length swimming pool with children's section; all sectioned with child safety in mind.