About Santa Clara ....
Historical
The rock, La Roca, La Punta de Torremolinos
Castillo de Santa Clara has a colorful history. The old Carabinieri barracks of Torremolinos stands on the promontory La Roca. The rock separates the coast La Carihuela and El Bajondillo. At the turn of the 20th century, a wealthy Englishman, George Langworthy Southan and his wife Annie Margaret, bought the barracks called Castillo de Santa Clara.The barracks was originally built in 1763 on the lands of La Punta de Torremolinos. The Langworthy's transformed the property into a luxurious summer residence, with gardens and viewpoints on the edge of the cliff overlooking the sea.
Unfortunately Margaret died in 1913 at the age of only 40 years. George Langworthy rebuilt the property into a resort for war injured and disabled. To overcome his grief, Langworthy, with his considerable fortune, helped the local population of Torremolinos in a time of extreme economic hardship. He became known as El Ingles de la Peseta, who let read from the Bible and gave people a silver peseta for it. The locals formed queues to read a Bible verse.
In 1930, Santa Clara opened as a hotel, initially Langworthy was able to attract many guests from acquaintances from his time in the army. It is known that George Langworthy sent thousands of postcards of the Costa del Sol to advertise the new hotel. He was significantly in making Torremolinos one of the most popular vacation spots.
One of the first notable guests to attend Hotel Santa Clara was the eccentric Spanish surrealist and genius Salvador Dali and his love and eternal muse, Gala. They stayed in Santa Clara for several weeks in May 1930.
Dali makes his painting El Hombre Invisible (The Invisible Man).
El Ingles de la Peseta spends his remaining years retired in a small house on the grounds of Santa Clara, overlooking La Carihuela until his death in April 1945, at the age of 79. The property was respectfully renamed Castillo del Inglés by the locals.
From local reports, all Torremolinos attends his funeral as a symbol of gratitude and love because Langworthy had helped in more ways than one. He was buried in the English cemetery in Malaga next to his beloved Margaret.
The modern Castillo de Santa Clara opened in 1975 and has seen many illustrious guests from the show business, sports and politics of its time.
