A developer's platform, not a hotel group. El Soco buys what nobody wanted, restores it in the island's own stone, lets it four ways, and co-owns it with the people who use it. Then it does it again, under the same name, to the same standard.
Lanzarote is a Biosphere Reserve where new build on rustic land is close to impossible and pre-existing traditional buildings are the only door left open. That door is the whole thesis.
Every El Soco estate starts with something that already stands — a ruin, a corral, a tower — because on this island the ruin is the licence. Restoration in basalt and lime is not a heritage gesture; it is the correct engineering answer on a salt coast, the correct planning answer inside Manrique's grammar, and the correct commercial answer for a hold that exits on comparable or replacement value rather than income alone.
The format is fixed so the brand can travel: a walled compound, three to five keys, a heated pool, a serviced 200 m² court platform, no neighbour, no street light, an Atlantic wave within twenty minutes. Whatever the island, that is a soco.
The standard is what gets licensed. It is short on purpose.
| Element | Standard | Why it is non-negotiable |
|---|---|---|
| The plot | Rustic land with a pre-existing traditional structure; no neighbouring dwelling in any sightline; unlit horizon | Planning route, darkness and privacy are the three things money cannot add later |
| The wall | Dry-laid volcanic stone, restored first; new volumes low and behind it in whitewashed lime | Irreplaceability (exit Method C) and the easiest licence to defend |
| The keys | Three to five independent keys, each with own gate, terrace, parking; lettable whole or apart | Cuatro llaves: the estate survives a change of use |
| The pool | ≥ 12 m, solar heat pump, on its own deck | Sets the rate; “the rate is set outdoors” |
| La pista | 200 m² level, enclosed, floodlit, serviced platform — padel first, nine programmes | Diversifies the club case; reads as estate infrastructure to a residential buyer |
| Energy & water | Solar-led with mains behind it; aljibe; on-site treatment to the gardens | Remote plots; the honest version of “off-grid” |
| The surf | A surfable Atlantic break within ~20 minutes | Winter demand from the Nordic, German and British markets the club sells into |
Stabilised, on €1.80M of cost at Finca del Fuego. The club case is the brand's case: only about 45% of the uplift from B to C is the court itself; the rest is programme selling — camps, retreats, offsites, shoots, members' hire.
≈150 nights at an average of €1,150.
195–220 nights each.
16 exclusive programme weeks, 30 letting weeks, paid court hire.
Bars scaled to yield on cost, 9.3% = full width. Source: underwriting basis v4 / model v5.
The capital structure is the brand's second product. Co-investors take their own usage weeks; the principal keeps 55% of equity; senior debt arrives only against a permitted asset.
| Phase | Source | Amount | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 · Due diligence | Principal — already paid | €20,000 | €20,000 |
| 1 · Acquisition | Principal equity, secured on Latvian real estate at ~0.70 LTV | €450,000 | €470,000 |
| 2 · Refinance | Senior debt, ~70% LTV on the permitted asset | €400,000 | €870,000 |
| 3 · Investor equity | One or two co-investors, band €360k–€720k | €540,000 | €1,410,000 |
| 4 · Completion | Principal top-up €190k + facility €200k | €390,000 | €1,800,000 |
| At completion | Principal 36.7% of capital / 55% of equity · investors 30% · senior debt 33.3% | €1,800,000 |
Disclosed assumption. The base and upside exits assume the estate can be sold to a private buyer as a residence even if tourist letting is refused. Under Ley 6/2025 the tourist authorisation extinguishes on sale in any event. This is the first question in the planning opinion, and the brand says so out loud.
Three rings of growth, each funded by the last. The name is what carries from one ring to the next; Frest is the builder of record throughout.
| Ring | Estates | Ownership | El Soco earns | What it proves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I · Own & prove | 01 Finca del Fuego | Principal 55% of equity, ≤2 co-investors | NOI, exit, and the standard written down | The licence route, the club case, the ADR |
| II · Co-invest & repeat | 02–03, Lanzarote / Fuerteventura | El Soco Capital sponsors; co-investors majority | Development fee, sponsor promote, brand fee 3–5% of gross | The format travels within one planning regime |
| III · License | 04+, Canaries and Atlantic islands | Third-party developers under the standard | Licence fee on cost, brand royalty on gross, Frest build contract | The name is worth more than the plot |
Fee levels are placeholders for discussion, not modelled. Ring II and III economics enter the workbook only after Finca del Fuego trades two quarters at forecast (Gate 3).
The estate's own calendar sets the brand's: capital Y0–Y2, completion end of Y3, seven trading years, exit or refinance in Y10.
Planning counsel's opinion, pre-application with Yaiza and the Cabildo, utility quotes, conditional contract. Name cleared and registered.
Groundworks, services, structures, pool shell, court platform. Co-investors in. Brand book v1 and the estate's own site live.
Fit-out and commissioning; Finca del Fuego trading; court window in a closed shoulder period. Club El Soco launches with the first camp season.
Estate 02 optioned once Fuego trades two quarters at forecast. Second estate under El Soco Capital.
Licence standard published. Third-party estates on other islands. Y10 exit or refinance of Fuego at the higher of three valuation methods.
Checked live on 4 September 2026 against the .com registry and the .es registry. Nothing is registered yet. The core list should be bought before the deck circulates further; the trademark search comes before any public use.
| El Soco core | .com | .es |
|---|---|---|
| elsoco | free | free |
| elsococlub · clubelsoco | free | free |
| elsococapital | free | free |
| elsocofincas · elsocoestates | free | free |
| elsocolanzarote · elsocoislands | free | free |
| elsocodelfuego · fincaelsoco · fincadelsoco | free | free |
| casaelsoco · casadelsoco · lafincadelsoco | free | free |
| Defensive & reserve | .com | .es |
|---|---|---|
| lossocos · socosdelfuego · socodelfuego | free | free |
| socofinca · socoislands · socolanzarote | free | free |
| socosclub · socosestates · socoscapital | free | free |
| socos · alsoco · sococlub · sococapital | taken | free |
| soco · zoco | taken | taken |
| Trademark — classes 36 · 41 · 43 (EUIPO / OEPM) | clearance outstanding | |
| Known collision | The Soco Hotels, Barbados / Saint Lucia — same class, other continent | |
A brand that hides its gating items is not a developer's brand. These are the five that decide the platform, in the order they are answered.
Ley 6/2025 requires a ten-year building age and explicit municipal consent for tourist use; the turismo rural route under Decreto 18/1998 is the primary vehicle. Written opinion before exchange. Nothing is built until this is answered in writing.
Consent beyond the existing footprint is not assured. The scheme restores the existing structure and keeps new volumes low and behind it. Pre-application with Yaiza and the Cabildo.
Specified as a modular, reversible, multi-use platform. Refusal is priced: it is the downside case, and the brand still works without it.
One hospitality collision in the Caribbean. Clearance search in classes 36, 41 and 43 before public use; file as a figurative mark with the wall device.
Over half of island arrivals are British. Club programmes sold into Nordic, German, Irish and Dutch markets from launch; the surf and the shoulder-season calendar are the diversifier.