Amancio Ortega, founder of Zara and the Inditex Group, is experiencing a summer of two contrasting worlds. While his superyacht, the Drizzle, is turning heads on the Costa Smeralda—one of the Mediterranean’s premier showcases of luxury—the businessman has returned to his most personal retreat: the Aldán estuary in Galicia, aboard the Valoria B, the yacht he usually uses to cruise the Rías Baixas every summer.
Although spectacular, these boats do not represent the full extent of the Galician businessman’s nautical collection, as he has been renewing his fleet in recent years. In 2024, he commissioned Feadship to build Project 24 (formerly known as Project 1012), a 96-meter-long megayacht valued at approximately 300 million euros, featuring a swimming pool, an on-deck beach club, a garage for tenders, and numerous spaces designed for family use. Although spectacular, it has not been one of the vessels Amancio Ortega has used this summer—at least not yet.
The Valoria B, a symbol of the Aldán estuary
At the end of July, the 90-year-old tycoon once again anchored his Valoria B in the Aldán estuary, between the municipalities of Cangas and Bueu (Pontevedra), accompanied by his wife, Flora Pérez, and a group of friends. This is the Ortega family’s usual way of spending the summer in these waters, popularly known as the “Caribbean of southern Galicia,” although in reality it is a deep cove within the Pontevedra estuary, famous for its mild climate and its coves with fine sand and calm waters.
Among these sandy beaches, Arneles Beach stands out—located in the parish of O Hío—a stretch barely half a kilometer long with views of the Ons Islands that has become one of the businessman’s favorites due to its low-key atmosphere. Ortega also owns a property on the nearby island of La Toja, where he usually stays at this time of year, and his connection to Galicia goes far beyond sailing: he spent much of his childhood and youth there, and it was from A Coruña that he built the business empire known around the world today.
The Valoria B, the most beloved yacht
Of Ortega’s entire yacht fleet, the Valoria B is the most modest vessel and, perhaps precisely for that reason, the one used most often. Also built by the Dutch shipyard Feadship and delivered in 2018, it was named in honor of Valoria la Buena, the village in Valladolid where the businessman’s mother was born.
Measuring 47 meters in length, with a steel hull and aluminum superstructure, it remains moored for much of the year in the port of Sanxenxo and flies the Spanish flag—a rarity among large superyachts, which typically divide their time between the Mediterranean and other international destinations. Unlike the businessman’s other vessels, which are designed for long ocean crossings, the Valoria B serves as a local yacht, tied to his residences in Spain and, above all, to his fondness for the Galician coast.
“Drizzle,” the eye-catching gem in Sardinia
Life is quite different aboard the Drizzle, the flagship of Ortega’s fleet, which this summer has once again become one of the major attractions of the Costa Smeralda, in northern Sardinia. At nearly 92 meters in length, 14.5 meters in beam, and with a gross tonnage of about 3,000 metric tons, it is considered one of the most advanced private megayachts in the world. Also built by Feadship and delivered in 2024, its value is estimated at around $300 million—about 275 million euros at the current exchange rate—although the figure has never been officially confirmed.
Its exterior design was created by Sinot Yacht Architecture, with naval engineering by De Voogt Naval Architects, and it is the first certified hybrid-electric yacht built by Feadship—a system that reduces fuel consumption, emissions, and noise while underway. Thanks to this system, it reaches a top speed of 16 knots and has a range of approximately 5,500 nautical miles at cruising speed. On board, it features a private pool integrated into the main deck, a spacious beach club at the stern with retractable platforms that transform into a terrace overlooking the sea, luxurious suites, spacious salons, and areas designed to ensure maximum privacy for guests, as well as storage areas for tenders and jet skis.
