Astondoa, Four Generations of Spanish Yachtbuilding on the Costa Blanca

From Basque rowing boats to a seafront yard in Santa Pola

Brothers Jesús and José Astondoa Martínez started building rowboats and traineras, the Basque racing shells, in a small carpenter's shop in Portugalete in 1916. Work stopped during the Spanish Civil War, after which the brothers went separate ways and Jesús carried on with fishing and leisure boats. His son, Jesús Astondoa Santamaría, joined in 1944 and soon ran the yard. Its boats earned a national name, the company established itself on Spain's east coast, and the third generation followed him in.

The early 1980s brought the move from wood to fiberglass, and with it rapid growth. By 2006 Astondoa had more than 500 employees and a range running from 40-foot open boats to composite yachts beyond 120 feet and steel and aluminum megayachts up to 45 meters. The family still runs it, now into a fourth generation.

A custom process at production scale

Astondoa's headquarters yard sits on the waterfront at Santa Pola, about ten minutes from Alicante airport, on roughly 323,000 square feet. It builds the largest yachts there and also handles refits, with a 150-tonne travel lift. Smaller models come from a plant in Almansa, and Faeton sport boats from a site in Gádor. The yard makes most of each boat itself, from 1:1 plugs cut on a five-axis mill to teak joinery, machined metal parts and upholstery, and it sells every yacht as tailored to its owner rather than built from a fixed list.

Today's range is grouped into Coupe models from the 377 to the 677, the 44, 52 and 66 Flybridge, the As5 and As8, the Ax8 and the Century line at 100 and 110 feet, with a 125 announced. Our coverage is the Astondoa 72 GLX, which illustrates how the yard works: a first-generation flybridge from the late 1990s and early 2000s, then a square-bowed second edition from 2013 to 2018 with four staterooms, MAN V12 or triple Volvo Penta IPS power and designer Cristiano Gatto working through each boat with its buyer.

Buying a Spanish yacht from the American side

Astondoa has a small footprint in the US. Its dealer list names Ghost Yachts in Miami Beach and Premium Marine in Puerto Rico, and many used boats are in Spain and the Balearics. That tends to keep prices below comparable Italian and British flybridges, though buyers must work harder on support. Engines and drives come from MAN and Volvo Penta, both well served in Florida, while hull, joinery and parts questions go to Santa Pola.

Because each boat was finished to its first owner's taste, two Astondoas of the same model can differ widely, so inspect each one on its own merits.

• Establish the generation and build year, since model names like the 72 GLX span different hulls.
• Check service records for MAN V12s or Volvo Penta IPS pods, which are costly to neglect.
• Inspect teak decks, window bonding and the hydraulic or electric doors and platforms common on Astondoas.
• For yachts lying in Europe, confirm VAT status, US duty, and how the 230-volt systems will be converted.
• Ask the yard for the build file, as owner-specific changes affect parts and wiring.