Villa Winter, also known as Casa Winter, is a house built by the German engineer Gustav Winter, born in 1893 in the Black Forest, in the remote south-west of Fuerteventura near the village of Cofete on the Jandía peninsula. It has two floors, a basement, a front balcony and a tower in the north-eastern corner. The building documents were filed with Pájara town hall in 1949. The villa is known for conspiracy theories linking it to the Nazis and German U-boats; Winter's widow said it was built to farm the area.
Villa Winter
Isolated villa near Cofete with a corner lookout tower, a vaulted basement and a long trail of Nazi legends.
- Entrance
- Entry to the house by donation; the guided basement tour costs €5 per person.
- Accessibility
- No wheelchair-accessible entrance or parking; the approach is by gravel road and dirt track.
- Parking
- Car parks in Cofete: by the Pepe El Faro restaurant, about 1.4 km away, and a free sandy car park at Cofete beach, about 1.5 km away.
- Difficulty
- The effort is in the approach: almost 20 km of winding gravel mountain road from Morro Jable, then a dirt track to the house.
- Transport
- Nearest bus stop: Cofete, about 1.3 km away in a straight line.
- Advance booking
- Visitors without a reservation are let in when the owner is at the house; the basement tour is requested on the spot.
- Hours
- Tuesday to Sunday 10:00–14:00 and 15:00–17:00; closed on Monday.
- Address
- Diseminado, 3, 35626 Cofete, Las Palmas, Spain
What makes it special
Climb the tower in the north-eastern corner and the view goes all the way round: the mountains of Jandía on one side, the wild beach of Cofete and the Atlantic surf on the other. That tower is also where the legends start. It once held an electric lantern, like a lighthouse, and a large fuse box still hangs on its wall, which is why the story of signals to German U-boats has never gone away.
The basement feeds the rest. Tunnels and rooms run under the house, some with walls 1.4 m thick and arched ceilings. The caretaker, Pedro Fumero, lives in the villa and guides visitors through it, underground rooms included, telling the stories he grew up with. Treat them as stories: Winter's widow said the house was built purely for farming, and its building papers date from 1949.
Good to know
- There are no toilets and no drinking water at the house or nearby, so bring water with you.
- The way in is at the back of the house; the caretaker, Pedro Fumero, lives there and lets visitors in.
- The house is being renovated slowly with visitors' donations, and parts of it are dirty and run-down.
- The tour presents torture chambers, U-boat bases and crematoria as fact; these are legends, and the house's own building papers date from 1949.
Getting there
From Morro Jable it is almost 20 km of gravel mountain road, one hairpin after another, before the road comes down on the Cofete side and the open Atlantic coast appears. Give the drive time: this is the slow part of the trip.
The nearest car parks are in Cofete, one by the Pepe El Faro restaurant about 1.4 km away in a straight line and one at Cofete beach about 1.5 km away. The Cofete bus stop is about 1.3 km away. Only a dirt track leads to the villa itself, and an information board stands about 100 m from the house.
Best time to visit
Best: a clear morning, Tuesday to Sunday. The tower's all-round view needs a clear sky, cloud can settle on the mountains behind Cofete, and the morning opening is the longer of the two.
Avoid: Monday, and arriving between 14:00 and 15:00. The house is closed all day on Monday and shuts for an hour at lunch, which is a long way to drive for a locked door.
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The gravel road from Morro Jable winds over the mountains in tight hairpins with drops beside it in places. Drive it slowly and in daylight, and give way with care where it narrows.
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Frequently asked questions
Was Villa Winter a Nazi base?
That is the theory, and it is unproven. It rests on the electric lantern once fitted in the tower, said to have signalled German U-boats, and on the thick-walled rooms in the basement. Winter's widow said the house was built purely to farm the area.When was Villa Winter built?
Dates given for it run from 1937 to the early 1950s. Local residents put construction between 1946 and 1954, and the architect's and surveyor's documents were submitted to Pájara town hall in 1949.Can you go inside Villa Winter?
Yes. The caretaker, Pedro Fumero, lets visitors in through the back of the house for a donation, and the guided tour of the basement costs extra.How do you get to Villa Winter?
By the gravel mountain road from Morro Jable, almost 20 km of hairpins to the Cofete side of the Jandía peninsula. The last stretch to the villa is a dirt track.Are there toilets or water at Villa Winter?
No. There are no toilets and no drinking water at the house or nearby, so bring what you need.