Where are Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds staying on holiday?

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts

Get Simon Calder’s Travel email

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Boris Johnson has flown to Spain’s Costa del Sol for a week in a private villa, according to reports.

The Prime Minister has reportedly been in Spain since Friday, staying with wife Carrie Symonds and their son Wilfred in a 600-acre estate in Marbella owned by Tory MP Zac Goldsmith.

A Spanish police source told the Mirror: “Officially we can’t confirm but unofficially he’s in a big luxury villa on the border between Marbella and Benahavis.

“We have been made aware that the British prime minister is staying and so we are all being extra vigilant. We know how important he is globally and what a potential target he is so there are extra patrols over the next few days.”

Goldsmith’s hillside villa has 13 bedrooms and its own helipad, and is set in 600 acres of woodland reserve known as the Torre Tramores.

It’s rented out for around £25,000 a night, the Daily Mail is reporting.

The PM is not the first big name to have stayed at the Marbella mansion - actor Hugh Grant has enjoyed a stay, while Princess Diana is rumoured to have hidden out there after her divorce from Prince Charles, and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was pictured there on his 1995 honeymoon.

The Costa del Sol is a popular autumn sun-trap for the jet set, with the likes of Simon Cowell, Cristiano Ronaldo and Vladimir Putin owning houses there.

It stays sunny and bright with temperatures of around 25C into autumn.

Johnson’s autumn sun break is likely to attract criticism as it comes amid the UK’s HGV driver crisis, fuel shortages and supply issues predicted to disrupt families celebrating Christmas.

Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng defended the prime minister’s travel plans on Sunday, saying a short holiday was “reasonable” and that they were in regular touch via WhatsApp.

“I believe he has gone away. I’m not sure where he’s gone,” Mr Kwarteng said.

“But what I would say is I am in regular contact with him. He’s also had a year-and-a-half in which he’s almost lost his life to Covid, his mother passed away very sadly two or three weeks ago and he may have decided to take a short break.

“I think that’s something reasonable.

“I’m in regular WhatsApp contact with him, I spoke to him only a few days ago. I’m not sure when he’s supposed to have left the country.”

The Independent has approached Downing Street for comment.