What is being built

La Maviglia is a golf and medical-spa resort in the municipality of Maruggio (province of Taranto, Apulia), less than a kilometre from the Gulf of Taranto. The site is 202 hectares of olive groves and vineyards in the Primitivo di Manduria wine area. At its centre is a 16th-century masseria being restored as the clubhouse.

The April–July 2024 announcement: 125 keys (70 suites, a 20-room lodge and 35 villas), a 5,000 m² medical spa, four restaurants, a private beach club and an 18-hole golf course. The owner is the Swiss company Ultimate Collection; the founder and project lead is Nicola Cortese. The opening was then named for 2027.

Since 18 December 2025 the works have been stopped by an order of the Maruggio municipality over an unpaid instalment of the building contribution and a missing surety guarantee. In September 2026 the mayor called a 2027 opening unrealistic.

Pipeline card and the check

The project card in the construction pipeline was checked against the developer's materials, municipal decisions and the trade press. The main gap is the stage: the card says “construction, 2027”; in fact the site has been stopped since December 2025.

Budget and capital intensity

The announced project budget is €200 million (2024). In September 2026 the regional press repeats the same figure as “more than €200 million”.

Over 125 keys this is €1,600,000 per key. With the 36 villas of a May 2024 report there would be 126 keys and about €1,587,000 per key. This is arithmetic on announced figures, not a cost estimate. research estimate, not confirmed by filings

The high per-key figure follows from the scope: 125 keys carry a 75-hectare golf course with three excavated lakes, a 5,000 m² medical spa, the restoration of the masseria, more than 40 historic trulli, a helipad, an energy centre and a beach club.

The resort is expected to create about 500 direct jobs — about 4 staff per key. Such staffing density is found in ultra-luxury resorts and private club residences.

Land and money already invested

In December 2023 Cortese's companies bought 202 hectares of farmland and the La Maviglia masseria from the heirs of the d'Ayala Valva family. The Italian project company was set up together with the preliminary purchase contract of 16 March 2023.

The land price differs between open materials: €13–16 million in a May 2024 report and about €13 million in the mayor's reply of September 2026. sources disagree

According to the mayor (September 2026), the developer has invested about €20 million of equity: about €13 million for the land and buildings, the rest for design and the first infrastructure works started in 2024. By September 2026, the press reports, only two internal roads had been built.

Special Economic Zone of the South

The project was approved in September 2024 through the government structure of the Single Special Economic Zone of Southern Italy (ZES Unica del Mezzogiorno). For the developer this means a single environmental authorisation (A.U.A.) instead of a chain of separate approvals.

The ZES regime gives investors access to a tax credit on capital spending and to southern subsidies. Whether La Maviglia uses them, and to what extent, has not been disclosed. research estimate, not confirmed by filings

From 1 January 2024 to 31 August 2026, 48 projects in the province of Taranto were registered in the ZES, out of 438 in Apulia; La Maviglia is among them with an estimated investment of more than €200 million.

The Maruggio municipality puts no budget money into the project: external and internal infrastructure are paid by the investor. The municipality receives urbanisation contributions now, and property tax and tourist tax once the resort operates.

According to the press of September 2024, when the single authorisation was issued, the sole shareholder of the Italian project company was an accountant specialising in subsidised business finance.

Prices and the commercial model

The developer has not published room rates or villa prices: booking and sales are not open on the project website.

The closest operating resort of the same class in the region is Borgo Egnazia in Savelletri di Fasano, host of the G7 summit in June 2024. By density: about 0.11 ha per key at Borgo Egnazia and 1.62 ha per key at La Maviglia.

The study estimates that at €1.6 million per key the average suite rate would need to exceed €1,200–1,800 per night, or some of the 35 villas would have to be sold as branded residences managed by a hotel operator. research estimate, not confirmed by filings

Holding and project company

The structure has two levels: a Swiss holding owns the project, an Italian company holds the permits and is the party facing the municipality.

Founder

Nicola Cortese is an Italian banker based in Switzerland. At Credit Suisse he ran the sports business desk, and later was an executive at the private bank Banque Heritage in Geneva.

In the project Cortese combines the roles of founder, investor and project lead. An international hotel brand, an operator and an institutional co-investor had not been named publicly as of October 2026.

How the works stopped

The municipality agreed to spread the building contribution over instalments on condition of a bank or insurance guarantee. According to the municipality, the guarantee was never provided.

The order states that the unmet obligations remove the grounds for the building permit to be effective. As of September 2026 the site is legally blocked.

The study reads it this way: with a €200 million budget and €20 million of equity already invested, the unpaid €175,757 and the missing guarantee indicate that the main construction loan for the rest of the budget (about €180 million) is not closed, or that banks are not ready to guarantee a company with no staff and no cash flow. research estimate, not confirmed by filings

Design team

Building architecture and interiors are by Oppenheim Architecture (Miami, Basel): volumes set into the terrain, warm plaster, local stone and wood, views of centuries-old olive trees. Landscape is by the Swiss firm Enea Landscape Architecture.

Bringing in Irriplan and Turfgrass reads as a bet on a tournament-grade course, following Marco Simone near Rome, which hosted the 2023 Ryder Cup, Italy's first.

Master plan and land balance

202 hectares is nearly the area of Monaco (208 ha). The site sits above the protected Monaco Mirante shore, locally called the “sea of seven colours”, next to the Campomarino dunes park. Maruggio has the 12th-century Castello dei Commendatori, linked to the Knights Hospitaller.

The site has two parts. 115 hectares form a fenced core with the golf course, closed for security and course-care reasons. 87 hectares remain a working farm: Primitivo vineyards, olives, almonds, figs, pomegranates, cherries, citrus and vegetable gardens supplying the resort's restaurants.

The course: 18 holes, par 72, 75 hectares. It runs among old olive and fig trees; there are three excavated lakes, and the closing hole of each nine runs along the water. More than 40 trulli and pagghiare — Apulian conical dry-stone huts — and an 18th-century neoclassical triumphal arch with a view of the Ionian Sea are part of the play. There is a two-sided driving range and a short-game area.

Start dates differ between sources: the mayor speaks of first infrastructure works in 2024, a golf publication of course works starting in 2025. sources disagree

• Security lodge and main entrance
• La Maviglia hotel
• Four villa clusters: Uliveto (3, 4 and 6 bedrooms), Macchia (2 and 3), Trullo (3 and 4), Primitivo (3 and 4) company data
• Clubhouse in the masseria and the golfer's lodge
• Logistics and maintenance centre, power units, farmhouse
• Helipad company data

Room stock and facilities

The developer's specification splits the 125 keys into three categories and adds the clubhouse, restaurants and beach.

There are 47 private pools for 125 keys: 35 at the villas and 12 at the suites. research estimate, not confirmed by filings

The 5,000 m² medical spa

The spa is being developed with the Swiss consultancy Maina. Its head Paul Fehr has more than 50 years in international five-star hospitality; Martine Fehr leads spa and service training. Maina's portfolio includes Therme Vals, Guarda Golf (Crans-Montana), Bergwelt Grindelwald, Sopwell House and Mamula Island (Montenegro).

The study adds Bad Schinznach to the portfolio; the Maina website does not list it. research estimate, not confirmed by filings

5,000 m² over 125 keys is 40 m² of spa per key. This share places the spa at the centre of the product, as in preventive-medicine resorts where the spa smooths seasonal occupancy. research estimate, not confirmed by filings

Medical profiles

The developer's specification names the spa zones but not programmes. The study derives four profiles from them. research estimate, not confirmed by filings

• Preventive medicine and longevity programmes: in-depth check-ups, metabolic and age-related change research estimate, not confirmed by filings
• Hydrotherapy: pools and water circuits for vascular training, lymphatic drainage and stress relief research estimate, not confirmed by filings
• Sports recovery for golfers: biomechanics, myofascial release, physiotherapy research estimate, not confirmed by filings
• Mediterranean stress relief: coastal climate, maquis and pines, nutrition with olive oil, pomegranate, figs, almonds and citrus research estimate, not confirmed by filings

As of October 2026 the developer had not disclosed a medical equipment list or announced a clinical operator.

Medical licensing in Apulia

In Italy beauty services (Law No. 1/1990) and medical practice are regulated separately. Medical consultations, diagnostics and physiotherapy require authorisation as a private outpatient medical facility under Apulian Regional Law No. 9/2017, through the municipality and the local health authority (ASL Taranto).

While the building permit is suspended at the stage of basic infrastructure, the medical authorisation procedure cannot start. The project holds no medical licence. research estimate, not confirmed by filings

Water

Irrigating 75 hectares of course, three lakes, 47 private pools and the spa in the dry province of Taranto is the main subject of criticism of the project.

The municipality's position (September 2026): irrigation mainly with treated wastewater from the Maruggio treatment plant, from Manduria if needed; a grass variety with very low water use has been chosen; closed loops are used.

The critics' position (September 2024): water from the Urmo treatment plant is needed by the province's farming, hit by drought and the Xylella fastidiosa bacterium, and giving it to a private golf club shifts a shared resource to a closed resort.

Access and local residents

The 115-hectare fenced core and the private beach club in the Campomarino dunes park caused friction with residents. The municipality says the roads to the chapel of San Pietro in Bevagna stay open and the 87-hectare farm zone keeps working.

In September 2026 a writer sent the mayor and Cortese open questions on the developer's solvency and on access. In the letter of 22 September residents say that for about two years shepherds with goats and sheep have not passed along via Marchese and have been denied the way to the chapel.

The stop over a €175,757 debt in a €200 million project, approved by the government ZES structure for a company with no staff, drew political attention in the Italian and foreign press in 2025–2026.

How the press coverage changed

What remains open

Even with immediate payment of the debt, the study places the opening in 2029–2030: 125 accommodation units, utilities over 202 hectares, agronomy of a 75-hectare course, fitting out and licensing a 5,000 m² spa. research estimate, not confirmed by filings

The study names the 202 hectares by the sea, the single ZES authorisation and the completed design by Oppenheim, Enea, Städler & Reinmuth and Maina as the basis for three scenarios: an institutional co-investor, a restructuring, or a purchase by a hotel or medical operator. research estimate, not confirmed by filings