Feature · Class & Villas

A visit far from the noise and close to creation

On the first floor of a 19th-century palatial house next to the Archaeological Museum of Xàbia, Susanne Pfingsten and Julián Zuazo have opened a gallery where photography takes centre stage.

PFZ, short for Pfingsten & Zuazo, opened its doors in summer 2025 on Calle San Buenaventura, in the heart of the old town, with its official inauguration on 24 October that year. Its founders have been part of Xàbia for more than three decades and, in their words, want to help make it a place for contemporary creation too.

The people behind it

Julián Zuazo is a film director, photographer and art director. His work for major brands has won awards at festivals such as Cannes, New York and the Clios, and in 2024 he received the honorary award for Spanish creativity. He has now left commercial commissions behind to focus on freer, more personal work.

Susanne Pfingsten, partner and director of the gallery, is a journalist with German roots who has steered her career towards art as a tool for emotion and social change.

A house worth visiting in itself

The gallery occupies the first floor of a stately house restored with respect for what it had: the staircase, the 19th-century Valencian hydraulic tiles, the original painted ceilings and the door and window frames. Each room invites a double reading: the artworks and the space itself.

The exhibitions

The gallery made its debut at the 7th Ojos Rojos photography festival with “There is no artist greater than nature”, Zuazo's view of the landscapes and people of Xàbia, shown alongside images of storms and hurricanes taken from the International Space Station by astronaut Ed Lu.

Its “SOS” collection starts from the lifeguard towers on Xàbia's beaches to speak about the need for refuge: a place to stop and reconnect with the Mediterranean.

Text by Class & Villas based on information published by the gallery.