Carlos Gesell bought wood at Tigre for his business, and wanted to plant pines somewhere near Mar del Plata to reduce costs.

[2] Héctor Guerrero, owner of most lands in the region, told him of 16.48 km2 (6.36 sq mi) of sand dunes on sale for 28,000 pesos, and Gesell bought them in 1931 when he checked for the existence of groundwater in the area.

[1] The forestation work did not proceed as expected: the strong saline winds moved the sand and harmed the plants, exposing and drying their roots.

First, he planted a high number of beneficial weeds, capable of surviving in the dunes, in order to anchor the sand in place.

In 1938 he learned about the Australian Acacia longifolia, which was well adapted to the sand and the saline winds, and increased the ratio of nitrogen fixation.

He began to run out of money in 1940, so he built a small timeshare named "La Golondrina" (Spanish: The swallow).

The city saw a large European immigration during World War II, who built the first hotels and themed restaurants.

[3] In 2020 Fernando Báez Sosa was murdered in Villa Gesell, which gained nationwide notoriety.

[6] The Villa Gesell beach is 10 km (6 mi) long, with a soft slope, and a variety of spas built alongside; the annexed cities of Mar de las Pampas, Las Gaviotas and Mar Azul extend the beachside to 21 km (13 mi).

[6] There is a lighthouse 30 km (19 mi) to the south, surrounded by a forest, which is the destination of adventure tours.

The city sought to reverse this effect, and as the franchises of each spa began to expire, they were not renewed.