Sotogrande
Sotogrande offers probably the best example of upmarket residential tourism
on the whole of Spain's Costa del Sol.
Development began in the early 1960s when a site of exceptional natural
beauty was cleverly developed thanks to some first class landscaping.
As well as its beauty, Sotogrande is home to two of Europe's top golf courses,
the Sotogrande Old Course and Valderrama which was home to the 1997 Ryder Cup
and hosts the Volvo Masters.
Other sports of major importance here are polo with the Santa Maria Club
attracting some of
the world's top players and sailing. Sotogrande is the first port of call for
yachts entering Mediterranean waters and facilities include 600 berths for
vessels of upt o 72 metres. Each berth is connected to all services including
television and satellite and harbour staff are available 24 hours a day.
Less exclusive facilities for tennis, swimming, water sports and general keep fit
exist as well as less energetic attractions such as smart restaurants, exclusive
beach clubs and designer shopping malls.
In the port is the beach club of El Octogono where visitors have access to the
swimming pools, bars and restaurants. There is an adults only area as well as a
children's area with its own pool where all kinds of activities are arranged to
amuse the kids. This is the best and safest place for trying out new watersports
such as waterskiing, jetskiing, sailing with excellent supervision. The
Cucurucho beach club offers similar facilities.
All of this has made Sotogrande one one of the most attractive upmarket sporting
complexes in Europe which has inevitably attracted a large number of foreign
residents which allowed for the development of the Sotogrande International
School which
provides a mainly British education to children of all nationalities.
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