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.

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 upto 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.