Sotogrande

Sotogrande: The beginning of the residential area

The creation of Sotogrande Residential Area, located in the Borough of San Roque happened purely by chance in 1962. A Swissair Marketing Director decided to give out free flight tickets to some of his most loyal clients, among the lucky directors was Freddy Melián, an employee from the Ayala Corporation, from Manila, in The Philippines, who decided to most the most of the offer and visit Spain, the country of his ancestors.


By coincidence, on the night of his departure, his company boss, Joseph McMicking entrusted him a mission, to look for land in the Mediterranean to build an elite residential area. Unfortunately, Freddy’s holiday was over, but a small step forward was taken in the creation of this exclusive, world-famous estate. In the short term, Freddy was about to become the company’s first managing director.


A large country estate with at least a kilometre of coastline was the objective of their search. In addition, abundant water reserves and good accessibility were needed. The first option found was the Isle of Formentera (Balearic Islands) – almost the whole island! Nevetheless, Freddy Melián continued to travel along the Spanish Mediterranean coastline on a motorbike and gather proposals to fill his luggage to take back to The Philippines with him.

After Joseph McMicking has carefully revised each proposal, his nephews Jaime and Enrique Zobel decided to purchase the Paniagua Country Estate, located within the municipality of San Roque and very close to the Rock of Gibraltar. The location had a sufficient water supply from the nearby Guadiaro River, as well as the proximity of the airport in the British colony of Gibraltar. There was also an option to buy the adjacent Sotogrande, Conchudo or Valderrama country estates.


The Franco Regime authorities did not put up much opposition to McMicking wanting to develop Sotogrande, even in an age when foreigners were not allowed to purchase land without the permission of the Military.


A completely different reaction from the Armed Forces would have been expected, due to the residential area’s strategically-sensitive location (due to its proximity to the Rock and to Morocco), although fortunately this was not the case.

Real Club de Golf Sotogrande – Championship Golf 

Then in 1964 McMicking employed the best golf architect in the world, Robert Trent Jones and the whole country estate was left at his disposal to choose a perfect location for the first golf course. Then the construction of the residential area would be developed in the surrounding land.

The first road to be built through the estate would become what is Sotogrande’s most emblematic avenue today, “Paseo del Parque”. This access road enabled them to build the first bungalows around Real Club de Golf Sotogrande

McMicking was a visionary for his time and planned underground electrical supply power lines and the roads within the estate were designed following the specifications of North American freeways. 

The Beach Polo Field – Polo in its Purest Form

In 1965 the first polo field was built in Sotogrande, the mythical “Beach Field”, next to the legendary Real Club de Golf Sotogrande and El Cucurucho Beach Club. The first Gold Cup was played in 1971 and was won by Casarejo Portales, whose patron was Pedro Domecq de la Riva.


The Gold Cup, Silver Cup, Bronze Cup, Memorial Pedro Domecq de la Riva, Memorial Conde de Guaqui, Memorial José Ignacio Domecq, Santa María Open and the Enrique Zobel Founder’s Cup are among the most important tournaments held on an annual basis, which are part of a calendar of over 40 different polo cups.


Since the 1960’s, Santa María Polo Club has been scaling positions and is currently one of three most important polo clubs in Europe, due to the fact polo can be played 365 days a year. In addition, it is the only club in the world which hosts two International Circuit Tournaments every year, the Silver and Gold Cups.

This sport attracts an average of 45,000 spectators to the nine polo fields, above all during the Gold Cup. The installations are located in three areas within San Roque’s premium resort and its surroundings: Los Pinos (Fields I, II, III y IV); Río Sotogrande (Fields I y II) and Puente de Hierro (Field I, II y III).


Los Pinos Polo Fields, which are situated between the Sotogrande Marina and Sotogrande Costa, are where the high handicap Summer International Tournament is held and a large part of the winter championships, due to the excellent facilities prepared for all kinds of adverse weather.


The Río Sotogrande Fields, located in Sotogrande Costa, are where the high handicap Summer International Tournament is hosted, as well as spring and winter championships.

The Puente de Hierro Fields are located on the outskirts of the village of San Enrique. Fields I and II are generally used to middle handicap tournaments. Field III is used for practice.

Tenis Hotel Sotogrande- The First Accommodation

This legendary hotel is one of the first facilities to be built in the well-known private resort of Sotogrande. The hotel was inaugurated in 1965, built by the Sotogrande company, by order of Joseph McMicking.   

The initial project was commissioned to a reputed architect from Madrid, Jose Antonio Corrales Gutiérrez, nephew of another important architect, Gutierrez Soto, who designed the Club House at Real Club de Golf Sotogrande and the first bungalows in Sotogrande.

José Antonio Corrales Gutiérrez still has not retired after a lengthy career. We would like to send him our best regards and congratulate him, because administrative proceedings were initiated on 25/11/2005 to declare the hotel a listed historical building and to be included on the Andalusian General Catalogue for Heritage.

Precisely what is being declared a monument is the perimetre of  the original layout and extension of the lobby hall. The architectural style has been defined as "a Modern Movement building" and the type of protection "General collective".


In this way the list of monumental buildings within the borough of San Roque has grown, which already features Saint Mary the Crowned Parish Church, the Governor's Palace, the Bull Ring, the Collection of Listed Historical Building (Old San Roque), Carteya Archaeological Site, Barbesula, Cerro del  Prado, etc.  -  We  very much hope the list continues to grow because we cannot look forward without looking back...


After the construction of the first road through the estate, Paseo del Parque, Sotogrande Golf Club and the first series of bungalows, the need for a hotel for newcomers was seen , who would be future homeowners and pioneering tourist-adventurers who had started to hear about the new prestigious residential area on a mouth-to-mouth basis.


The first name given to the accommodation was "Hostal El León" (The Lion Hostel), which lodged the first professionals who turned the five country estate covering 1,800 hectares into the Sotogrande Residential Area in the wake of 21st century.

Sotogrande Leisure Marina

The leisure marina project  was drafted in the early days of the residential area, although it was not carried out until  July 1987, when the port was inaugurated. An administrative State licence was requested to create the Sotogrande Marina Management and the first blocks of luxury apartments and berthings were built when Juan Miguel Villar Mir  (former Chancellor of Exchequer and Cabinet Member of the first democratic government) was the manager of the port and José Cano, the chief engineer.

From the beginning of Sotogrande, the initial idea was to build a "Mini Venice" - a marina with artificial islands. The Sotogrande Company purchased the appropriate land of the left bank of the Guadiaro River Estuary for this very same purpose. At the end of the 1990’s plans were changed. Islands with multiple luxury apartments are what can be seen today in the Marina area.

Valderrama & the Ryder Cup '97- Creating a reputation as a five-star tourist destination

When we talk about World-class golf courses, a few legendary and unforgettable golf courses come to mind:  Saint Andrews, Augusta, The Belfry and without a doubt, our emblematic, Valderrama.

Not only can this San Roque golf club boast of being the undisputed number one course on Continental Europe’s since 1989, it is also probably one of the best in the world according to the best professional golfers and specialized golf journalists.  

Valderrama’s championship record is impressive to say the least, having hosted the Ryder Cup in 1997, the Volvo Masters Tournament (1986-1996 and 2002 until 2008) and the American Express World Championships in 1999 and 2000.

Located in a unique natural enclave, we come across this golf masterpiece conceived by the prestigious American designer Robert Trent Jones. Built in 1974, it was originally called New Sotogrande. Later on in 1981 its name was changed to “Las Aves” (The Birds).

In 1984 Jamie Ortiz-Patiño purchased the club to turn it into a professional course capable of hosting golf events of the highest level. Robert Trent Jones was asked to come back and redesign the original layout. Mr Patiño also decided to change the name of the club to Valderrama after the old country estate that was situated here previously.  

The final result is a course which weaves between over three thousand age-old cork oak trees, two thousand pine trees and five hundred olive trees. Two lakes were also created and ten thousand hectares of high quality residential development were added around the course. Valderrama’s fairways, greens and holes are silent witnesses to a series of golf events that have already become an unmistakable part of the history of contemporary professional golf.