The first golf course built in the area, designed by
architect Robert Trent Jones, led to the development of housing for its users.
In subsequent years an infrastructure would be built that made it more
attractive to development. Thus, the Polo Club and the La Playa Hotel
Sotogrande Tennis were built, both in 1965.
The movement to Sotogrande of citizens from many different
countries gradually increased population and, with it, the needs of more equipment
arose. In 1987 the port of Sotogrande opened—a branch of the Port Authority of
Algeciras Bay that specializes in luxury boats and is on the right bank of the
river next to Guadiaro
Natural Estuary
River.
Sotogrande is a parish of the Andalusian town of San Roque in the region
of Campo de Gibraltar. The many sports facilities and hotels in the area have
prompted the consideration of major luxury residential areas of the Costa del Sol.
The beginning of the urbanization of Sotogrande occurred in
1964, when the industrialist Joseph McMicking decided to build a golf club on
land near the mouth of the Guadiaro
River.
This request was refused by Decree 312/1996 from the
Directorate General of Local Administration and Justice in the absence of
demonstrated majority support of the population involved in the process to the
proposal.
Today Sotogrande has five major golf courses, among which includes
Golf Valderrama, venue of the Ryder Cup in 1997 and considered to be one of the
best courses in Europe, also housing a wide range of hotels.
The construction of the port resulted in the disappearance
of the dune system and Torreguadiaro beach, which altered the dynamics of the
delta. In 1995, at the request of several citizens of this parish and others
nearby, was the completion of the formalities required by law for the
segregation of Sotogrande, Guadiaro, Guadiaro of Pueblo Nuevo, San Enrique de
Guadiaro Torreguadiaro, and the town of San Roque as a new town called Valley Guadiaro.
