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Oasis of calm A
HAVEN for the discreetly wealthy and famous, Sotogrande stands as a beacon of luxury on the Cadiz coast. With a scene-stealing location and near-perfect weather, it’s not surprising that this is one of Spain’s most desirable places to live. Head down the Costa del Sol west towards the famous pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar and Jebel Musa in Morocco) and you will eventually come to Sotogrande. Roughly 100km from Malaga, Sotogrande is where business moguls and A-List types move to upgrade. The mastermind behind the extraordinary transformation from farm to an enclave of privilege, where most people seem to have have a yacht (or at least a rhib), was the American-Filipino, Joseph McMicking. As president of the Ayala Corporation, he had
Once simply farmland, Sotogrande has blossomed into Andalucia’s largest privately owned residential development, writes Dilip Kuner overseen the creation of Forbes Park, a prestigious Philippine property development. Inspired by this success, he dreamt of replicating its exclusivity on the Mediterranean. In 1962, McMicking tasked his cousin, Alfredo ‘Fredy’ Melian, with finding the perfect location. After exploring the region by motorbike, largely on dirt roads, Melian discovered an 1800-hectare estate near Gibraltar. The farmland had been owned by a succession of rich and famous – the Duke of Arcos, the Larios family and then financier Juan March, arms and tobac-
956 790 390 La
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE: Sotogrande is the perfect place to chill and relax
PIZZERIA
Pala SPORTS BAR
RESTAURANT
Visit our family-friendly pizzeria located in the heart of Sotogrande Port. We specialize in hosting birthday parties and private events, and we proudly feature live sports on our large screens every day.
co dealer, founder of the eponymous science and arts institution and once the richest man in Spain. It seemed fated for grander use – and it ticked the boxes. “We bought the land at Sotogrande without having seen it, like a pig in a poke,” said McMickling, speaking in 1967. “Paid $750,000 down and had to pay another third in six months and the rest in a year.” McMicking arrived with his nephews, Jaime and Enrique Zobel (Enrique had overseen work on his friend the Sultan of Brunei’s 1,788-room palace)
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Puerto de Sotogrande