DEPARTURES TRAVEL ON
DEPARTURES TRAVEL ON THE GROUND 30 Life in the Slow Lane Six decades since its founding, the iconic Andalusian resort town of Sotogrande is still thriving – and as blissfully low-key as ever. by Claudia Whiteus The swimming lagoon at The Beach, La Reserva’s country club ON THIS SATURDAY evening in August, it seems like everyone in town has shown up for polo at Los Pinos, one of four world-class pitches in the 20sq km resort town on the southern coast of Andalusia. The temperature is creeping its way down from the high 30s but a divine wind from the Mediterranean, just a few kilometres east, cools onlookers as they follow the match, one of the final face-offs in the International Polo Tournament, which has taken place here each year since 1971. Afterwards, everyone shuffles to the pitch-side afterparty. The dress code: comfortable casualwear paired with an après-golf tan. There’s © LA RESERVA
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: © SO/SOTOGRANDE, © LA RESERVA, RICARDO MOTRAN & MARIA ADELA RETES Clockwise from above: a cosy alfresco lounge at SO/Sotogrande resort; the sun sets over La Reserva’s links; a match at the Santa María Polo Club no real noise, though the scene is palpably convivial and the rosé is flowing freely. It is a microcosm of the largely residential town as a whole. Unhurried, unfussy and quiet: the hallmarks of a lifestyle many here refer to as “silent luxury”. The carefree mood is hardly an accident, but the natural evolution of a project realised by late Filippino-American real-estate mogul Joseph McMicking back in 1964. Inspired by exclusive communities like California’s Pebble Beach and Forbes Park in Manila, he wanted to carve out an enclave for well-heeled sunseekers in the fastgrowing region. “Sooner or later the Costa del Sol is going to be mobbed,” McMicking told Sports Illustrated in 1967, “but Sotogrande will be an island of order in the chaos.” So far, so true, and despite substantial expansion in the past 60 years, the tone set by McMicking remains. Sotogrande has now grown from the initial development, known as Costa, to include a further three districts: Marina, Alto and La Reserva, which together host Sotogrande’s swelling coterie of summer – and increasingly full-time – residents drawn by the privacy, picturesque scenery and, more often than not, the world-class golf. Set in the foothills of Sotogrande’s northwest reaches, the flurry of real-estate offerings in La Reserva comprise some of the newest and most tempting prospects for buyers. Housing developments include Village Verde, a hillside complex with 121 apartments – each with generous panoramic terraces and sleek, openplan interiors – not to mention two pools and a sand pool complete with its own waterfall; and The Seven, an exclusive clutch of truly breathtaking villas set among lush greenery. The ambitious project now includes NIWA, a just-announced turnkey project set to occupy an entire hectare on a magnificent clifftop plot (see page 32). Life in La Reserva is centred on the club. Aside from its 18-hole championship course, there’s the Racquet Centre, home to a roster of Teeing Off A quartet of courses ensures that this southern Spanish retreat remains at the top of its game. When he was commissioned by Sotogrande’s founder to create his first-ever course in Europe, the lauded American golf architect Robert Trent Jones Sr couldn’t have envisaged what the resulting lotus land would morph into for professionals and amateurs alike. Indeed, Real Club de Golf Sotogrande (golfsotogrande.com) is a testament to the great man’s skills, and the layout, complete with its large and elevated greens, which are both quick and heavily contoured, remains one of the most coveted courses in continental Europe some 60 years later, with a 2016 renovation only having enhanced its quality. Today, it is complemented by the even more rarefied and lauded Real Valderrama (valderrama.com), which offers 18 holes of pure golfing heaven that first etched itself into the global golfing psyche following its hosting of the 1997 Ryder Cup, when Seve Ballesteros led Europe to a memorable victory over the US in what was the first Ryder Cup to be held in mainland Europe. But while Real Sotogrande and Valderrama understandably enjoy top golfing billing, Sotogrande’s two other courses, La Reserva and Almenara, are very capable co-stars. La Reserva (lareservaclubsotogrande.com), which opened in 2003, is a stunning Cabell B Robinson design that enjoys a gloriously elevated location and is arranged around a Y-shaped valley featuring generous fairways and large greens to the tune of 7,053 metres in length. Over at Almenara (almenaragolfsotogrande.com), golfers are treated to 27 holes spread across the three nine-hole loops of Lagos (the Lakes), Pinos (the Pines) and Alcornoques (the Cork Oaks) – all of which were the original handiwork of the late Dave Thomas, and, as you’d expect from their names, offer contrasting challenges to keep 36-a-day duffers as transfixed as single-digit handicaps. – Farhad Heydari 31 DEPARTURES
