[1] The McMickings, having seen the idyllic coasts in 1962, acquired five neighboring farms with the idea of creating a luxurious residential development by the Mediterranean.

Finanzas, a Spanish finance publication, says that whilst prices in other areas of the Costa del Sol have taken a fall to the tune of −11.4% in Torremolinos, −10.99% in Fuengirola, −7.4% in Manilva, −5.5% in Casares, and −3.4% in Mijas Costa.[when?]

[6] Current and past regulars (with second homes) or permanent inhabitants include Peter Caruana, former Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, current Chief Minister of Gibraltar,[7] Tony Blair, Emilio Botín, Ana Rosa Quintana,[8] Royal Shakespeare Company actor Mike Gwilym,[9] Vladimir Gusinsky,[10] Boris Berezovsky,[11] as well as Prince Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou, the legitimist pretender to the throne of France.

[12][13] Recorded by Spanish secret services, Vladimir Putin illegally entered Spain at Sotogrande by private boat via plane flights from London to Gibraltar several times while he was head of Russia's FSB during the 1990s.

[citation needed] Spanish police arrested several Russian mafia with residences at Sotogrande during Operation Troika.