Emblematic Paniagua field in Sotogrande

Polo and Sotogrande form an intrinsic pairing and strongly linked since the beginnings of the resort. The influence of Enrique Zobel and his idea of establishing polo as one of the pillars in the character of the resort is now, more than six decades later, a pillar without which it is difficult to understand the lifestyle of Sotogrande and its community.

In this case, as the images illustrate well, POLO by La Bocha wants to remember that period and stage between two very important cycles for polo in the resort, namely the leap between the end of the 70’s and the 80’s. Especially with the period in which the field at Paniagua remained very active, based in one of the most privileged parts of Sotogrande.

It is worth remembering that, to provide context, in 1973 when the first edition of the Silver Cup took place in the Summer Cup, won by the Sotogrande team and indeed, the Paniagua polo field opened the following year. To offer a little more information in this regard, it is worth highlighting its enormous importance during some moments in the history of the resort, as a strong storm and flood wiped out the beach pitch in 1984.

The Paniagua field hosted several matches and unforgettable trophies with all the essence of polo in Sotogrande.

It is worth highlighting that months after the incident of the beach field, construction began on new pitches that would take over from Paniagua (now practically unused), the Río fields, which between 1985 and 1986 would take over from Paniagua and for years become the main venue for polo tournaments in the resort. At that point, the new fields next to the river (with entrance on the current Calle Ramiro el Montje) would be remained as Sotogrande I and Sotogrande

II As an historic figure it is worth highlighting that the 1989 edition will go down in history as it was forced to be suspended due to horse sickness.

The evolution of the destination would continue to grow with the fields of Puente de Hierro, founded in 1992; and years later, in 1995 the Haciendas de San Enrique pitches I and II were built, another great advance in polo facilities in the area. In 1998, more than 1,000 horses participated in the tournament for the first time, a step forward that launched exponential growth year after year, edition after edition, which increased to over thirty professional teams participating in the tournament each summer in Sotogrande.

Ten years later, in 2008, the definitive leap at a quantitative and qualitative level came with the opening of the Los Pinos area at Santa María Polo Club.