Thirty years closed. Then somebody opened the shutters.
The square from above
Plaza Blanca is an independent shopping collective in Sotogrande, a gated resort on the Costa del Sol roughly an hour and a half from Málaga airport and thirty minutes from Gibraltar.
It holds a collection of independent café bars, restaurants, offices and boutiques, located in the heart of Sotogrande Costa behind Galerías Paniagua. The place has a quaint village feel — three storeys of white building wrapped around courtyards, balconies on wrought iron, streets narrow enough to be shaded most of the day.
Under the arcade
“We aim to bring fresh energy and businesses to the heart of Sotogrande Costa.”
Lunch on the terrace
It had been abandoned for thirty years. In 2022 Brooks Sotogrande SL was formed by Carla and Andrew Brooks to purchase seventy commercial units here, and from 2023 the buildings have been painted, repaired and given the tender loving care they needed — with the stated aim of bringing fresh energy and businesses back to the heart of Sotogrande Costa.
That work is still going on. Some units are finished and trading; others are waiting. What has happened quickly is the part that cannot be built: around thirty independent businesses now occupy the square, and they have begun to behave like neighbours.
What the square is made of
Architecture
Three storeys of whitewashed building around courtyards and arched passageways, with pantiled roofs and iron balconies.
Colour
Turquoise joinery, a sage-green dado at street level, blue glazed planters and terracotta paving.
Streets
Calle del Río, Calle Larga, Corredera de San Andrés — named and tiled, as in a town.
Planting
Olive trees, bird of paradise, mandevilla on the walls, and the mature trees that were left to grow up through the paving.
The eastern elevation from Calle del Río
Turquoise joinery on the lower walk
The passage through to the courtyard
An evening in the square
Plaza Blanca and the pine woods behind
Rent a space
A selection of shops, offices and retail spaces is available to lease in Plaza Blanca. Enquiries are handled by Brooks Sotogrande.
