Costa del Sol live their lives in luxury. With tense relations between the UK and Spain over Gibraltar, extradition arrangements were not at that time agreed. This phenomenon has been alluded to in television shows such as "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet" and Bad Girls and in the more recent films "Sexy Beast" and "The Business". Some of the more famous British criminals known to have fled to the Costa del Sol in the past were Charlie Wilson, Ronnie Knight, Freddie Foreman, Anthony Fraser (grandson of Mad Frankie Fraser) and more recently Andrew Moran. John Disley, nicknamed the "King of Marbella", (not to be confused
Costa del Sol and the Nationalists, with the Costa del Sol remaining in the Republican zone and Málaga serving as a naval base for the Spanish Republican Navy. The Battle of Málaga was the culmination of an offensive in February 1937 by the combined Nationalist and Italian forces under the command of General Queipo de Llano to eliminate Republican control of the province of Málaga. The participation of Moroccan regulars and Italian tanks from the recently arrived Corpo Truppe Volontarie resulted in a complete rout of the Spanish Republican Army and the capitulation of Málaga in less than a week on 8 February.