Costa del Sol increase in popularity through the decade. This trend coincided with rapid industrial growth in Málaga and the decline of dependence on the agricultural sector, although growth in the general economy of Spain slowed almost to a standstill after 1973. As rapid development proceeded on the Costa del Sol, and the influx of expatriate retirees from northern European countries, notably Great Britain, increased during the late 1970s and 1980s, it has since then sometimes been referred to in the press of the United Kingdom as the "Costa del Crime", because British criminals would escape justice at home by moving there to
Gato Del Sol Sol started twice, finishing second in the Shoemaker Breeders' Cup Mile Stakes and winning the 1985 Caballero Handicap at Hollywood Park Racetrack, his career finale. Retired to stud duty at Stone Farm, Gato Del Sol had little success as a sire. He was eventually sold and in 1993 ended up at a breeding operation in Germany, where he continued to underperform. In 2000, his original co-owner, Arthur Hancock III, and his wife Staci bought Gato Del Sol back in order to eliminate any possibility that he be subjected to the same fate as another American champion, Exceller, who was killed