Costa del Crime

proper noun

Spain, especially the Costa del Sol and other coastal resorts, as a place where British criminals escape to.

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Meanings

proper noun
  1. UKinformalSpain, especially the Costa del Sol and other coastal resorts, as a place where British criminals escape to.

    The Costa del Crime setting is presumably a conscious echo of Stephen Frears's The Hit.

    2001, New Statesman
    1 more example

    His Krugerrand adventure had resulted in a British warrant for his arrest and obliged him to go into exile on Spain's notorious Costa del Crime.

    1991, Andrew Jennings, Paul Lashmar, Vyv Simson, Scotland Yard's Cocaine Connection, Random House (UK)

Origin

From Blend of Costa del Sol + crime.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Costa del Crime. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Costa%20del%20Crime

MLA

“Costa del Crime.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Costa%20del%20Crime. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Costa del Crime,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Costa%20del%20Crime.

Source: Costa del Crime on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.