RONDA CANCELS ITS MAY FAIR BECAUSE OF RECESSIONBy David Eade
A major shock has been handed out to the people of Ronda and the wider Serranía. The mayor, Antonio Marín, has stated that this year’s Real Feria de Mayo has been cancelled because of the recession. His administration formed by a coalition of Partido Andalucista and PSOE councillors will instead spend more than 300,000 euros on its economic crisis plan.
The Real Feria de Mayo was first held in 1487 and was given its “royal” prefix by the Reyes Católicos. The fair is the oldest agricultural event of its kind in Andalucía and is of major economic importance to the farming sector.
None-the-less Antonio Marín believes that in the present circumstances the main priority is to create jobs and help disadvantaged families. It is intended to contract 106 workers between May and July in addition to the 200 families that exist in Ronda who are living in abject poverty and need town hall help. The jobs will be created in the service sector as gardeners, painters, bricklayers and cleaners amongst both men and women.
Not surprisingly the decision to cancel the fair has provoked an angry reaction. The spokesperson for the opposition Partido Popular, María Paz Fernández, blasted: “The benefits of the Feria de Mayo are incalculable. This measure demonstrates the lack of capability of the mayor. We are indignant!”
The spokesperson for the Izquierda Unida, Rafael Ruiz, stated that whilst his party agreed with the plans to help the jobless and needy families the measure had not been discussed with the opposition parties. He suggested that the mayor consider the various proposals tabled by the IU which would allow the municipality to save money.
Salvador, a Ronda resident, was bewildered by the mayor’s decision. He told Ronda News: “The town hall makes money from the fair, so why cancel it?”
ARRIATE DENIES IT HAS PLANS FOR A GOLF COURSE
The municipality of Arriate is close to Ronda, indeed its boundaries are completely surrounded by the Serranía’s leading player. This goes a long way to explaining why Arriate is the only village in the Serranía to buck the trend of depopulation as it is very much a ‘suburb’ of fast growing Ronda.
Arriate has a very strong left-wing tradition and its solid Izquierda Unida administration has announced plans for its new local development plan (PGOU). It wants to have 570,000 square metres of land declared as for urban use which would allow the construction of 1,000 homes – basically doubling the size of the existing village.
However Arriate is also one of those communities that would be badly affected by the development of the controversial Los Merinos golf course. This proposed major golf, urban and luxury hotel complex is within the boundaries of Ronda but lies very close to Cuevas del Becerro. The residents of the entire area along with ecologists opposed Los Merinos because they say it would draw on the water aquifers on which their communities and agriculture relies – and have done for generations.
Eyebrows have therefore been raised when Ecologistas en Acción declared that it was the intention of Arriate town hall to include land for a golf development within its new PGOU. They allege that whilst the mayor Bernardino Gaona has joined the protests against Los Merinos, as well as another golf course at Parchite, his administration is planning for such a project in Arriate although no specific land has been allocated.
This has led to angry denials from the town hall. The first deputy mayor, Salvador Cabrera, dismissed the claims stating: “In Arriate we are not going to construct a golf course.” He pointed out that the municipality only covered nine kilometres and such a development “is not our intention.”
The ecologists have also dammed the plans for 1,000 homes as being “excessive” but Cabrera countered that they were only bringing the document in to line with the regional government’s requirements. The same applied to the location of the long awaited sewage plant which the Andalucía authority said has to be close to a river.
The deputy mayor says that only five allegations against the draft PGOU had been made and one of those was from the ecologists. He has invited the Ecologistas en Acción spokesperson, Alejandro Moreno, to participate with the town hall in preparing the PGOU document so that the fears over the golf course and other issues can be laid to rest.
WE SPEAK YOUR LANGUAGE
Ronda is one of the most important tourist centres in Andalucía and the most visited in the province of Málaga. Now the town of the Tajo is better equipped than ever to greet and help its visitors from around the globe.
As of Monday a new visitors' centre has been opened in the town. The staff are able to speak to visitors in six languages – these cover the nationalities that most frequency visit the town. Apart from Spanish the staff can speak English, French and German as well as the languages of the Nordic countries.
The aim of the office, which will be open seven days a week, is not only to boost tourism to Ronda but also the wider Serranía area. It is being provided by the regional government but is also backed by Ronda’s town hall that has allocated the premises to be found in the calle Espíritu Santo in the San Francisco quarter close to the old walls. The municipal tourist office will continue to operate close to the bullring.
RADAR TRAP
The traffic authority has scheduled another of its radar speed traps for the A-397 San Pedro to Ronda road at km 7. This dangerous road has more black spots than any other in the province of Málaga. It sees a number of deaths each year, the majority from motorcyclists, and it is hoped that the radar trap will cause motorists and bikers to drive slower and more safely.
BIG DEBT
According to the Ministerio de Economía y Hacienda Ronda has the fourth largest debt in the province of Málaga. The figure stands at 37.5 million euros, an average of 1,026 euros per resident. Councillor Isabel Aguilera has stated that the amount is one that the town hall can manage.
LESS FISH
A study carried out by the Fundación Nueva Cultura de Agua financed by the Obra Social Caja Madrid has revealed a drop in the density of fish in the Genal river. However all the fish found are native to the waters. The majority of Spanish rivers have been invaded by foreign species. Five fish were found but not the Lamprey which historically has been associated with the Genal.
