CHAVES DUCKS DECISION ON RONDA’S PARTY SWITCHERSBy David Eade
Manuel Chaves, who until recently was the president of the Andalucía government, now sits in Madrid overseeing the internal politics of Spain’s regions. This has led him to pass to the Comisión de Expertos Independientes the case of the mayor of Ronda and his eight fellow Partido Andalucista councillors who have joined PSOE – Chaves own party.
The phenomenon is virtually unknown in British politics at a local or national level. Occasionally a politician will switch parties but for MPs or councillors to do so en block is a rare occurrence.
What has happened in Ronda is that mayor Antonio Marín and his fellow Partido Andalucista councillors left the party on June 11 and now sit as non-aligned. They have all joined PSOE, or are in the process of doing so, and eventually intend to become councillors for that party.
Marín, who says the Partido Andalucista is now dead due to its humiliating election defeats in recent years, is in coalition with PSOE. However the residents of Ronda who voted for the PA now find themselves without any representation instead of holding the reigns of power.
The move by the PA councillors led to that party and the Partido Popular making official complaints that the actions of Marín had infringed the Pacto Antitransfuguisimo that sets out to prevent such acts of mass desertion. Chaves heads the commission that rules on such matters but has now passed the buck to the independent experts.
The decision has caused anger amongst PA and PP members in Ronda who suspect Chaves does not wish to intervene as Marín’s move favours PSOE. The Partido Andalucista’s David Cabello has expressed his surprise as he believes that actions of his party’s former mayor and councillors are a clear case of desertion and hence should be deemed illegal.
WARNING – GAUCÍN FACES FINANCIAL RUIN
The spokesperson for PSOE in Gaucín, Teodoro de Molina, who also served as mayor has warned residents that the small municipality faces economic ruin.
Gaucín is now governed by a pact with a Partido Popular mayor back by Partido Andalucista councillors. De Molina became mayor after the last local elections when PSOE and the PP formed a coalition to keep the PA from power as their leader and former mayor faced court proceedings. He has since been barred from office but last summer the PP withdrew from the coalition then one of its councillors broke ranks and became mayor with the PA’s backing.
Now because of the dire state of Gaucín's coffers de Molina says the government team has come up with an emergency financial plan that requires seeking a loan of 500,000 euros. This would run from 2010 to 2015 and says the former mayor “will mortgage Gaucín’s future.”
De Molina is horrified that Gaucín is not able to pay its suppliers. Furthermore he added that the municipality for the first time is now building up debts with the social security and tax agencies.
RIVER SURVEYRonda’s environment department has undertaken a survey of the rivers and streams in the municipality to determine what action needs to be taken ahead of the winter rains to avoid flooding and to protect the eco-systems. Work, some urgent, is required at the Cañamero source in Serrato; the Gudalcobacín and Arroyo de Espejo plus the Arroyo Montecorto and Arroyo de la Madrila.
PIG APPEAL
Two Vietnamese pigs have been dumped in the Marbella area and urgently seek a loving home. If you can offer a home to these abandoned “beauties” who, we are told, are loving and very tame please ring Carol on 952773710 or 670586374. It is understood that Marbella town hall has kindly promised to provide transport to wherever the pigs are re-homed locally.
SOLAR CENTRE
Ronda’s Mueble Rondeño building was an election promise by the Partido Andalucista and was completed in 2006. Since then it has sat empty and is deteriorating although suggestions have been made that it should be a university or nursing school centre. Now the councillor for employment wants it to be used to train professionals in solar energy, an activity keenly promoted by Ronda.
NO POWER
Some 200 homes around the calle Ríos Rosas in Ronda had no power after an electricity transformer caught fire. Smoke filled the streets and a shopping gallery and surrounding homes had to be evacuated. The outage occurred at 18.00 last Tuesday and experts say it was caused by an overloading of the circuit. Restaurants complained they’d lost thousands of euros in takings.
BABY PICTURES
Ronda’s hospital that serves the Serranía now has the latest high resolution eco-graph equipment allowing doctors at the hospital to take scans of pregnant women at 20 weeks to determine whether there are any problems or malformations. The state-of-the art equipment cost 70,000 euros and eliminates the need of pregnant women travelling to Málaga for the scan – benefitting over 900 expectant mothers a year.
COKE DELIVERY
The Guardia Civil have arrested a 33 year old man who was found carrying cocaine in his vehicle in Ronda. He was stopped at a routine road traffic check point and a search of the car revealed113 grams of the drug. The detained man comes from Colombia, home of many of the cocaine drug cartels, but he currently lives in Málaga city.
FIRE ARREST
Police have arrested a person allegedly responsible for a fire started in Gaucín. Investigators reported that vegetation waste was burnt without the proper supervision or precautions and then got out of hand. The fire destroyed land at Los Quejigos – El Capitán.
