SWITCH OFF OF ANALOGUE TV HAS STARTEDSince today (Tuesday) the process of turning off the analogue TV transmissions has started. The switch to digital is now underway and 20 municipalities in Málaga province are abandoning the traditional form of receiving their television programmes for the new TDT service.
The process has started in the Serranía de Ronda and the western Costa del Sol with Algotocín, Atajate. Benadalid, Benahavís, Benalauría, Casares, Cortes de la Frontera, Estepona, Faraján, Gaucín, Genalgaucil, Igualeja, Jimera de Libar, Jubrique, Júzcar, Montejaque and Parauta leading the way.
According to information issued by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce around 80,000 people will be affected by the switch. As the transmission and relay stations carrying the old signal are switched off the TV screens in those homes will go blank and owners will have to purchase new sets or the adapters required by the digital system.
However it would appear that some residents of these zones will be without TV whilst the engineers catch up on the installation programme. A number of people in the Serranía villages are complaining that whilst they have acquired the digital decoders nobody has yet turned up to install them.
RONDA’S PA MAYOR AND COUNCILLORS DECLARED TURNCOATS
The mayor of Ronda, Antonio Marín, and his eight fellow Partido Andalucista councillors have been declared political turncoats by the Comisión de Expertos Independientes del Pacto Antitransfuguismo.
In June they abandoned the party and joined PSOE although they now sit as non-aligned councillors. Previously Marín had entered in to a coalition with PSOE so that party now rules the town.
After studying the situation in detail the commission was unanimous in its verdict that PSOE had won control of the town hall without the councillors resigning and seeking re-election. Indeed although many people voted for Partido Andalucista councillors at the last election their voices and views are now totally unrepresented at the town hall.
On December 17 the Mesa Antitransfuguismo will decide whether to ratify the commission’s decision or to reject it. Mayor Marín says he is not over worried by the decision as it has to be ratified and declared that anyway he had Ronda’s interests at heart.
Such sentiments cut little ice with the opposition groups. The secretary general of the Partido Andalucista, Pilar González, called for the resignation of Marín and his fellow former PA councillors adding that Ronda should not have a mayor who is a turncoat.
The two opposition parties on the council, the Partido Popular and Izquierda Unida, claimed that the mayor and his councillors had cheated the people of the town and had assaulted democracy.
The local secretary of PSOE, Francisco Cañestro, remained silent on the commission’s findings and its verdict that its party had benefitted by the actions of the mayor and his PA team. Depending how the Mesa rules it could have a significant effect on the future of government in the town of the Tajo.
PEACE KEEPERS
The Tercio Alejandro Farnesio 4 of the Spanish Legion based in Ronda are preparing to go to Afghanistan in March. The force will consist of 600 Legionnaires backed by armoured units. It is not the first time that these crack troops have been to Afghanistan and they have also been sent to the Lebanon, Kosovo and Bosnia under the banner of the UN.
SERRANÍA BOOST
The Director General of rural development, a department of the Andalucía ministry of agriculture, visited Ronda to announce that 47 million euros will be assigned between now and 2014 for projects in the Serranía. This amount marks a seven fold increase over the previous budget. Some 192 projects will benefit creating 290 jobs, 88 will be for women and 40 for young people.
PUBLIC PARKING
The former military installations by Ronda’s sports complex close to the Renfe station will be demolished and resurfaced. The land covers some14,000 square metres and has been used for the parking of lorries. Now it will be converted into a parking area for cars with 60 spaces. The funding for the project will come from the Plan Zapatero and cost four million euros.
FULL HOUSE
The effects of the economic crisis seem to have passed Ronda by during the recent long holiday weekend. The tourist office reports that hotels were 90 per cent full and that 43.6 per cent of the visitors stayed two nights in the town. The tourist office received 2,410 enquiries, 2.5 per cent more than last year, 78.4 per cent of visitors being Spanish.
WOMEN SUFFER
Jobless figures for Ronda showed a 20 person increase in November over October but it is women who are the worst hit in the town of the Tajo. Not only were 18 of that increase female but of the 4,101 rondeños out of work 2,158 are women. The town hall is enacting various short-term work creation programmes but they only offer 166 jobs.
