GAUCÍN SAGA CONTINUESBy David Eade – Costa del Sol News
The long running saga at Gaucín town hall is set to continue. The former mayor has been barred from office. After the last election the Partido Popular backed a pact with PSOE and then withdrew which ended up with Francisco Ruiz becoming the PP mayor backed by the four Partido Andalucista councillors.
There’s more. Then in March Ruiz seemingly went missing for a week and on his return he announced he was standing down as mayor. From the start of this month he returned to work as a forestry agent for the regional government. Hence he no longer receives his mayor’s salary – but he is still mayor.
It now appears he will go in June but intends to remain as a councillor till the end of this legislature. He will support his current deputy, Francisco Macías, as his replacement with the PP remaining in coalition with the Partido Andalucista.
However there will be more to this saga before it is played out. For Macías, along with the three other PA councillors, all face trial for town planning irregularities. It could there be that all four will be barred from holding office – just like their former leader and mayor Francisco Corbacho – who stood trial for misappropriating town hall funds.
RONDA’S GRAND BOULEVARD
The face of Ronda is changing. The road system that surrounds the town is undergoing a massive improvement funded by the regional government that will see the congestion points eliminated. There will also be new accesses created for the hospital being constructed at the junction with the San Pedro road.
In Ronda itself one of its main arteries – the avenida de Málaga – is to be converted in to a grand boulevard. Unusual for an urban road the avenue has four lanes of traffic so it is extremely busy.
The councillor responsible for contracts, Rafael Lara, explained that the first phase of the work would be between the Unicaja data centre and the Miguel de Cervantes school. A budget of just over one million euros has been allocated to the work which should be completed in 12 months – although there is pressure to have it finished in 9.
The funding comes from 5.1 million euros allocated to Ronda by the Instituto Oficial de Crédito to improve the town’s tourism infrastructure. Lara said the work would start before the summer and include the creation of several roundabouts but will not affect the traffic flow. The area is by the site of the Eroski 120 million euros commercial centre where preliminary work is underway.
UNDERAGE DRINKING
Four establishments in Ronda face hefty fines after they were summoned by the local police for selling alcohol to minors. Police chief José Carrasco said fines could range from 3,000 to 30,000 euros depending in the seriousness of each case. A campaign is underway to reinforce the drinking laws amongst cafes, kiosks and petrol stations where youngsters seek to buy late night alcohol.
FIRE CHARGE
The Málaga prosecutor is seeking a five-year jail term for a Ronda man alleged to have started a fire on August 28 2007 at Los Frontones that destroyed an area of olive trees and scrubland. The inferno started at 17.35 but was not brought under control for four hours due to the strong winds finally being put out on the following day.
HEFTY BAIL
The former accountant at Cuevas del Becerro town hall has been ordered by Ronda court to put up bail of 400,000 euros. Juan María González has been accused of misappropriating 360,000 euros of municipal funds over a 12 month period –an accusation he sternly denies. The Málaga prosecutor and the mayor have lodged a petition giving González ten days to pay over the money.
INTERNET LINK
Ronda’s councillor for innovation and new technology, Lidia García, has reported the work is underway so that in future residents of the town will be able to undertaken municipal business over the internet. The project is being funded by 174,000 euros from the government in its Plan Avanza. Residents will both be able to carry out transactions on-line and download the required documentation.
MINOR DROP
Less unemployed is good news even if the reduction is just three people. Ronda reports the figure of jobless for April dipped to 4,150. That marks a trend of two successive months where the total has fallen by 55. However 26 more women are unemployed whilst the male total has dropped by 29. The majority of jobless are women – 228 more than men.
PARK CENTRE
Ronda’s converting the former Casa del Guarda into a 60,000 euros visitors centre dedicated to the three national parks in the area – the Sierra de las Nieves, Sierra de la Grazalema and Los Alcornocales. It will also feature the Valle del Genal declared of interest by the EU. The building was set aside as the new National Police station but is too old.
NO IVA
The Partido Popular at the Málaga provincial authority and the mayors of the Serranía de Ronda are calling on the government to remove the IVA (VAT) levy on the works to repair the roads and lanes damaged by the heavy winter rains. Where small town halls are faced with a 200,000 euros bill they have to pay a further 30,000 euros in tax.
GUINNESS TIME
Ronda’s Feria de Mayo will include a professional jamón cutting competition – the seventh held in the town on May 23 in the institutional marquee. Organised by the famous Casa del Jámon in Ronda, that has many expert cutters, the star attraction will be Nico Jimenéz who is in the Guinness Book of Records for cutting the longest length of ham in the world.
