DAMAS GOYESCA PRESS FIRST GRAPESBy David Eade – Costa del Sol News
The Damas Goyesca hold court at Ronda’s famous Pedro Romero fair which started on Tuesday night. Amongst the duties of the court in their stunning dresses are to attend all the major events, to be kidnapped by mountain bandits on horseback and to drive in open carriages with the celebrity matadors who take part in the Goyesca bullfight on Saturday.
They also have a more traditional yet unusual task to perform – to start the pressing of the grapes by treading them with their feet. This takes place on September 3 at the Wine Museum –Bodegas La Sangre – in Ronda’s old town.
The grapes have now all been gathered from the vineyards and brought to the bodega to start the process of producing this year’s wine. The pressing of the grapes is done in a party atmosphere and it falls to the Damas Goyesca to start proceedings after which those involved in the picking take over.
Needless to say members of the public are welcome to attend this special occasion. Over the years thousands of people have done so, joined in the pressing ceremony and bought some wine in the museum’s shop to remind them of the day they saw the start of the production process of one of the famous wine’s of Ronda.
FIRST MÁLAGA COUNCILLOR TO FOREGO PAY
Antonio Aranda is the Ronda socialist councillor for the mountains, livestock, agriculture, markets and health. Now he has become the first councillor of any party in Málaga province to refuse to accept his official salary.
Aranda says he has taken the action because we are “in a difficult situation of crisis” and he wants the money saved to go to help people who are desperately in need.
Apart from his five town hall department’s Aranda also receives a salary as a nurse with the Serranía health district. He currently earns around 1,000 euros a month from the municipality which he will not accept from September 1.
He explained that politics was not his profession but was a commitment to the people of Ronda. However he did not believe that his actions should put pressure on his colleagues to renounce their town hall pay as everybody’s economic situation was different.
COURT FACTS
Ronda’s mayor, Antonio Marín, has been called before the local court on September 24 to answer a case brought by the Partido Popular opposition. The mayor is the publisher of a political – satirical magazine and the PP claims he published confidential information against the leader of its Nuevas Generaciones organisation, Juan Ignacio Vera that had been supplied to him by the local police.
REPORT IT
The spokesperson of the Partido Popular in Ronda, Maripaz Fernández, has called on the respected socialist councillor, Juan Fraile, to make a report to the Málaga prosecutor if he stands by his claims that mayor Antonio Marín (formerly Partido Andalucista now PSOE) had committed some offence. Fraile’s claims relate to town planning irregularities and the recent sacking of the town planning delegate.
SEVENTY PERCENT
Massive work is underway around the town of Ronda as the 18 million euros regional government funded scheme to upgrade the road access points is over 70 per cent complete. Due to be finalised in the Spring the new junctions, flyovers and underpasses are being installed on the San Pedro, Algeciras, Coín, Ardales and Sevilla roads channelling the heavy traffic into various lanes.
NERVOUS TICK
There was disbelief in Ronda when the mayor Antonio Marín (now PSOE formerly PA) offered the sole IU councillor a place in the governing coalition. The IU has been one of Marín’s major critics and the two opposition parties at the town hall – the PP and IU – plus the Partido Andalucista derided the move saying it was a sign of his increasing nervousness.
