RONDA ANTIQUARIAN ARRESTED IN CHRISTIE’S AUCTION CASEBy David Eade – Costa del Sol News
The National Police have recovered pieces of enormous value that were taken from tombs at the necropolis of Aguilar de la Frontera in Córdoba province. The works were dated from the first and fifth centuries AD. The investigation remains open but four people have been arrested, two of them in Aguilar, one in Ronda and another in Marbella.
Antonio Tenorio, the chief inspector of the brigade dedicated to protecting Spain’s historic heritage stated that the importance of the seizures was qualitative not quantitative.
Police were alerted when they found that the London auction house, Christie’s was offering for sale the base of a column from the period of the caliphate in Córdoba. The marble piece had been valued at 150,000 euros and had come from the ruins of Medina Azahara.
Once it was aware of the sale the delegation of culture in Córdoba was able to determine that the column’s base had been uncovered in an excavation of the site. It contacted the organisation that had carried out the archaeological excavation and asked for an inventory of all the pieces found.
It was then that it was discovered that the column and 15 other pieces had disappeared from a private store in which they had been placed on behalf of the delegation. The police then notified Christie’s that the base had been stolen and requested its return – an action which is now undergoing the various international formalities.
Amongst those arrested is a Belgian-Lebanese man who is alleged to have undertaken the stealing of items from the archaeological site. He was detained in Marbella after a joint action between Spanish and British police involving Interpol.
In addition apart from the Ronda-based antiquarian the two men in Aguilar are an antique seller and a coin collector. Another five people have been questioned by police.
THE BATTLE OF THE MOLLETES
If you go for breakfast or a sandwich at your local bar the chances are that one of the bread products you’ll be offered is the mollete – a local type of bap.
For many the mollete is synonymous with the town of Antequera. However the bakers of Ronda have taken issue with this and are very angry that what they see as the inferior bap is making in-roads in to bars and cafes in the town of the Tajo.
As the first blow in their battle against the Antequera mollete the social-political collective Alianza por Ronda set up a stand in the plaza del Socorro to hand out Ronda molletes to passing members of the public. They were obviously very popular because over 300 were given to passers-by.
The collective is committed to defending Ronda’s products such as goat’s cheese, olive oil and wine from “blow ins”. The origin of the local mollete is not known but it is recorded that at the wedding of King Alfonso XIII the Ronda version of this bap was featured on the menu.
You might think a bap is a bap but a mollete is not a Ronda mollete so be careful what you say in the Serranía town. The Alianza por Ronda insists their mollete has more substance, more body and was specially designed to be eaten with the local rich pork dishes.
PLANNING ROW
Tense, angry scenes at Ronda’s council meeting when the administration pushed through a vote to change the name of the owners of the land assigned for the Eroski commercial centre. The land was awarded to Grupo Ruíz Jurado but now goes to a subsidiary and 3.8 million euros has been paid over. The IU and PP voted against and three PSOE were absent.
STILL BUNKERED
The controversial Los Merinos golf, 800 villa and luxury hotel development in Ronda has been on hold for 18 months due to the economic crisis. The Catalan based developer Copisa has said there are no immediate plans to restart at present although the company is said to have spent 103 million euros so far with another 50 million yet to be invested.
DIESEL THEFT
The National and local police in Ronda have arrested a man who was seen siphoning off 38 litres of diesel from the tanks of two lorries parked on the town’s fair ground in the early hours of the morning. Officers pursued the local man eventually cornering him in the calle Genal. He was found in the possession of two containers with the diesel.
CURTAIN DOWN
Ronda’s Teatro Municipal Vicente Espinel is closed until February. The building will have new flooring installed as well as work to the roof to prevent leaks during the heavy rains. There will be an improvement to the acoustics in the venue and the realignment of the seating. The 50,000 euros project with be funded by the regional government, Málaga and the town hall.
INTERNET HEALTH
The 52,000 users of the health centres in Ronda, Benaoján and Algatocín plus the surgeries in Gaucín, Cortes de la Frontera, Montejaque, Arriate, El Burgo, Cuevas del Becerro, Jubrique, Jimera de Líbar and Igualeja are now all connected to the Diraya medical information system. This means doctors and nurses can access patients’ tests and treatment on-line wherever they were carried out in Andalucía.
HUNKS’ CALENDAR
The firemen in Ronda have stripped down to produce a calendar that is on sale in the town with the Proyecto Hombre drug dependency group and the Asprodis handicapped association receiving all the profits. In total 2,5000 calendars have been printed and are priced at 5 euros. The scenes featuring the firemen stripped to the waste including fighting fires and posing with equipment.
VULTURE RESCUE
A study is being carried out by the Andalucía ministry of the environment to reintroduce the Egyptian Vulture into Málaga in the Serranía de Ronda. The last pair in the province died from poisoning in August. These rare vultures are present in Cádiz and a chick has also been recently born at Jerez zoo so they could be introduced from there to Málaga.
