By David Eade – Costa del Sol News
The bus shelter in Arriate has featured a lot in the news of late. It is raised from the ground on a patio with other seats and if you go up some steps there is a street bar that opens in the summer months.
You might use the shelter during the day if you are waiting for the bus to Ronda. You will share the area with local people taking a stroll or relaxing on the seats in the sun. The only change at night is in the age group – it is where the youngsters hang out with their friends.
It was here on the evening of Wednesday January 19 that 13-year-old María Esther Jiménez relaxed with her mates. Amongst them was the 17-year-old youth now accused of bludgeoning her to death with a brick. He was part of the bus shelter clan.
If María Esther had walked home that night she would have been at her front door in minutes. Instead she took a turn left, perhaps with the youth who cannot be named because under the law he is a minor. Again she would have been at the swimming pool pump house where she perished minutes later.
The Guardia Civil believe they had arranged a romantic tryst. A sexual motive could be behind the crime. They have not ruled out further arrests. Whether there are any links to the two death threats she received in a letter written by a child remains to be seen.
The Guardia Civil always maintained that the DNA tests would identify María Esther’s killer and those results were known last week. So it was that at noon on Thursday January 3, two weeks after her body was found, plain clothes officers arrived at the family house of ‘El Vaquilla’ in the calle Viñilla to arrest him.
Three tests were carried out at the scene of the murder and ‘El Vaquilla’s’ DNA was found at each. The Guardia Civil says the evidence linking him to the pool house and her murder is overwhelming. He was taken in a car cavalcade to the Guardia Civil HQ in Málaga. Later he appeared before a judge in the minor’s court with the children’s prosecutor asking he be detained for six months. If found guilty he faces eight years in a detention centre.
He was driven away to angry cries of “murderer” from villagers but his arrest has left locals feeling confused. His family is respected in the community. His grandfather had been a Communist deputy mayor after democracy returned to Spain. He has two sisters, one a twin.
Views on ‘El Vaquilla’ differed – some said he was a normal lad, others he had always been a bit of a trouble maker, but added quickly they never thought he’d be capable of murder. His friends say he disappeared for several days after the slaying – when they asked him where he’d been – he said visiting family in Benaoján. He was interviewed by the media after the murder and even attended the laying of flowers at the murder site by family and friends on February 1 – María Esther’s 14 th birthday.
Immediately after the arrest the Guardia Civil put numerous patrols on the streets of Arriate to prevent any trouble. María Esther’s parents, who have returned to their Cádiz village, called for calm. For now Arriate is indeed calm as the residents contemplate the tragedy that has befallen them, the parents of María Esther grieve for their daughter and the family of ‘El Vaquilla’ try to come to terms with the fact their son and brother could be a murderer.
MORE WOE FOR ARENAL 2000 RESIDENTS
The Partido Andalucista in Ronda has one again highlighted the on-going misfortunes of the residents of the town’s Arenal 2000 urbanisation. The company has not honoured its commitments by creating the green zones or children’s play areas. The PA also stressed that more night-time security was required for the development as well as improved access.
The party’s secretary for infrastructure, Juan Antono Rubio, explained: “Lamentably we have again to go through the media to denounce that the urbanisation has not been completed and is in a deplorable state. There has been no kind of maintenance and the company has not carried out any of the works to remedy the defects in the houses or the urbanisation.”
On January 20 the PA wrote to the councillor for works and town planning, María José Martín de Haro to point out the situation and that no work had been carried out to put the defects right. The party has produced a technical report on the problems at the Arenal 2000 development.
In the past the Costa del Sol News has highlighted the plight of the residents at the urbanisation which started with them having no deeds or first licences. The town hall promised it would confiscate the two million euros deposit it holds from Arenal 2000. This money would then be used to carry out the required works. This, says the PA, is probably going to be the only solution.
SIGN HIM
Andalucía’s minister for tourism, commerce and sport, Luciano Alonso, was in Ronda to inaugurate the new stand at the sport’s stadium. He kicked off the match between Ronda and El Palo with the home side securing an important victory so the minister might be signed up. The complex cost 1.4 million euros with a 1,000 person stand, large changing rooms and bio-energy system.
STILL SEARCHING
The hunt is still on for Iván Hernández Chacón who disappeared visiting his girl friend in Ronda. After a disco they had a row on January 22 - he hasn’t been seen since. His Seat León has been found in the San Francisco area but there’s no sign of the Puerto Real youth. Police and fire teams have searched around the Tajo gorge.
UP AGAIN
A bad start to 2011 with the jobless figures in Ronda showing a rise. There are another 235 out of work compared with December – the new total stands at 4,680. The end of the festive season saw many people signed off from their contracts. On 2,419 women are still the largest unemployed group with the services and construction industry still the hardest hit.
HOLY MUSEUM
The various religious confraternities in Ronda that perform during the town’s famous Semana Santa processions will soon have their own museum. It is being located on the lower floor of the former court building on the central calle Armiñán near the town hall. There will be five rooms where their distinct artefacts will be displayed. The 200,000 euros museum will open in May.
WE PAID
The row over the promotional video made by the Partido Popular in Ronda at the municipal TV studio in PP controlled Fuengirola has opened a new phase. After furious complaints by PSOE in both towns the PP has responded saying it paid the bill and has an invoice dated November to prove it. The party is now demanding an apology from the socialists.
BERMEJA PARK
Various groups that make up the Plataforma Sierra Bermeja Parque Nacional have launched a new campaign to have the Sierra Bermeja, Palmitera and Real declared a protected zone. They’ve written to the director general of natural spaces in Andalucía to ask the regional government to request its counterpart in Madrid declares the area a national park. The group first requested action in 2007.
TRAIN WASTE
Izquierda Unida has complained to the Andalucía parliament over a waste tip that’s appeared in Gaucín. The party claims tonnes of waste dumped at the site come from the improvements to the Ronda to Algeciras railway. IU spokesperson in Gaucín, Juan Jesús Hidalgo, says 6,000 lorries have deposited the waste at the entry to the village and nobody knows what the materials are.
HEALTH CENTRE
Benalauría is soon to have its own health centre funded by the regional government, the province and the town hall. Work will start shortly and it will take up to a year to complete. The 300,000 euros 4-storey building will have the health centre on the ground floor with the other floors given over to the internet, social services, pensioners and general use.
