By David Eade – Costa del Sol News
The historic Casa del Rey Moro in Ronda is to be saved after the town hall reached agreement with the property’s owners. The 18 th century palace that sits on the edge of the Cornisas del Tajo is in danger of collapse after years of neglect.
Jochen Knie, who owns the Casa del Rey Moro SL, has agreed to undertake immediate restoration works and in return the town hall will grant a licence for the property to be converted in to a hotel. The German has accused the administration of paralysing for 14 years his plans to create a five star hotel.
The councillor for public works and town planning, María Jose Martín de Haro will in the next month register the project to urgently refurbish the building which is in a ruined state. Martín de Haro said any work would have first to be approved by the Andalucía culture ministry as the building is a protected historic site.
The town hall has been waging an on-going battle with Knie over the property and has fined him 60,000 euros for not keeping it in order. In addition it has had to close the staircase that descends to La Mina. This deep stairway goes down to a natural chasm in the rock below the bed of the Tajo. The entry to La Mina is in the Jardines de Forestier that were declared of cultural interest in 1943.
The restoration of the site has been held up by the provisions of the Plan Especial del Casco Histórico that was only approved last year. Knie says the company offered to restore the building before the project was paralysed but he seems content with the new accord.
Knie owns the five-star hotel Casa Imperial in La Alfalfa in Sevilla and wanted to turn the Casa del Rey Moro in to a similar establishment in Ronda. The original project would have required an investment of 21 million euros and would have employed 200 people directly and indirectly.
STOLEN COMPUTERS HIDDEN AT MURDER SITE
Arriate was in a profound state of shock at the end of January when 13-year-old María Esther Jiménez was found murdered in the pump house of a swimming pool on land behind the village. A 17-year-old youth, one of her friends, has since been arrested for her murder.
Those raw wounds were re-opened this week when three people were arrested by the Guardia Civil in Arriate for the theft and receiving of stolen computers. Another four have also been implicated. Although the two cases are not inter-related the stolen computers were hidden in the pump house where María Esther was slain.
It was in October of last year that the Guardia Civil opened operation Guadalinix after computers were stolen from the school in Arriate. During the investigation in to María Esther’s murder the fingerprints of two of the youths involved in the thefts were found in the pump house. One of them has since confessed to stealing the computers.
According to the Guardia Civil one of those involved hid in the school after it closed then later gave access to the other. They then hid the stolen computers in the pump house before handing them over to a third person who sold them for 200 euros each. Around 1,000 euros was earned in this manner which they split equally.
JOBLESS DOWN
A glimmer of good news in Ronda where February saw a fall of 78 in the unemployment figures. However at the end of that month the town hall contracted 86 people to work on its latest project to reduce the jobless and it is not clear if that number is included in the February totals. There are now 4,680 on the dole.
RECYCLING THEFTS
Local police were called to the Punto Limpio in Ronda last Wednesday afternoon after three people were seen in the locked premises. Officers caught them in the act, arrested the woman but the two men fled although one was detained later. All are said to be non-Spanish; they were stealing items such as small electrical domestic appliances left at the site for re-cycling.
DRUGS BUST
The National and local police in Ronda have broken up a drugs distribution operation from a house in El Fuerte arresting a 56-year old woman and a man aged 31. Officers had noticed a large number of people going to and from the property. Suspecting they were dealing in drugs they stage a raid on the house and seized 1.5 kilos of hashish.
PAY UP
Mayors in the Valle del Genal and Guadiaro have called on the regional government to pay the 60 students studying at courses run by their consortium. The whole project appears to be in chaos because not only are the pupils owed 1,000 euros for two months but the lack of funding means the staff have been unable to purchase materials for the courses.
LESS INTENSE
An intriguing project in Ronda where the town hall claims it’s reducing the energy bills by 50 per cent. Five hundred thousand euros has been spent installing a system controlling the intensity and reporting faults in the street lighting. Lighting is more powerful in the evening and reduces after midnight. It is operational in calles Jerez, Ollerías, San Molino, Pozo and San José.
SEWAGE PROJECT
The regional government is spending two million euros installing a sewage plant in Cuevas del Becerro. The cash comes from Feder funds and the work will take 14 months to complete. The system can handle 471.8 cubic metres of waste water a day which is not only sufficient for the present population but also allows for growth in the size of the village.
HOMES LOST
According to Izquierda Unida 255 families in Ronda have lost their homes in the last five years. They all have been embargoed by financial entities because the owners could not meet their mortgage repayments. IU blames the calamity on the economic policies of the PSOE government in the financial crisis because it has refused to declare a moratorium for families on the dole.
PALMS SAFE
The Serranía de Ronda is the only zone in the province of Málaga where the plague of red beetles that attacks palms trees has not taken a hold. The coastal areas have been the worst affected by the beetle which destroys the trunks. Some palms in the Serranía have been affected but these are isolated and the disease has not spread to others.
MOLINA AGAIN
Gaucín’s PSOE have again nominated Teodoro de Molina to head their list at May’s town hall elections. De Molina was elected mayor after the last election in a pact with the Partido Popular to keep the Partido Andalucista from power. However PP withdrew; took power itself with the support of the PA. De Molina is an economist, useful as the town hall’s bankrupt.
ASTON LAUNCH
The famous British car manufacturer Aston Martin has chosen Ronda to present this month its latest model to the world. Ronda competed against Sevilla for the launch which will take place in the old town at the plaza Duquesa de Parcent and by the bullring. Three hundred journalists will flock to Ronda –events are also being held in Chicago and New York.
