By David Eade – Costa del Sol News
The organisation secretary of PSOE in Ronda has visited the Arenal 2000 and nearby Planilla urbanisations which have still not had repairs made, various infrastructure brought up to scratch or the green zones completed.
At the last session of the PSOE administration on May 6 an order was passed taking in to the town halls control the common areas of the urbanisations. Also under PSOE there were some improvements to traffic flow and the sporting facilities.
Now a Partido Popular – Partido Andalucista town hall is in power and PSOE says that over the past four months nothing has been done to improve the problems on the urbanisation. Of course the new administration insists Ronda is broke so no actions are being sanctioned.
In the specific case of the Arenal 2000 urbanisation the property company was meant to make good the faults in the homes, the street lighting and gardens. The threat was that if the company did not carry out the work it would forfeit the 3 million euros it had deposited with the town hall which would then fund it.
A meeting was held between the Partido Popular mayor, María Paz Fernández and Arenal 2000 in July when the company was given 15 days to start work. The 15 days has passed and nothing has happened and PSOE is now calling on the PP to start the process to seize the funds.
SEPRONA RESCUE INJURED VULTURE
Officers of Seprona, the environmental arm of the Guardia Civil and two firemen from Ronda have rescued a Leonardo vulture found injured in Cortes de la Frontera. Another vulture at the spot had already died.
The Seprona patrol based in Ronda was recently alerted one afternoon that there were two injured Leonardo vultures in a zone known as Cañón de las Buitreras in Cortes de la Frontera.
The Seprona officers called on help from the Ronda fire brigade to assist them in rescuing the birds which are a protected species. Due to the difficult terrain it was necessary to use specialist equipment that was set up in the Guardiaro river so the vultures could be reached. Sadly one of them had already died.
As night fell the surviving vulture was recovered and sent to the Centro de Recuperación de Especies Amenazadas (CREA) that is run by the Andalucía government. Once it has recovered it will be released back in to the wild.
LOWEST DEBT
Government figures show Ronda owes the banks 13.4 million euros and suppliers 10.7 million euros a total of 24.18 million euros. However that is far lower than Torremolinos (70.4), Marbella (72.5), Estepona (73.2), Fuengirola (76.9) and Benalmádena 174,6 million euros. Ronda town hall says coffers are empty placing debt at 29.5 million euros when social security, the regional government and others are added.
TOURISM KEY
Ronda’s deputy mayor and delegate for tourism Isabel María Barriga says tourism is the key to dragging the town of the Tajo out of the economic crisis. The tourism office is being reorganised and a number of promotions are being organised. One sign of progress is the tourism website received 23 per cent more visits in July than the same month last year.
RED PERIL
The ‘picudo rojo’, the beetle destroying palm trees along the Med coast, has made its way in land to Ronda. The town hall has put into operation a plan to prevent the beetle taking hold and private property owners are being asked to be on the lookout and contact the environment department on 952 873 240 or email: mambiente@ronda.es if they are concerned.
ON TELLY
Ronda is the latest location to be featured in the Canal Sur TV programme ‘Andalucía a hierro’ that will be broadcast in coming weeks. Filming has taken place throughout the region and Canary Islands. In each episode six couple take part and have to undertaken tests which aim to promote the natural resources and culture of rural areas to show their outstanding beauty.
NATURAL MONUMENT
The regional government has given the green light to the Málaga provincial delegate to declare the Tajo de Ronda and its cornices as part of the natural monuments of Andalucía. The Tajo defence action group has for some months being carrying out a campaign to have this unique corner of the province recognised and once given this status it will enjoy added protection.
FIRE INVESTMENT
The Málaga fire consortium has invested 20,000 euros in upgrading the facilities at the fire station in Algatocín. These included better working and leisure accommodation for fire teams plus administration and training facilities. Algatocín along with Ronda, Benahavís and Manilva covers 27 municipalities in the Serranía de Ronda and western Costa del Sol with its 82,828 residents all spread over 1.831 square kilometres.
MILK AID
Over 22,000 litres of milk has been delivered to Ronda from the Bancosol food bank that serves the Costa del Sol and inland areas. Ronda’s councillor for social welfare, Antonio Arenas, said the milk would be distributed to needy families in the town and surrounding municipalities. Another 20,000 kilos of food stuffs have also been delivered over the summer from the food bank.
MARÍN FINED
The controversial former mayor of Ronda, Antonio Marín, has been fined 600 euros by the election board for publishing in a municipal magazine the programme Ronda 2015. The board ruled that Marín had violated electoral law by allowing a campaign for PSOE to be included in a town hall publication. Marín has appealed insisting the supplement appeared before the election campaign had started.
