David Eade – Costa del Sol News
The Damas Goyescas who preside over Ronda’s annual Pedro Romero fair, which is currently underway, have a very special engagement on Friday. They will be visiting the Museo de Vino in the old town where they will press the grapes from the latest harvest in their bare feet.
The fifth edition of this colourful event takes place at 11.00 in the old bodega which now is the Centro de Interpretación del Vino. It is timely that Ronda’s annual feria coincides with the gathering of the grapes and their pressing by foot is a ceremony that been carried on for hundreds of years.
The wine pressing is a collaboration between Ronda town hall and the Bodegas la Sangre which is associated with the museum and produces a range of award winning wines. Indeed those who attend the pressing will not only see the glamorous court ladies in action but will also be invited to taste the Bodegas’ wines free of charge.
RONDA TO SELL OFF PRIZE ASSETS
When the Partido Popular and Partido Andalucista came to power in Ronda in a coalition after the May elections they declared the municipal coffers to be empty. Now to the fury of the socialist opposition they have announced the solution is to sell of Ronda’s assets to raise badly needed funds.
The first to go under the hammer seems likely to be the extensive Cortijo San Juan. The town hall believes this could raise around two million euros. The councillor responsible for finances, María del Carmen Martínez, said this would be the start of selling some of the properties of the town hall to generate funds.
The Cortijo San Juan is expected to go on the market very shortly under a public auction to see what offers are forthcoming. The prime site is on the Ronda to Sevilla road and overlooks the road leading off in the direction of Grazalema. Part of the land is given over to vines and it is reported it has been a problem for the town hall to maintain it.
It is ironic that a former councillor for the environment who is now the PA’s first deputy mayor in the coalition, Isabel Barriga, had been a strong defender of the estate in which the town hall had invested a large amount of money. Now she seemingly approves of the sale.
Currently the Cortijo San Juan is the only municipal property that has been named as being for sale. Without a doubt other town hall owned buildings are also being readied to be put on the market. The administration argues that the monies raised will be used to construct modern buildings better suited to their purpose and located in areas where they are needed.
In this category comes the present Mercado de Mayoristas. The councillor for agriculture wants to construct a new wholesale market at the entrance to the industrial estate and the cash from the sale of the existing premises would fund such a development.
Needless to say these proposals have met with the stiff opposition of the former PSOE administration which have labelled the proposals as a “barbarity”. It states that up to now the town hall has always purchased assets and never sold them in this manner.
The socialists have called upon the ruling coalition and the PP mayor Maripaz Fernández to seek subventions from other public administrations and investments in Ronda and not to buy their way out of the town’s financial problems by auctioning off the family silver – by selling the very future of Ronda.
NEW CHIEF
Ronda has a new chief of local police. He is Manuel Castillo and he took office in front of a large number of councillors. New PP mayor Maripaz Fernández dismissed the previous chief soon after taking office. Castillo previously was a sub-inspector with the National Police. He takes charge of 70 officers; his first task with be security during this week’s annual fair.
BIG LEAP
Hotels in Ronda have experienced the biggest leap in five years in the number of nights spent in hotels in the town of the Tajo in July. According to the tourist office the increase is 63 per cent more than in the same month last year. The total of room nights was 2,414 but does not include camp sites, rural tourism or apartments.
TAJO MILL
Residents of Ronda’s Molino del Tajo are pleased with the state of the works to improve the local infrastructure. The rural road has been cemented, a collapsed wall by the river has been repaired and the area below the bridge over the river has been cleared. Mayor Maripaz Fernández says it is a promise kept and works will be completed in mid September.
RADIO CLEANSING
The Partido Popular administration in Ronda has been angrily accused of political cleansing of Radio Ronda and the municipal communications unit SOMUCSA. Six members of staff have been made redundant and the company has been contracted to PP supporting hotelier Carlos Ruiz without it being offered out to tender. PP says it has taken the action because the financial situation was simply unsustainable.
NO BIKING
The plan to get residents and visitors to Ronda to take to bikes was launched last year as a town hall and regional government initiative. Now it has been stopped as the sports department says it does not have the money to service the bikes which are parked at key points. Users of the service have been told to collect their deposits back.
POPULAR RONDA
The first deputy mayor and councillor for tourism in Ronda, Isabel María Barriga, has revealed the number of visitors using the local tourist office. In the first seven months of this year there has been a 32.46 per cent increase on 2010. In April, which included the Easter holiday, 35,448 people used its facilities, the highest number since it opened 11 years ago.
BETTER CONNECTED
The mobile telephone company Movistar has announced it is strengthening the wide band service for its users in all the municipalities throughout Andalucía. This will also apply to rural areas such as the Serranía de Ronda which are particularly dependent on mobile links. The local director, José González, said it was doubling its capacity to handle both voice as well as data transmissions.
