DATELINE RONDA TUESDAY FEBRUARY 2, 2010

PSOE TO WIN BUT NOT RULE

The last few months have seen traumatic changes in the political landscape in Ronda. At the last elections the Partido Andalucista was returned with the most seats and the mayor Antonio Marín first continued his party’s coalition with the Partido Popular and then dramatically withdrew and teamed up with PSOE instead.

Then he and his eight fellow PA councillors quit the party and whilst sitting as non-aligned became members of PSOE. This has led to Marín and his former PA colleagues being officially branded as political turncoats. In addition those people of Ronda who voted for the Partido Andalucista at the last elections now find they have no councillors representing them at all.

So what will happen at the next elections? According to a survey by Sigma Dos PSOE would be the biggest party with eight of the 21 councillors. However the Partido Popular and Partido Andalucista would have 11 seats which would allow them to form a coalition to take the mayoralty and govern Ronda.

The far left Izquierda Unida would have two councillors, double its present number. However it is unlikely that the IU would back its partners on the left as the bitterest critic of the current mayor Antonio Marín is the IU councillor Rafael Ruiz. Anyway if the survey is correct the two left parties would not have sufficient seats to hold power.

SECOND DEATH CRASH

A 29-year-old motorist died on Saturday after an accident on the A-397 Ronda to San Pedro road in the municipality of Igualeja. This is the second death crash in the same area in the last fortnight.

The first crash happened on the Monday previous at km 25 at 12.25 and Saturday’s accident occurred at 11.30 at km 18. In both cases the cars left the road and hit the crash barriers – the drivers were also travelling alone.

Whilst in the first tragedy the driver died at the scene in this instance he survived the accident and was rushed to the emergency unit at Ronda’s hospital. Sadly he then suffered a heart attack and whilst every effort was made to revive him he died from his severe injuries.

PART APPROVAL
The regional government has given its partial approval of the local development plan (PGOU) for Ronda that ties in with the Andalucía LOUA. One important aspect of the planning nod is that it means the project to build the Eroski commercial centre can proceed and 175 social housing units built. It is expect that the PGOU will be totally approved later this year.

RAIN REPAIRS
The directorate general of roads of the Andalucía ministry of public works and transport has allocated 1.4 million euros to carry out urgent repairs on the road that links Ronda with Ardales. The road was badly damaged in the recent heavy rains and floods. The section that needs immediate attention is on the A-367 above Cuevas del Becerro between kms 15.9 and 18.7.

I ACCUSE
Ronda’s mayor, Antonio Marín, has accused his main tormentor, the spokesperson for Izquierda Unida Rafael Ruiz, of illegally funding his party. Marín, who quit the Partido Andalucista and sits as non-aligned says that Ruiz used his salary from the Málaga authority to finance the IU. Ruiz has dismissed the claims saying it was a donation which has been declared to the tax authorities.

WINE TRAINING
It has been discussed for a good while but now the centre for developing the wine sector in the Serranía de Ronda, located in the former drinking water deposit building - itself an historic building, has been given the required funding. Over 1.28 million euros has been allocated for the refurbishment from rural development funds. The work is expected to take 18 months.

FLY TIPPING
Ronda is one of the few municipalities in Málaga that does not have a problem with fly tipping. Councillor Alberto Orozco said that the province’s environment agency had sent officials to all municipalities to do a survey to prepare an overall report. He said that the uncontrolled dumping of rubbish had been a problem in the past but had now been totally eliminated.

PAY BACK
Cuevas del Becerro has asked Ronda court to act decisively in the trial of the former town hall accountant who allegedly siphoned off 360,000 euros in municipal funds. This is a large amount for a small rural municipality and the case has been pending for over a year. Cuevas wants the money back and twice has asked the court to embargo the accused’s assets.

PINSAPOS ENDANGERED
Researchers at the University of Jaén have carried out a study on the effects of climate change on the most vulnerable trees and plants in the Mediterranean woodland. Drought is said to be the key enemy and fears were expressed over the rare pinsapo trees. Test showed pinsapos had fared well from1963 to 1995 when there had been a decline in their health.

SPECULATION FEARS
Ecologistas en Acción have protested over the decision of the environment ministry of the regional government in placing Montejaque and Benaoján outside of the limits of the Grazalema national park. The same action has been taken over four Cádiz municipalities. The environmentalists fear that without the protection of the park status the villages will be left open to property speculation with uncontrolled development.

DATELINE RONDA TUESDAY JUNE 2, 2009

RONDA SLASHES BUDGET FOR SEPTEMBER FAIR
By David Eade

Ronda cancelled its Real Feria de Mayo – the oldest in Andalucía – because of the financial crisis. Now the Feria y Fiestas de Pedro Romero will see its budget slashed by 200,000 euros.

The September fair is a major event in the town of the Tajo. Based around the celebrated former bullfighter, Pedro Romero, the fair draws thousands of people to Ronda and is an important revenue earner for the hotels, restaurants and other businesses.

Deputy mayor, Francisco Cañestro, pointed out that the Partido Andalucista – PSOE coalition had cancelled the May fair to create jobs for 108 unemployed people for a three month period. There are around 4,000 jobless in Ronda and the town hall’s social welfare department is facing heavy demands on its resources for help from families in distress –hence the latest cut.

Celebrity bullfight

As befits a fair dedicated to Pedro Romero the town’s famous plaza de toros is central to the celebrations. The bullring belongs to the Real Maestranza de Caballería but the concession for staging the bullfights belongs to the celebrity matador, Francisco Rivera Ordóñez.

The main event on the Saturday is the Goyesca where the bullfighters perform in Goya-period dress and are escorted by the Damas Goyesca. This has attracted in the past both Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles and each year the great and good of the political, media and society world attend.

Francisco Rivera always heads his own bill and this year he will be joined again by his brother, Cayetano, who in 2008 did not appear as he had been gored. Number two on the list is Francisco’s good friend Julián López ‘El Juli’ plus Miguel Angel Perera. It’s ‘El Juli’s’ third appearance and Perera’s second and both have had the honour of being carried shoulder high by the crowd through the Puerta de Pedro Romero after previous appearances.

GOING SOCIALIST
Ronda is ruled by the Partido Andalucista under mayor Antonio Marín. It is an open secret that he and his fellow councillors will shortly join PSOE – their coalition partners. This is expected to happen after the European Elections when the PA councillors will become non-aligned and the majority will then sign up with the socialists. Last week Marín opened the new Ronda PSOE office and PA councillors attended the event.

COMA CASE
The loss of a mobile phone was the origin of a large fight amongst youths in Benaoján that left three of them seriously injured with one in a coma. The brawl started at around 7.00 on the Sunday morning of last week in the camping zone of the local romería at Estación de Benaoján. Amongst those arrested is an 18-year-old accused of hitting the coma victim on the head with a bottle.

I’M OFF
The 21 mayors that make up the consortium of the Serranía de Ronda received a brief SMS message from the mayor of Montejaque to say he was standing down as their president. Miguel Alza has only been in the post since December but says he has been boycotted by some mayors and officials hence it is impossible to do his job overseeing important projects which are vital for the area.

NOT SPORTING
Ronda’s municipal sports stadium will be demolished this month to make way for the new Eroski commercial centre. Mayor Antonio Marín says temporary stands will be placed at the new ‘ciudad deportiva’. This complex is only in its first phase and both the PP and IU have slammed the town hall for poor planning in not having it completed for when the old stadium closed.

MORE INDEPENDENCE
The outlying districts of Serrato and Montecorto, which are many kilometres from Ronda town, have now been given more independence. Both villages are already ELA’s given them self-administration status within the Ronda municipality. However now they will have more control over local services, be able to issue work’s licences and also to spend locally the IBI, IAE and vehicles taxes they raise.

NURSERY THREAT
The major project to improve the access road network to Ronda will take 100 metres from the ‘Colores’ nursery school’s playground. It cares for 250 children and has 28 staff and is threatened by a new roundabout leading to the present hospital. The road authority has been asked to modify its plans as it’s feared the children could be endangered by a traffic accident because of the nearest of the new road to the school complex.