Today marks the beginning of the election campaign in Ronda, as Partido Popular president in Andalucia Javier Arenas visited Ronda along with the Malaga provincial president Elijah Bendodo to publicly endorse the campaign of mayoral candidate María Paz Fernandez Lobato.
Speaking to supporters and journalists, Javier Arenas declared that he and national secretary Mariano Rajoy have added their signatures to a document promising to kick start the construction of a motorway between Ronda and Antequera, as well as publicly backing initiatives to see Ronda declared a UNESCO World Heritage City.
Describing Ronda as the only city of its size in Spain without a decent communications infrastructure, Arenas stated that a PP government in Ronda and Andalucia aimed to redress the imbalance and work to improve connections with other cities, as well as find ways to improve telecommunications supply to the city.
Maria Paz Fernandez backing up Arenas statements has previously indicated she favours bringing Ronda up to the standards of major cities such as Malaga for infrastructure, but also would focus on what is most important rather than on big projects with questionable returns.
Citing the proposed motorway from Ronda to San Pedro de Alcantara, or a greenfields motorway from Malaga to Ronda, Fernandez said that a motorway to Antequera is a far easier project to construct and would see Ronda connected with an inland hub including AVE, and most importantly would fully connect Ronda and Campillos with Malaga albeit via Antequera.
PP have until now preferred to adopt a less obvious campaign, with party insiders telling Ronda Today that Fernandez and her team of council hopefuls have been quietly putting their election manifesto together rather than show their hand ahead of campaigning. However with PSOE holding their candidacy election today, PP believe the time has finally come to present their manifesto to the people.
Readers will recall that PSOE, the incumbent party in Ronda under the leadership of current mayor Anotonio Marin Lara and Ronda party president Francisco Cañestro have been struggling to get Marin Lara voted as candidate for the local government elections in May this year, which has held up campaigning for other parties not wanting to use campaign funds until all candidates have been selected.
With PSOE widely expected to endorse Marin Lara today, PP have come out hitting hard, reiterating that PSOE in Ronda will be led by a political turncoat and positioning Fernandez, her colleagues, and the PP in Ronda as the party of change, and as the only major party that can be trusted adopting the slogan “sabe lo se que vota”, roughly translated as you know what you’re voting for.
If elected in Ronda, Partido Popular councillors are expected to be Maria Paz Fernandez Lobato (Mayor), Jesús Vázquez (President), Juan Barba (Health), Antonio Arenas (Party Secretary), Fernando Corrales (Education and Culture), Daniel Castilla (Treasurer), Sandra Franco (Education), Bernardo Crespo (Communication and Town Security), Manuel Lopez (Agriculture), Juan Clavero (Tourism and Commercial), Ana Martin (Consumer Affairs and Health), María Carmen Martinez (Innovation and Devlopment), and Juan Vega Fernandez (NNGG).
I’ve been living in this lovely area of Western Andalucia for the last 20 years or so and dedicate most of my time to the running of English language tourist information websites for the towns of Cádiz, Ronda, Grazalema, the famous or infamous Caminito del Rey, and also Wildside Holidays, which promotes sustainable and eco-friendly businesses running wildlife and walking holidays in Spain. My articles contain affiliate links that will help you reserve a hotel, bus, train or activity in the area. You don’t pay more, but by using them you do support this website. Thankyou!