Ronda cut off!

The heavy rain and thunderstorms of the last couple of weeks, combined with a lousy infrastructure has left whole areas of the Serrania de Ronda flooded, with roads blocked by rockfalls and houses soaked, gardens waterlogged and frequent power cuts.

Worse still, a major rockfall has blocked the main route from the Costa del Sol and the towns of San Pedro, Marbella and Estepona to the capital and main town of the Serrania, namely Ronda.

^{This major rockfall has blocked the A376 [Photo: Diario Sur]}

Roads into and out of Estación de Jimera de Líbar have been blocked by flood water and mud and rocks washed down from the surrounding mountains.

^{Flooding in Jimera de Libar [The Olive  Press]}

Further down the River Guadiaro, the village of Cañada del Real Tesoro (Estación de Cortes de la Frontera) has also suffered. 

What to do?

According to experts the blockage of the A 376 will take at least nine months to fix. It could be longer. So, what happens next?

^{.[Map courtesy of niamhanddavid,com]}

The hundreds of workers from the Serrania who race down the San Pedro road to work on that part of the coast, will have to find a new route, which will take them longer and cost them more in fuel. I doubt their bosses will increase their wages to compensate them.

Tourists who come up to Ronda in their coaches will have to find another route or not come.

Ronda residents who need to go to the coast for medical treatment will have to make a detour. 

The alternative routes

There are four alternatives, I reckon. All of them will take longer than previously. But it is what it is – we’ll just have to adapt and make the best of it. 

Ronda – Gaucín – Casares/Estepona

Ronda – Gaucín – Manilva/Puerto de la Duquesa

Ronda – Cortes de la Frontera – San Luque/Gibraltar/Tarifa

Ronda – Ardales – Malaga/Alhaurín El Grande - Fuengirola  

Other damage in the Ronda area

Benaoján

The Hotel Molino de Cuatro Paradas by the river Guadiaro has been flooded and is closed. 

^{Hotel Molino de Cuatro Paradas [Photo: Escapada Rural]}

Fuente de la Higuera

The Hotel Ronda Valley (formerly Hotel Don Benito) has been closed for several days because run off from the hills above crossed the road and inundated the cellar, where the beer equipment and the heating system are housed. 

^{Hotel Ronda Valley [Photo: DVACACIONES.com]}

The bar re-opened yesterday (Thursday 13 March) but the kitchen, the restaurant and the hotel remain closed. 

The Hotel Molino del Puente escaped unscathed and has been open all week.

^{Hotel Molino del Puente [Photo: andalucia.org]}

Our garden at Villa Indiana is a lake. The huge quantities of water have knocked out our boiler, so we have no hot water and no central heating. Thank God we have a chimenea and plenty of dry logs!

^{Villa Indiana [Photo:  booking.com]}

Yesterday we had no running water at all and several electricity circuits were knocked out, including the kitchen and at one point all our lights.

This morning, I managed to get the lights and water back on, but the caldera (boiler) has defeated me. We’re hoping our heating engineer can get to us tomorrow.

If not, we shall decamp to Montejaque (Málaga) where everything is working, despite the constant rain. 

STOP PRESS: Friday 14 March. The heating engineer came first thing and fixed  the heating and the hot water. 

Reparaciones Sánchez, Avda. de Andalucía, Ronda  Tel: 952 87 13 35

Photos and Images:

andalucia.com, booking.com, Diario Sur, DVACACIONES.com, Escapada Rural, Karl Smallman, niamhanddavid.com, Paul Whitelock, Secret Serrania, SUR in English, The Olive Press

© Paul Whitelock    

Acknowledgements:

Andalucia TV, Diario Sur, Guardia Civil, Julie Wilkinson, La 1 

Tags:

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