THE AIR THAT YOU BREATHE

On Sunday May 24 there will be a major demonstration in San Roque against the planned A-7 Algeciras to San Roque dual carriage that will cut through the Pinar del Rey. It will start at noon outside of the church in the calle San Felipe then make its way to the Alameda.

The Pinar del Rey is a 200 year old precious woodland that was first planted by the Spanish Navy. It covers 338 supposedly protected hectares that are home to flora and fauna and valuable water aquifers. The proposal is to build a flyover across a section of the Pinar del Rey to carry the motorway that will be used by heavy vehicles travelling to Algeciras port and the industrial zones of the bay.

Not only is the Pinar del Rey an important environmental zone it is also used as a leisure area by many thousands of people from the Campo de Gibraltar and Gibraltar itself especially during the spring and autumn months.

However even for those who have never visited the Pinar and live in the area it plays a major role in their lives. The woodland is a vital green lung in the heavily industrialized bay area – a zone that has amongst the highest number of cancer and breathing related deaths in Spain. Destroy the Pinar and you destroy the quality of the very air that you breathe.

Although the protest is organized by Verdemar – Ecologistas en Acción it is fully supported by the new Partido Popular administration at San Roque town hall but will be a strictly non-political event that can be and should be supported by all who live in the Campo de Gibraltar, Gibraltar and beyond who are deeply concerned about our environment.

So if you care about the air that you breathe the answer is simple – ¡Pinar Si – Autovía No!

PINAR SI, AUTOVÍA NO

If there are demonstrations on people’s minds today they will be for May 1 when people will take to the streets to voice their fears over job losses and the threat of unemployment.

So here’s a date for your diary – May 24.

On that day the people of San Roque and the wider Campo de Gibraltar –indeed Gibraltar itself – will be taking to the streets to demand that the new A7 dual carriageway does not cut through or come near the Pinar del Rey.

The Pinar del Rey is a 200-year-old woodland, a protected zone in San Roque that is home to a rich mix of flora and fauna plus valuable water aquifers. More important still it is the green lung for the entire Campo de Gibraltar area which houses heavy polluting industries that carry a high mortality rate from cancer and breathing illnesses in their polluting wake.

Now the government in Madrid has swept aside environmental fears and has approved plans to bring the motorway carrying heavy goods traffic for the port and industrial zones right through the corner of the woodland. A green zone that is used by thousands of people from the Campo de Gibraltar and Gibraltar to relax at weekends especially in the spring and autumn months.

Verdemar - Ecologists en Acción along with many residents of the area have been fighting these proposals ever since they were made public. Sadly the former socialist-led administration at San Roque town hall sat on its hands but the new Partido Popular controlled administration has joined the campaign to stop the road.

Now I am too long in the tooth to believe that the politicians were and are doing other than suits their agenda. The socialist town hall did not want to cross the PSOE government’s plan and the Partido Popular is only too happy to put a spoke in the government’s heavy lorries wheels. Whatever! What is important is that now there is a united front of town hall and people against the road plans.

So on Sunday May 24 a politically independent protest will be held in San Roque against the dual carriageway which everybody can support. It will leave from the main church and make its way to the Alameda at noon. If you live in the Campo de Gibraltar it’s vital that you add your support - because not only is the Pinar at risk – so too is your future health and that of your children and their children too!

SAN ROQUE AND GIBRALTAR: DOING IT TOGETHER

As I am sure many readers are aware the history of Gibraltar and San Roque are intertwined. So I am thankful to Carlos Jordan at the San Roque Tourist Office for sending me information on a series of tours in which both the Rock and its near neighbour are working on together.

Parody Travel in Gibraltar and the San Roque tourist office have combined to offer a joint programme of tours. The project was launched at the FITUR travel fair in Madrid at the end of January and is historic in itself, because it is the first time that the Rock and San Roque have co-operated in this way.

History tells us that in 1704, when the Rock was taken for England, the majority of the Spanish residents fled. Many went to San Roque, their traditional place of pilgrimage, and it is in the church and museums of the municipality that you will find many of the artefacts dating back to the days when Spain held the Rock.

For visitors to Gibraltar there is the Original Rock Tour that is carried out by a minibus with a guide and lasts around 90 minutes. Sites visited include Europa Point (where the Mediterranean & the Atlantic meet), entrance to The Upper Rock, St. Michaels Cave and the Famous Barbary Apes. In addition there is the highly recommended optional visit to the WWII Tunnels. This is a guided walking tour taking around 45 minutes.

Back in San Roque there is the “Monumental” tour. This is a guided walk around the historic centre of the town and also takes around 90 minutes. This includes the old quarter of the town: Saint Mary the Crowned Parish Church, The Governor’s Palace, The Bull Ring, typical Andalusian streets and squares, as well as 3 local museums. Here there are two optional extras. You can visit the Punic-Roman Carteya archaeological site, again duration around 45 minutes or the take the now famous tapas culinary experience.

In addition to the above tours there are also visits to Gibraltar’s Museum or to see the Dolphins in the Bay. For further information you can contact Parody on 00 350 20076070 or the San Roque Tourist Office (which has English speakers) on 956 694 005.

As Easter is upon us I should also remind you that San Roque has a week of major processions. However the ‘Pièce de résistance’ is/are the Good Friday processions that have been declared of national tourist interest by the Andalucía government. This is a stunning spectacle, with Roman soldiers on horseback but of special interest is the fact that many of the figures carried through the streets were taken by the Spanish population as they fled Gibraltar back in 1704. Details of this event that starts on Good Friday afternoon can be obtained from the San Roque tourist office.

SAN ROQUE: THE END GAME

If you scroll down this page you will come across my blog of a week ago on the tragedy and intrigue in San Roque after the sudden death of the mayor, socialist José Vázquez.

Well ten days after he was laid to rest the council met to elect a new mayor. It was a day of drama that saw the centre right Partido Popular take back power. The PP’s Fernando Palma was the most voted for candidate in the 2007 local elections so perhaps there was a sense of justice in that he regained control of the municipality as mayor.

Palma was ousted in 2003 after the local party, the USR, joined in coalition with PSOE and then renewed the agreement after the 2007 elections. He had been mayor between 1999 and 2003 when he took control after a vote of no confidence in José Vazquez.

If Palma and the PP are winners then the socialists are heavy losers. Not only has PSOE lost power but the party is left bitterly divided.

Regina Cuenca was the second candidate on the PSOE list at the last elections and by right could have stood as mayor. However she declined leaving the way open for Juan Carlos Ruiz Boix, the socialist spokesperson on the council.

As I explained in my last blog Ruiz Boix had been sacked by José Vázquez and stripped of all his portfolios. This opened up major rifts in the local socialist party. As a result when it came to the mayoral election socialist Rosa Macías, a supported of Vázquez, abstained and will now probably be expelled from the party.

The USR under José Antonio Ledesma also broke ranks with the socialists and failed to back Ruiz Boix for the top post. This was certainly payback time as the Ruiz Boix faction in PSOE wanted him to act as mayor during Vázquez’s absences in receiving cancer treatment and not Ledesma.

The Partido Popular can now govern in its own right or seek a coalition with the USR, PSOE or other parties. If as expected Rosa Macías is expelled from PSOE for not backing Ruiz Boix then she can throw her support behind the PP.

For the politically uncommitted it is a wonderful example of politicians at work doing what they do best – scheming and plotting. If there is life after death then I am sure José Vázquez is sitting on a cloud somewhere having a good old chuckle as he sees his socialist foe Ruiz Box denied the very post he lusted after – mayor of San Roque.

SAN ROQUE: TRAGEDY & INTRIGUE

Mayors in Britain are usually named Doris and Derek; you see them with a chain around their neck opening the new library or fete. They have no power unless their name is Boris and they rule London. The power at the local town hall lies with the leader of the council.

In Spain things are very different. The mayor is all powerful and with a lot of patronage to spread round is usually loyally supported by his party and coalition members.

Now if you are a student of political intrigue, especially at the local level, I urge you to closely follow events in San Roque where a master class in the subject is taking place.

First the tragedy:

The mayor of San Roque, José Vázquez, died in the early hours of last Sunday morning at the University Hospital in Málaga. He suffered a heart attack whilst on the operating table undergoing treatment in his long-running battle against lung cancer.

José Vázquez Castillo was born in 1939 in Tetuán but spent most of his life in San Roque where he was involved with the family business. At the end of the 1960s he joined the progressive socialist party of Enrique Tierno Galván. Such parties were illegal under Franco and had to operate on a clandestine basis until the dictator’s death. Tierno Galván’s party then merged with PSOE and it was as a socialist that Vázquez was first elected as a councillor in 1979. He became mayor for a brief period in 1999 and has ruled San Roque in coalition with Ledesma’s USR since 2003.

Now for the intrigue:

After Vázquez’s death was announced cartoonist Ricardo Tejeiro issued an incisive drawing of one of the lion’s that guards the entrance to San Roque. The lion asked whether the noise he could hear was the church bells tolling or the sound of succession knives being sharpened at the town hall?

Photographs of the funeral show the great and good of the socialist party paying homage to the deceased mayor. Yet you knew that in their grief they were plotting and foremost in their minds is who would succeed him?

The socialist party in San Roque was in turmoil before Vázquez’s death. He became mayor in 2003 (and again in 2007) on the back of a coalition agreement with the local USR led by José Antonio Ledesma. The deal was simple – Vázquez would be mayor for two years and then Ledesma for the final two. After two years Vázquez decided he liked the job as mayor, so he refused to stand down, leaving Ledesma little option than to like rather than lump it.

The deal was renewed in 2007 but the then ill Vázquez decided to allow Ledesma to stand in for him during his frequent absences. This caused tension in PSOE as many in the party felt that socialist Juan Carlos Ruiz Boix, also a deputy mayor, should have been given that role.

Then last year Vázquez acted by stripping Ruiz Boix of all his portfolios. This essentially split the local party in two with Vazquez backed by Regina Cuenca on one side and Ruiz Boix leading the rest. A poignant photograph shows Ruiz Boix looking on at the funeral of his former political master – one can only wonder what thoughts are passing through his head.

Next Thursday San Roque will appoint a new mayor. The councillors of PSOE will have to choose between Regina Cuenca and Juan Carlos Ruiz Boix as their candidate. Whoever is chosen will leave open wounds in the other half of the party. Watching on will be José Antonio Ledesma wondering what the future holds for him and his USR. The opposition Partido Popular are likely to put forward their spokesperson and former mayor Fernando Palma. Palma ousted Vázquez in 1999 in a vote of no confidence and will be looking to exploit any divisions in the ruling coalition.

As they say – we live in interesting times.

PINAR DEL REY: SAVE OUR GREEN LUNG

As I wrote this week’s news I came across two items on the 200-year-old Pinar del Rey in San Roque. On one hand the government in Madrid wants to drive a motorway through the 338 hectare protected green zone and then the regional government in Sevilla intends to include it as a Puerta Verde for the enjoyment of local people. Sadly the two ideas do not sit happily together.

For its part the environmental group Verdemar says its protests will continue over the plans to build a new stretch of the A-7 through the heavily wooded zone of the Pinar del Rey, an ecological gem with valuable water aquifers.

The main purpose of the road is to improve access to the port in Algeciras and the bay zone. Whilst Verdemar recognizes that the port is of major economic importance to the region it argues it cannot be seen in isolation. Its existence has to be balanced with the wider needs of the Campo de Gibraltar and its residents and these are not best served by the destruction of the environment.

If the road goes ahead then the noise from the traffic will be heard throughout the higher parts of the Pinar woodland. In addition fumes from the vehicles will damage the environment and trees in that zone. Furthermore the pillars needed to support the road will cause irreversible harm to the aquifer of the Fuente de la Alhaja.

Hence Verdemar is calling for the project to be dropped and says it will mount protests till that objective is achieved. I for one will support them in this action and I know many other residents both in the Campo de Gibraltar and Gibraltar itself feel the same way. I suspect the officials at San Roque’s tourist office must be tearing their hair out as this most beautiful and unspoilt part of the municipality faces destruction.

So it is ironic that at the same time as the Pinar faces the threat of the new A-7 the regional government’s Cádiz environment delegation is proposing it should be included in a new green corridor, the Puerta Verde of San Roque.

It would cover an area of 10.7 kilometres running from the Puerta Verde of La Línea, the Molino de Fuego to the Pinar del Rey. The idea is it should be a leisure zone for local people at weekends and during the holiday periods.

The project comes in two phases and the delegation wants the nearly 700,000 euros scheme to be operational in 2010 and would include a footbridge over the present A-7.

The objective of this praise worthy scheme is to create a car free zone, where the environment and scenic beauty is preserved and that would act as a break on urban development. Indeed the very things that the A-7 motorway through the Pinar del Rey would destroy because it is also feared that in its wake would come construction projects as the protected wood is opened up.

It is important that the people of the Campo de Gibraltar stand up to protect the Pinar del Rey. In an area where black lungs and cancer deaths are all too frequent thanks to the heavy industry it is vital that this green lung is preserved. If the Pinar dies – then so too does a part of us, literally!