Storm results in loss of drinking water for several villages in the Serranía de Ronda area

In some of them the tap water comes out cloudy due to sediment getting into their water-catchment tanks, so bottled water is being delivered to the affected homes

Vanessa Melgar

Ronda

Thursday, 13 March 2025, 14:20

In the Serranía de Ronda the last storm front has certainly left its mark, especially on the road that links Ronda with the Costa del Sol at San Pedro Alcántara due to the rockfall and landslide caused by last Saturday's heavy rains. The incident has cut off this important communication route for the whole area for a yet-to-be determined time as the Junta de Andalucía is still assessing the extent of the damage done in order to address how it can be fixed. In the meantime, thousands of workers are affected by this situation with a daily commute that has them travelling more kilometres, being forced to take lengthy detours in order to reach their jobs or do their work. Not only do they commute from Ronda, but also from other towns and villages in the surrounding area, which also extends into the provinces of Cadiz and Seville.

This latest Dana weather event has left other problems in its wake too, such as interrupting the supply of drinking water to many homes for several days already. This is due to the turbidity caused by the intense rainfall and the arrival of mud and other sedimentary materials in the water catchment and storage facilities.

As a result, the residents of Gaucín and Estación de Gaucín-El Colmenar (a semi-autonomous village within the municipality of Cortes de la Frontera), cannot drink water from any tap, nor use this water for cooking, due to the levels of turbidity detected by the corresponding analyses after this meteorological episode.

Jubrique has also faced this problem over the past few days but, as reported by its mayor Alberto Benítez, the situation has now been resolved. This municipality in the lower Genal valley suffered a breakdown in the mains water supply and, when it was fixed, the problem of turbidity arose. The local council, in collaboration with the Red Cross and the 112 Andalucía emergency services, distributed bottled water to all residents to try to alleviate the ban on drinking the tap water.

In Gaucín, the mayor Pedro Godino was confident that the water would soon return to being fit for human consumption. "The situation is improving little by little, day by day, but for the moment we have to wait a little longer to be able to drink the water," he said.

As with Jubrique, bottled water has been made available for those residents who wish to obtain some in this way. The local council, with the help of Civil Protection volunteers, is also providing bottled water, including the larger carafes, especially for people who are dependent on assistance or who have mobility problems.

This is the second time that Gaucín has experienced this situation as last October, during the Dana weather event that also hit Malaga province, this problem also reared its head.

"We ask for patience"

In Estación de Gaucín, is popularly known, mayor Acacio Sánchez explained that bottled water is also being distributed due to the turbidity of the water coming out of the tap. "It is easier for us to cut off the water, but it is true that its safety level still allows it to be used for cleaning work, for example," he said. He went on to add that "We ask for patience from all our neighbours, as humanly speaking everything possible has been done as quickly as possible due to the large amount of rain that has been falling incessantly. We hope that soon the water will be clean and of good quality again via our taps, although it is true that the water in the countryside is also cloudy due to the force of the rains, which drags in sediment.".¡ In this village the appearance of mud in one of the two wells has made it unusable. It has been repaired and flushed out, but it is still necessary to wait for the water's hygiene level to recover.

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