Mayors of Ronda and Arriate reiterate demands to speed up plans for dual carriageway to Malaga

Antonio M. Romero

Malaga

Wednesday, 23 April 2025, 16:15

On Tuesday this week the mayors of Ronda, Maripaz Fernández (PP), and Arriate, Francisco Javier Anet (PSOE), reiterated their demands to the Junta de Andalucía regional government to speed up the planning process for the dual carriageway linking the Serranía de Ronda with Malaga city. This was done at a full meeting of Malaga's Diputación provincial authority.

During her speech as part of the agenda item whereby mayors can raise matters at these meetings, Fernández stated that it is "necessary to speed up" plans for the dual carriageway as the 12-kilometre stretch that has been put out to tender for now "is not enough" and she called for the "complete" project for this dual carriageway to be presented.

Ronda's mayor further stated that the area needs this dual carriageway project to combat depopulation and to boost the economic development of the Serranía de Ronda.

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This is a complaint that Maripaz Fernández said she has conveyed to regional government before. She did acknowledge, however, that the deficit in current transport communications in the area is due to the fact that, during the regional government's previous term of office, there had been no strategic plan that included Ronda and that it was not until 2019, with the arrival of the PP to run the Junta, that the project for a dual carriageway was given a boost.

Francisco Javier Anet, for his part, also stated in his mayoral address that "we cannot continue to postpone" the construction of a dual carriageway linking Ronda with Malaga and also with Antequera. He also demanded a financial commitment to be included in the budgets.

"It is time for the Andalusian government to really show that it is serious about this project, and that means including it as a very important item in the 2026 budget. A clear and concrete investment that will put an end to the uncertainty and will finally serve to fulfil so many promises made", stressed Arriate's mayor.

Both mayors also agreed to make a joint call for the reopening "as quickly as possible" of the A-397, the road linking the Serranía de Ronda with San Pedro Alcántara, which has been cut off since 8 March as a result of a major landslide onto a bridge in the municipality of Benahavís due to the rains. While the repair work is already underway, the repairs are scheduled to take six months before the road can be fully reopened and four and a half months for a partial reopening.

Maripaz Fernández, who acknowledged that the road repairs are a "complex" project, asked that "the deadlines be shortened" to reopen this road "as soon as possible" to alleviate the current situation being suffered by the thousands of road users who previously travelled that road and who are now having to use alternative routes that entail a significant increase in journey times and fuel costs.

Fernández also demanded that an action plan be undertaken on the A-397 to improve its layout and increase road safety. She views this road, known as the 'daily bread road', as "the future of our children" and has denounced the fact that central government has not heeded the request of local mayors to free up the toll charges between Manilva and Malaga for road users in the Ronda area.

Francisco Javier Anet equally called on the Junta to shorten the schedule for repairs on the A-397 so that it can be reopened "as soon as possible." He pointed out that "Four and a half months is an eternity for thousands of workers and families." He then demanded that the Junta and central government reach an agreement to ease up on the AP-7 motorway tolls.

"We must put an end to the isolation of the Serranía de Ronda because we cannot afford to continue losing opportunities. The residents of the Serrania are first class people and we cannot continue to have third class roads. Ronda and its surrounding area also exist. Not everything in Malaga is about the coast", he stressed.

Anet then directly addressed Junta de Andalucía president, Juanma Moreno, telling him: "We are not asking for miracles, we are asking for management. We don't want more propaganda, we want solutions. No more excuses, but commitment. Do not look for other culprits, this is the responsibility of the Junta de Andalucía. Govern for everyone, also for those of us who live in the Serranía de Ronda."