English
Español
What do you know about the Serranía de Ronda? Most of us tend to just know about the town or village where we live and/or work or where we visit frequently. Paul Whitelock, who has been coming to this area of Andalucía for 20 years and has lived here full time for 12, admits he knows quite a lot about Ronda and Montejaque, where he has lived, a bit about Arriate, Gaucín, Grazalema and Setenil de las Bodegas, which he has visited frequently, but precious little about anywhere else in the area. He’s been taking a look at the information made available by the Instituto de Estadística y Cartografía de Andalucía.
Did you know that the smallest village by population not just in the Serranía but the whole of Málaga province is Atajate? With just 168 residents it nevertheless boasts an infant and primary school, a pensión, a doctor’s surgery and several highly-rated restaurants. Of that total population seven are foreigners, predominantly from the USA . There were two deaths, no births and no marriages in 2019 and the unemployment rate is at a rather high 21 per cent. The most jobs are in hotel and catering, construction and administration. Agriculture is predominantly concerned with the cultivation of oats, oranges and olives.
The largest municipality is, of course, Ronda with a population of 33,877 but falling – by eight per cent in the last decade. The number of foreigners is listed as 1,072, the majority Moroccan. There were 332 deaths, 257 births and 119 marriages. Unemployment was running at 22.45 per cent in 2018. The figure will surely be higher for 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. There are eight infant and primary schools and four secondaries. In 2019 there were 35 hotels with 1,772 beds and eight hostales or pensiones providing 48 beds. In Ronda the most employment is in wholesale and retail commerce, motor vehicle repairs, hotel and catering and construction. The principal agricultural activity centres around wheat and olives.
There are 22 towns and villages in the Serranía de Ronda with a combined population of some 51,000 people. You’ll be delighted to know that I don’t intend to go through all 22. However, you can look up the information on where you live by going to www.juntadeandalucia.es/institutodeestadisticaycartografia . There is an option for English (top right) Click on Sistema de Información Multiterritorial (Multiterritorial Information System) and then choose Andalucía pueblo a pueblo – Fichas municipales (Andalusia Town by Town – Municipal register). Then click on Málaga on the map and select the town or village you want to look at.
To conclude this article, please indulge me if I look at Montejaque, where I am currently living.
Montejaque had a population of 964 in 2019 of which 48 were foreigners, mainly from the UK. I must admit I’m struggling to get to such a high figure, but there you are. Astonishingly, there were 8,031 private cars registered in Montejaque. That means that on average each of us, including children and babies, has eight vehicles! Doh!
As for hatches, matches and despatches, in 2018 there were seven births, eight deaths and one marriage. There is one school providing all three phases of compulsory education. After that young people have to travel to Ronda. There is a doctor’s surgery, a library and one hotel with 15 beds. Most employment is in administration, wholesale and retail commerce and hotel and catering. The main crops are wheat and olives. The unemployment rate is almost 23 per cent.
Well they say there are lies, damned lies and statistics, but they are interesting nevertheless, aren’t they?
