In 2001, around the time of 9/11 in New York, Pablo de Ronda (aka Paul Whitelock) was interviewed by local TV in Liverpool, England. That year was the European Year of Languages and Paul was heading up several languages projects across Merseyside in his role as modern languages adviser for Sefton Council. Pablo recalls that he was really nervous and was not at all happy with the outcome. So when he was approached, as a foreign resident in the Ronda area, to be interviewed for a documentary on local TV, it came as something of a surprise when he said “Yes!”

Here's his story.

When my boss Karl Smallman approached me with this request I didn’t hesitate to say yes. Was I crazy? I’d done a TV interview 20 years previously in English in England and it was a scary experience. Why was I so readily saying “Sí” to doing an interview in Spanish in Spain?

Then when I saw the FaceBook request from Charry TV, I responded again with a “Sí” and a brief biography about my time here in Spain, namely 12 years as a resident with no regrets.

When I got PM’d by the journalist, Cheché (aka María José García) asking me to meet her on Friday 16 June for an interview at a place in Ronda that was special to me, I was delighted.

I chose the Parador de Turismo in Plaza de España, as that was the first place I ever stayed on my first ever visit to Andalucía to celebrate the Silver Anniversary of my marriage to my first wife, Jeryl.

I made sure I got there early to settle down and get comfortable.

I wonder what they’re going to ask me, I thought. Then Cheché and her cameraman Juan arrived. There was no script, no list of questions. We just set up the location in the lounge, they pinned a mike on me and off we went.

It’s odd, but I didn’t feel the least bit nervous. She asked questions and I did my best to answer them. It all felt very natural, more like a chat in a lounge in a parador with someone I’d just met. Oh, that’s exactly what this was, wasn’t it?

I was asked for a bit of background, the circumstances that brought me to Ronda, what persuaded me to come and live here full time, what I liked and didn’t like about life here. Then we moved onto questions around the Covid-19 pandemic and how I felt Spain and the UK respectively had dealt with the disaster.

I have strong views on this. I think Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has done well, especially at the beginning with that very severe lockdown. Most of my Spanish friends disagree with me and call me a socialist. OK. Fair cop! A Spanish socialist certainly, if I were allowed to vote in national elections here.

My views about Bojo’s feeble efforts in the UK are well-known amongst my British friends, many of them Conservatives, by the way, and they nearly all agree with me. The guy’s a buffoon and most of his cabinet are clowns. 

They all call me a socialist too. I’m actually not, having only voted red on three occasions, all three times tactically in a marginal seat to keep the Tory out (Warrington South in 1997, 2001 and 2005). I like to feel that my little effort contributed to the three largely successful governments of Tony Blair, a much-maligned politician, I fear.

I digress. Back to the interview.

I was also asked if I had any ideas for kick-starting tourism in the area.

My second wife Rita and I (10 years married and going on 11, my God!) have two rental properties, Villa Indiana in Ronda and Casa Rita in Montejaque, so I do have some considered thoughts, which I expressed in the interview.

Like many others I think the future lies with national tourism, ie with the Spanish (they represent a huge market and are already in the country, around 47 million of them, in fact!) and foreigners resident in Spain, who are also here and in common with their Spanish neighbours desperate to get away.

Secondly, in the Serranía de Ronda we should focus on rural tourism and how much safer that is, from a health and hygiene perspective, than, for example, a city break or a crowded beach resort.

What this area has to offer cannot be bettered anywhere. Stunning scenery, mountains, valleys, pueblos blancos, outdoor activities like cycling, hiking, horse-riding, which some of the other people interviewed for this documentary offer.

Additionally available are those very dangerous activities that take place up in the air, like paragliding, micro-lighting and hot-air balloon flights. Also activities that take place on or in water, like water skiing, windsurfing and canyoning.

Each to his own, although a balloon flight over Ronda, I must confess, is on my bucket list.

There is abundant wildlife with wild boar, ibex, goats and toros bravos, as well as normal run-of-the-mill farm animals. The birdwatching opportunities are amazing.

The interview ended with a promise that I would be sent a copy of the programme which was scheduled for broadcast that very evening.

If you’ve not seen it and have a spare couple of hours, why not have a look? The link is below. It’s a very interesting documentary.

I asked Charry TV whether it could be put on YouTube to gain a wider audience (Charry TV Ronda is a subscription channel only). They agreed and it’s there on YouTube now. You can view the whole programme by clicking here.

I subsequently asked Cheché if she would write an article in Spanish about the programme for the Secret Serranía website, which she was glad to do. You can read it here.

There is also an English version, here.

Another interviewee, Carolyn Emmett, a montejaqueña by adoption, has written a delightful piece about her interview. It was what inspired me to write this. Click here.

No doubt, some of the other interviewees might also write something. Let’s hope so. They’re all very interesting people.

Note:

There is a follow-up article by Secret SerranIa website owner Karl Smallman, which provides more information about the people interviewed. You can read it here.

Last month Charry TV in Ronda premiered a documentary about foreigners who have come to reside in the City of the Tajo. Journalist María José García subsequently wrote this article for local website www.secretserrania.com . It has been translated for the English-speaking community by Pablo de Ronda.

The Serranía de Ronda: a charming place to live

In the TV documentary we talked with foreigners who saw the region as the ideal place to come to live and to develop their personal projects.

Our culture and heritage, our customs, our environment and a slower pace of life were some of the main factors that convinced foreign citizens who came to visit the Serranía de Ronda to settle in one of its towns or villages.

Although practically any town in Andalucía could offer these things, the privileged location of the Serranía de Ronda, near the Sierra de las Nieves and a similar distance from Malaga, Seville and Cádiz, were decisive for these residents of Canada, France, Norway and the United Kingdom who decided to stay and live in our area, fleeing the bustle of the big cities.

Karethe (Norway)

“We like nature and we also wanted to live among Andalusian people, in a town without many foreigners, for us it was important. Although to feel at home you need to integrate into society, make an effort to get to know people, learn the language… This for me has probably been the most difficult thing”, explains the Norwegian journalist Karethe Linaae who moved to Ronda from Canada with her Mexican husband Jaime De La Barrera in 2012.

However, and although Linaae highlights the charm of the City of Dreams, she also perceives it as "a very conservative city, very Catholic, where the politicians are the politicians and the people are a little apart." And she adds: "If you want to be fashionable, if you like exotic restaurants and books in other languages, Ronda is not the town for you."

Heather and Wayne (UK)

Also in that year the British couple Heather Cooper and Wayne Pickering came to live in Ronda to undertake a mountain biking project: Hike & Bike the Sierras. They acknowledge that they came across Ronda by chance because Heather wanted to learn Spanish. As Wayne maintains: “I would miss out on going to Seville in order to see Ronda, because it is unique”.

Pickering says that for them registering as self-employed has been quite an experience, especially because of the expensive quota that small entrepreneurs have to pay each month: “The way in which small businesses operate in Spain is very different with respect to taxes and that kind of thing".

On a social level, the midday break and siesta has been one of the customs that these residents of Ronda have found the hardest to get used to. 

Caro (South Africa)

Carolyn Emmett, also English, who, thanks to her husband's job at Michelin Tyres, has lived in Canada, Botswana, South Africa and Indonesia before finally settling in Montejaque.

Although language has been the main barrier to integrating with the locals, Carolyn has done her best, and in 2012 even published a recipe book and a guide to Montejaque, with information in English and Spanish about accommodation, activities, the local area and shops, bars and restaurants. In addition, this Briton and montejaqueña by adoption was a mayordoma in the Montejaque Fair procession that year, dressed in a mantilla.

Charlotte (UK)

At the age of 27, Charlotte Wilmot was going through a small existential crisis as head of Human Resources at a hotel in central London, and when some friends suggested she spend part of her summer holidays in Andalucía, she didn't think twice. The group passed through Ronda by chance, but an incident with the car in which they were travelling forced them to stay on in the town.

What began for her as a two-month adventure has spanned 19 years and today she runs RondaLingua, a language school in Ronda, together with her husband Jaime López, whom she met here during that unplanned stop.

“When you live in a place you sometimes don't appreciate what you have. I think the pandemic has taught us that we have an impressive landscape around here, and I think we have learned a lot about enjoying ourselves in ways other than sitting in front of the TV and watching Netflix, ” she reflects.

Paul B and Louise (UK)

“We like the way of life in Ronda and as a result we spend more time together. That's why we decided to come”, says another Englishman, Paul Bowles. In the UK Paul worked as a fruit distributor, but the different hours that his partner Louise and he had made it impossible for them to see each other frequently. They also aspired to live somewhere with a standard of living that was far from the frenetic pace of London.

In 2016 they decided to move to Ronda, where Louise already had an apartment in the Barrio de San Francisco. Subsequently, they set out to build a holiday house in the Barrio de Padre Jesús, and despite the fact that the pandemic has made a dent in their income in the last year, they insist that they have never considered returning to the UK. The pandemic has caused a cautious increase in the number of places to stay in a natural environment that offers greater guarantees of health and security vis-a-vis COVID-19.

Julie (UK)

“If you are looking for adventure there are vías ferratas, horses, quad safari… There is everything! hiking, cycling, motorcycles… And there are great fiestas with flamenco, which I love ”. That's how Julie Wilkinson talks about Ronda and the Serranía.  Julie is a resident of Cañada del Real Tesoro (Cortes de la Frontera Station) and hales originally from England where she was a university academic involved with banking, computing and languages before she moved to live in this tiny village.

Wilkinson came to the area attracted by its history: “I was studying at the Complutense University and wanted to know more about the history of the Moors, of the occupation. I also like the interior of the province a lot, because I don't want to be in a touristy area. I wanted to get to know the authentic Andalucía and especially Ronda as a historic centre”. 

Although the start of the pandemic was hard for her, since she lives alone, she took advantage of the confinement to run errands for her neighbours and friends, and thus managed to feel useful and maintain her social life.

Paul (UK)

In 2000, coinciding with his Silver Wedding Anniversary, Paul Whitelock did a mini-tour of Andalucía with his then wife, since, together with Galicia it was the only Spanish region that he did not know. They started in Ronda and spent their first night at the Parador de Turismo, from where he speaks to us in the documentary.

“I'm not here because of the weather, because of the sun, that doesn't interest me. Ronda is spectacular, its heritage, its culture, there is theatre, there are concerts ….. There’s always something going on here. ”

Whitelock is able to list the “five or six things” that drive him crazy about Spain, but insists that the rest is positive. “The noise, the litter everywhere, the bureaucracy, the corruption and a couple of other things, like parking the car and, worst of all, Spanish beer.  However, I think I have learned to come to terms with all of these.

For example, when it comes to dealing with bureaucracy, my strategy is go to the office early to talk face to face with the person who might be able to help you. But make sure you get there before they go to breakfast, better before 9.00 am ”. 

Whitelock has been living in Montejaque and Ronda for 12 years with his second wife Rita, a German, whom he met in Ronda in 2008 and who has been a resident here for 15 years.

Delphine (France)

The situation of Delphine Duboys differs greatly from those we have described so far. A Frenchwoman, she was born in Paris half a century ago and has lived in Spain for 26 years, where she used to work as a communications executive for a company in Madrid. Her partner's brother used to manage a piece of land at Finca La Algaba, about four kilometres from Ronda, which has wild horses living in freedom.

In 2019 Duboys became unemployed and in September 2020 she and her partner decided to move to Ronda, thus advancing their plans to retire to the town. Dubois says she feels "delighted" to have changed a life in which she spent 10 hours in front of the computer. Now she is part of the Paddock Paradise project, which organises horse-riding tours with the wild horses, some of them to the foothills of the Tajo de Ronda.

About Charry TV

Comunicaciones Ronda, S.L. has 30 years experience working in this sector, having pioneered in Ronda. Currently Canal Charry TV is the only private TV channel in the town. On top of that it offers 100 themed channels: cinema, sport, music, documentaries, etc. And now, internet via fibre optic cable, fixed-line telephones and mobile telephones with the best prices on the market.

For information about tariffs, click here (http://www.charrytv.com/tarifas)

Note: This article, Foreign Residents on the Box by María José García, forms part of a trilogy together with Guiris On the Box - a follow-up by Karl Smallman and Being on the Box by Pablo de Ronda

While the UK struts its stuff boasting about how many people they have vaccinated (is this the only thing Bojo and his bunch of fellow clowns has got right when it comes to the Coronavirus?), the rest of Europe, including Spain, has been less successful with their vaccination programmes. This has come about because of a mixture of poor organisation, bad procurement and lack of supply. The fiasco of the Astra Zeneca boycott by some countries hasn’t helped either.

How has it been for EyeOnSpain contributor Pablo de Ronda?

Thursday am

My mobile rings

¿Rita Whitelock?

No, soy su marido. Rita es nombre de mujer y yo soy un hombre. Se nota por mi voz.

(Embarrassed cough.)

It was a call to offer my wife Rita a vaccination date.

¿Cuándo?

Mañana a las 12 horas.

Lo siento. Está fuera de España. Vuelve el lunes que viene.

Vale. Llamamos otra vez la semana que viene.

Friday pm

My mobile rings

¿Rita Whitelock?

No, soy su marido. Rita es nombre de mujer y yo soy un hombre. Se nota por mi voz.

(Embarrassed cough.)

It was a call to offer my wife Rita a vaccination date.

¿Cuándo?

Esta tarde a las cuatro.

Lo siento. Está fuera de España. Vuelve el lunes que viene.

I explained that my wife was out of the country until Monday. I also explained to the nice lady about having a similar call yesterday and that I was told they would ring again – next week, not the next day!

She apologised for the confusion and suggested we ring the Centro de Salud ourselves to make an appointment.

OK. We can do that.

Saturday am

Rita is 69, so she is in the cohort being given the Johnson and Johnson version.

I’m 70 and am in a different cohort which is due to be jabbed also in April (it’s already 24^th April, by the way, and I haven’t heard a dickie-bird.)

I read in SUR in English that 70 to 79-year-olds are to get the newly approved Janssen drug, which only requires one injection to be fully effective. Suits me.

Then, as soon as possible, I want to get el pasaporte verde to verify my Covid-19 status and let me travel without hassle. Can’t wait – no £100 a night quarantine in a UK hotel necessary then!

Hey, Amy, Carlo, Felix and Jude! And Jeryl! I’m on my way to Bow in the East End of London!

Tom, Su and Wilbur. See you by the sea in St. Leonard’s on Sea!

Simon and Marilyn. Get that double bed in your guest bedroom in South Gloucestershire made up!

Pablo de Ronda is an honorary Spaniard. He has lived and worked in the Serranía de Ronda for more than 12 years. Yet it was all an accident.

In Part One of his story he explained how he came to study Spanish at university.

In Part Two he told us how his life developed over the course of his degree, and how he ended up in hospital in Germany.

In this third and final part of his trilogy he relates how, with a degree in Spanish and German, he ended up living in Spain and married to a German.

He insists it was totally unplanned, and that that too was an accident.

After I recovered from my appendectomy I saw out the rest of my six months at Daimler-Benz AG and returned to Salford for the third term of my third year.

I’d earned good money at the luxury car manufacturer’s and bought myself a little car, a Hillman Imp. Not many students had cars in those days, so I was in a fortunate position, I guess.

I rented a grotty flat in Cheetham Hill, Manchester with my Northern Irish pal Mel. Mel could play guitar and sing and my voice wasn’t too bad either. Out of the blue we got offered the “job” of resident folk singers on Thursday nights at the Star Inn, Salford.

The one-armed landlord thought it was amusing to call us Hobson’s Choice.

There was a bunch of first-year female modern languages students who used to come every Thursday, and one, a blonde, called Jeryl, caught my eye. It wasn’t long before we were “stepping out”.

She had a licence so shared the driving whenever we went out. I drove there and she drove back. An ideal arrangement. Drink driving was just starting to become “taboo”.

Jeryl and I became an “item”. We stayed together through my final year, and her year abroad, spent in the Soviet Union and in southern France.

I graduated in 1973, did a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in Sheffield and became a modern languages teacher in Northwich, Cheshire.

By this time Jeryl and I were “living in sin” in a tower block in Salford Shopping Centre, while she finished off her degree.

Under pressure from parents to marry (living together out of wedlock was still a bit “iffy” in the early 1970s, we “jumped the broom” in January 1975. Then we bought our first house in Walkden, Greater Manchester. We paid £11,000 and had a mortgage with an interest rate of 16%!

Fast forward to the year 2000, our Silver Wedding Anniversary.

In  the intervening years I’d become Head of Spanish at a Boys’ Grammar School in Middleton, near Rochdale and then Head of Modern Languages and later Senior Teacher at a mixed comprehensive school in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside.

Then I left the classroom and became a schools adviser for St Helens Council. Later I was a Senior General Adviser for Sefton Council for 10 years.

After graduation Jeryl had done a MA and then PhD in International Marketing and gone into industry working for textile giant Courtaulds. She quite quickly became export manager for a company within the group.

We moved to Thelwall, near Warrington, Cheshire. That house cost an eye-watering £37,500, with a mortgage rate still around 16%. We stayed in that house, extending it twice, for 25 years.

We had two kids, Amy and Tom, and we went to Spain on holiday or with work every year. Jeryl was also a real hispanophile by this time and had made the effort to do evening classes in Spanish. She soon became nearly as good as me at castellano!

In fact, our Spanish bank manager once said her accent was better than mine!

Tired of the slog of export management, Jeryl switched to academia. Firstly at the University of Salford, where she became Professor of International Marketing and later at the University of Bradford Business School as Professor of International Marketing and Head of Department.

To celebrate 25 years of marriage, in August 2000 we arranged a little tour of Andalucía, staying in paradores for a week. Two nights in Ronda, two in Arcos de la Frontera, one in Cádiz, one in Córdoba and one in Málaga Gibralfaro.

We loved it, especially Ronda and the pueblos blancos of the Serranía de Ronda.

The following year we bought a little apartment in the Barrio San Francisco in Ronda. We named it Piso Blanco. Two years later we also bought a little house to do up, Casa Blanca, also in the Barrio.

Then in 2005 I had my annus horribilis. A nervous breakdown, divorce and redundancy. Wow! A triple whammy if ever there was one!

Two failed relationships later, one with the former object of my desires as an undergraduate, Jac,  who was a widow when we finally got together (her husband Danny had committed suicide many years before), I was at a loose end.

I found myself in Ronda at the beginning of September 2008 for La Feria de Pedro Romero, the annual bullfighting festival.

That was where I met the lovely Rita, whom I naturally nicknamed the Meter Maid. A German, resident in Montejaque for two years at that time, she didn’t have a clue what I was on about with her nickname, having more classical musical interests than the Beatles.

Anyway, we fell in love, I moved in with her at the end of 2008, we married in 2010 and the rest is history.

That is how this “accidental Spaniard”, who’d studied Spanish by chance, ended up living in Spain with a German, using both languages every single day. Not many languages graduates can make that claim!

But it was not planned at all. It was all an accident!