01/11/2007 Archived Article: "Meeting held yesterday at Town Hall to discuss prospects for tourism in Gaucin"
 The meeting was called & chaired by Jesus Balsa of the Hotel La Fructuosa(in the photo,) with more than 50 people in attendance. Among them were the mayor, Teodoro Molina, and Alfredo Carrasco, director of the Centro de Iniciativas Turísticas of the Serranía de Ronda. Most of those in attendance were residents of Gaucín but not originally from the pueblo. The absence of Gaucin natives was sorely felt.
The meeting began with an introduction by Jesus Balsa (in the photo) on the situation of tourism in general in Gaucín, with the following premises:
- Tourism is the best & most natural sector for the economic advancement of Gaucín, & today it is the major source of funds for the majority of the pueblo.
- Tourism has actually been decreasing in the last 4 years
- What the pueblo needs: more and better restaurants, more activities, & a way to differentiate ourselves from other tourist destinations.
The meeting was then opened to the public to discuss, “What is needed in Gaucín?” “How do we solve this problem?” “Who should be responsable?” Following are some of the ideas presented:
- Create an association to breathe life into the sector of tourism. To this end a meeting has been called for November 7 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall salón de plenos
- Concrete proposals:
- Signing of the hiking trails
- Turn the Municipal Market, now hardly used, into a space for classes of flamenco, yoga, etc., bar-restaurant to give service when none is available in the pueblo.
- Creation of infrastructures such as a meeting place; improve the Web Page of the Town Hall
- Campaign to sensitize the citizens of the importance of tourism in the economy
- Creation of markets, events, festivals, etc. throughout the year.
- Public transport from the Coast & Ronda to give access to tourists without cars
- Continue the process of getting rid of moto noise, now much improved.
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