Eloise HorsfieldIT has taken 14 years of lobbying and protests.
Now, finally, a German entrepreneur has been allowed to restore one of Ronda’s key buildings.
Jochen Knie has begun the much-needed 2.5m euro facelift of the crumbling Casa del Rey Moro – one of the town’s most spectacular buildings.
The German had been planning to turn the 18th-century palace into a five-star hotel, but it may now serve as an events and conference space.
The work will take place in two phases, the first to protect the exterior, with a second internal phase, set to begin after Christmas.
As reported in the Olive Press, Knie has been forced to undertake a long and costly battle with the town hall to allow the project.
Last year, he was so desperate he undertook a rooftop protest with banners until he was arrested.
The building – along with its garden and 14th-century mine – which leads right to the bottom of the Tajo gorge and was Ronda’s only water source during Moorish times – is one of the most popular tourist sites in the area.
