Relief at reopening of Ronda-San Pedro road: 'After four months of two-hour detours, it is heaven'

María Antonia González Palmero and her sister María del Mar can't hide their joy: on Monday their business "started to live again." The doors to Venta El Madroño at kilometre 23 of the A-397, between Ronda and San Pedro Alcántara, are once again wide open to welcome the motorbikers and cyclists who have taken to riding up and down this road after it had been closed for four months due to a landslide following the heavy rains in March.

Álvaro shares that joy. He's a delivery driver and, on Monday, he took advantage of the reopening of one lane to drive up and then back down this road with a lorryload of drinks. "After four months of making almost two-hour detours, this is just heaven", he said. The reopening of one of the lanes, controlled by traffic lights, has been very well received and it is expected that the traffic flow will resume its normal rate for this road over the next few days. "I live in San Pedro and today I wanted to come here and enjoy these views", said Luisa, who was keen to not miss the opportunity to be one of the first to drive along the A-397 again.

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Julio runs a fruit stall on the San Pedro exit toward Ronda. He knows only too well what a bad four months the businesses in the area have had to endure. "People have had a terrible time, many businesses have closed, others have had to make cutbacks and today we can finally begin to return to some normality for those of us who live along this road", he said.

This optimism is also shared by the bikers and cyclists who have resumed riding up and down this road that is so beloved by them for its scenery, gradients and curves. Rafael Vera was taking a trip along this road on Monday on his motorbike: "I wanted to see how the road was and it's fine."

"Most people haven't yet realised that the road is open and you can pass through but, even so, we have noticed more people than in the past four months", said María Antonia with a smile on her face. "We've had a really tough time, we've lived through some very difficult moments, we've been four months at zero, with no visitors, no bikers, no people... We're super happy to be back in business. Many customers are now friends and this is our life."

Cristian Boza, a biker who works as a security guard near San Pedro Alcántara, said that "today I'm riding up the road as a biker, but this evening I'll be heading down it to go to work. The reopening is especially a joy for many businesses that were dying."

"It's fantastic that the road has reopened today, we're here to train, it's a wonderful road and it's perfect that it's finally open for our training," said cyclist Jone Ellingsen.