'Alongside tourism you need to have a sustainable growth for everybody that lives here'

Anne Razvi is originally from London, UK, but moved to Gaucín permanently 12 years ago, having previously owned a holiday home in San Pedro.

Anne, who is number 4 on the PP list, has already been a councillor in the village for four years. She told SUR in English that she was never involved in local politics back in the UK, but decided to get involved after living for a few years in Gaucín. "I didn't really feel like I knew the community very well" she explained, adding that "I never seemed to know what was going on with celebrations." Keen to change this, she joined the Junta de Festejos and from there became increasingly involved. Now she is a councillor in the department for tourism and foreign residents. "I went from having a compeltely relaxed life to being practically full-time in the council in Gaucín" she laughed.

When asked about her goals for Gaucín, she stressed the importance of making it "a great place to live for everyone". She wants internationals, who make up 22% of Gaucín's registered population, to "have a voice and a chance to be more integrated". However she also highlights the importance of ensuring spanish people want and can afford to live in the village, a problem at the moment being a shortage of affordable housing.

Razvi explained that although Gaucín has avoided the depopulation that other villages have faced, it is vital to keep the village growing so that essential services aren't lost.

She also added that the council wants to focus on more sustainable policies such as water capture and solar panels, particularly in response to the current drought situation.

Finally, Razvi told SUR in English that a key focus is tourism. She wants to extend the tourism season so that people are visiting throughout the year. "We are very much looking towards active tourism" she explained, which includes walking and biking trails and caravan parks. Things for families to do not only in the summer season. Nevertheless, she emphasised that "alongside tourism you need to have a sustainable growth for everybody that lives here".