Michelle Obama and friends visit Ronda's famous bullringSaturday 7th August 2010: We were in town having breakfast with our good friends Kathy and Ian, who told us that Michelle Obama, her youngest daughter Sasha and a group of family friends were visiting Ronda that very day.
After we had finished breakfast we joined the large street lined crowd of people all in the hope of getting a glimpse of the First Lady. Sadly, a glimpse was the best we could hope for! Admidst tight security a 15 car motorcade, consisting of two local police cars and the vast security escort of 13 4x4 bullet proof vehicles, sped the 250 metres from the Parador Hotel to Spain’s oldest bulling, Ronda’s Plaza de Toros! As the vehicle carrying the President's wife past us, the man in front of me raised his camera for a photograph and all I saw was her white gloved hand waving in a Queen like fashion!
It was an absolutely ludicrous situation and you felt the disappointment of all the people who had gathered to see her, some of whom, had been waiting for hours! Surely there has to be a better way....otherwise these high profile visits are pointless!
What sort of life is this for the wife of the American President anyway; quite clearly she is a First Lady who would delight in meeting and interacting with the people, but regretably is prevented from doing so for security reasons.
The same would apply to her journey up to Ronda from San Pedro through the Sierra Blanca mountains, which boast some of the most spectacular and picturesque views in the whole of Andalucia. Once you are high in the mountains you can look back and experience the most breathtaking views of coast and on a clear day one can see Gibraltar and the coast of Africa.
The question is, would she have been able to see them, sandwiched between bodyguards and secret service agents in an armoured vehicle racing up the narrow mountain road at high speeds, sirens wailing in fear of a terrorist attack! Probably not, which is really sad!
After visiting a number of the town's historic houses Mrs Obama stopped for lunch at the Restaurante Del Escudero, set in a 19th century villa that is located next to the bullring, before heading back to the five-star luxury Villa Padierna in Marbella, where the group are staying.
The First Lady and her entourage are due to attend a charity event hosted by actors Antonio Banderas and Eva Longoria on Saturday night and then lunch with Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia on the Sunday at their summer palace on the island of Majorca before flying home to Washington DC later in the week.
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