REDMOND — Juan Zendejas is sitting in a mostly bare DJ booth at La Bronca, the Redmond-based radio station he runs with his wife, Selene. Some cables run neatly from the station’s soundboard to a computer on the desk, but in the room adjacent to the booth, other cords are still in boxes.

“When I leased this place, it was just an empty building, so I built some walls,” Juan Zendejas said Friday, referring to La Bronca’s new downtown Redmond location, where the station recently moved. “We moved in here at the beginning of the month, when we started airing our programming from this building. We’re still doing some cleanup.”

This is the third location for Central Oregon’s only Spanish-language radio station, which Juan and Selene started in 2006. Juan said the downtown building makes it easier for listeners to drop in to claim prizes or chat than their previous location, which was west of town.

This year is La Bronca’s 10th. The station has grown over the years, as has the area’s Latino population.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Latino population in Deschutes County more than doubled between 2000 and 2010 — from 4,304 to 11,718 — and grew to 12,417 in 2014. At more than 7.4 percent of the total population in Deschutes County, that makes Latinos the county’s largest minority group. The same goes for Crook and Jefferson counties, where Latinos make up 7.3 percent and 19.5 percent of the populations, respectively.

And throughout all the growth, La Bronca has remained an on-air community hub for Latinos in Central Oregon.

“I’ve become addicted,” Juan Garcia, a longtime La Bronca listener, said Saturday. “I listen pretty much every day. There’s no Latino media here, and the people here need the station for communication, for information, for so many good things. It keeps me informed and entertained.”

Juan Zendejas said he takes the station’s role seriously, because he recognizes its importance in the Latino community.

“I think a vast majority of Hispanics in Central Oregon tune in to our station, and some for most of the day,” he said. “I’ve heard stories from people who work at the construction sites, or in restaurants, or doing maintenance work, that they pretty much come in the morning, and when they start their shift they tune into the station and keep it on. They count on us for news, and entertainment, too.”

Besides the music and syndicated news programs, the station’s local programming — which includes Juan Zendejas’ weekday oldies show, “Las Viejas de Pitufo,” and Selene’s “Latinos Unidos,” an interview show profiling local organizations that serve Latinos — is what keeps people coming back, Juan Zendejas said.

As the Spanish radio industry has developed over the last few decades, local programming that gives listeners the opportunity to call in has become less common, he said, and especially in larger markets. But at La Bronca, such interactive programming is still a priority, which might explain why the station’s internet stream snags a couple thousand listeners from all over the country every day.

“We have a lot of out-of-the-area regular listeners, too, that call in or send us emails,” he said, pointing to a map on the computer that shows where listeners from all over the U.S. are tuning in to the station. “There are people in Portland, Seattle, lots of listeners in Chicago, in Texas. It’s probably because we’re bringing something different than what other local stations are offering — a combination of the music and DJ interaction with the audience.”

Of course, the station hits home the hardest in Central Oregon, where Juan and Selene can have face-to-face contact with listeners.

“Sometimes I’m afraid to go to the store because I know everybody’s going to see me,” said Selene, who goes by the on-air name Ruby when she’s hosting her show. “Last year a girl ran up to me and said, ‘I’ve been listening to you for four years, and I’ve never met you.’ It’s hard to believe there are people out there who are listening but don’t know me personally.”

Selene said she’s not surprised this happens, though. Without other Spanish-language options in the area, La Bronca is important to locals because most of all it serves as a way to connect people.

“It’s like a voice for the community,” she said. “We are a connection between people who offer services and the listeners, and there’s a connection between the world and us through La Bronca, too. Because there’s no other way that the community can be aware — there’s no newspaper for Hispanic people here. Even though there are a lot of Hispanic people in Central Oregon, sometimes people think there are none.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7829,

awest@bendbulletin.com