The Supplement #29

“Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago” Bernard Berenson

ISSUE 29

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Saturday 17 March 2012

IRISH GEAR UP FOR SAINT PATRICK’S DAY Resorts across the islands brace themselves for ‘green invaders’ ◗Today is the biggest day of the year for the Irish community in Tenerife and the other Canary islands. While not matching the scale of the mass partying in Dublin or New York, where pubs serve beer dyed green in honour of the Emerald Isle, the St Patrick’s Day cele-

brations can be expected to attract large crowds to Irish bars and restaurants for goodnatured revelry on a day when, by popular tradition, everyone becomes Irish for 24 hours. The occasion is likely to be even more boisterous than usual due to the screening of

the England v Ireland rugby international, which will doubtless see an early start in the pubs for thousands of Irish nationals, both resident and visitors. Entertainment laid on by resort bars includes live acts flown in from Ireland specially for the big day.

TOURISM

Small islands bid to attract Scandinavian business ◗El Hierro and La Palma host a visit this week by Scandinavian travel writers and travel agents as part of their bid to attract holidaymakers from the nordic countries. Six journalists and four travel agents arrived on Tuesday for a 5day stay organised by the regional Department of Tourism and local authorities.

The aim of the ‘volcanic experience’ fact-finding visit is to consolidate the two islands’ presence in the media in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

ECONOMY

Israeli ambassador launches new Chamber ◗Israel’s ambassador to Spain visited Tenerife this week to launch the new Canaries-Israel Chamber of Commerce. Ambassador Alon Bar travelled for the formal opening of the chamber, which will not have a headquarters as such but will seek to foster trade and tourism ties between the Canaries and Israel.

The chamber is the fourth to be opened by Israel in Spain, joining those in Galicia, Catalonia and Andalusia.

Tenerife’s Irish community turns out in force and in green for St Patrick’s Day on 17 March every year. / ISLAND CONNECTIONS

CAPITAL

MUSIC

SANTA CRUZ CONCERT BY STING CONFIRMED

Capital owes 50 million to firms and suppliers ◗Santa Cruz has accumulated a massive debt of 50 million euros owed to firms and suppliers in recent times.

The figure emerged after the city submitted mandatory paperwork to Madrid for the release of a big loan to settle its outstanding bills.

The Back to Bass tour marks 25 years of Sting’s solo career. / DA www.diariodeavisos.com/thesupplement

◗Ex-Police member Sting is to perform in Santa Cruz, concert promoter Maldito Rodríguez confirmed this week. The British legend brings his Back to Bass tour,

a celebration of his 25-year solo career, to Tenerife on 30 June and heads straight to the Balearic islands to top the bill at the Ibiza 123 Festival the following night.

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‘AFGHAN GIRL’ PHOTOGRAPHER OPENS SANTA CRUZ EXHIBITION Diario de Avisos Santa Cruz de Tenerife

An exhibition by the photographer who took one of the world’s best-known media pictures in recent decades is drawing sizeable crowds to the CajaCanarias Cultural Centre in Santa Cruz.

American Steve McCurry launched the exhibition in person this week with a public lecture on his experiences covering conflicts across the world, including Beirut, Cambodia, the Philippines, Iraq, the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Tibet. Pennsylvania-born McCurry shot to worldwide media fame when, disguised in native clothing, he crossed the Pakistan border into rebelcontrolled Afghanistan shortly before the Soviet invasion. He later emerged with rolls of film sewn into his clothes and the resulting images were among the first to show the conflict there.

His unprecedented coverage won him the Robert Capa Gold Medal for Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad, an award dedicated to photographers exhibiting exceptional courage and enterprise. McCurry’s haunting depiction of a young Afghan girl in a refugee camp is widely acknowledged as one of the most perfect photographs ever taken and was featured on the front cover of National Geographic. The identity of the ‘Afghan Girl’ remained unknown for over 17 years until McCurry and a National Geographic team located the woman in 2002.

DA Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Speaking to Tenerife media ahead of his talk, McCurry said his talent was simply his ‘ability to observe’. ‘Wherever I happen to be I do not have a game plan on getting out of bed. I just go out and explore, attentive to what is going on around me’. A few years ago, the 62-year-old admitted that he had learned to watch and wait during his two years as a

freelance in India early in his career. ‘I realised then that, if you wait, people will forget your camera and the soul will drift up into view’ he said. ‘Most of my photos are grounded in people. I look for the unguarded moment, the essential soul peeking out, experience etched on a person’s face. I try to convey what it is like to be that person’ he explains

also on his website. The exhibition of 101 images reflecting McCurry’s 27-year career in photo-journalism runs until 29 June at the CajaCanarias Centre and is part of the bank’s Enciende la Tierra season of talks and exhibitions on a range of topical issues such as global warming, the Arab Spring and the human face of conflict.

Steve McCurry’s haunting photograph of a young Afghan refugee earned him world fame. / DA

Highly critical OECD education report gets mixed reception

Tourism sector slams minister over ceiling proposal

Diario de Avisos Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Diario de Avisos Santa Cruz de Tenerife

A detailed report by OECD experts on the state of Canarian schools has opened up a can of worms in the education community. Unveiled at a press conference on Monday, the 100 page report, which contains criticism of all parties involved, from government to teachers and parents, makes 41 recommendations aimed at raising standards in schools and making better use of the money spent on education.

Among the findings to trigger controversy is the criticism of the current pay structure in place for teachers. According to the OECD, the system fails to reward teachers who do best in terms of getting the most from their

La Laguna gets tough on anti-social behaviour

pupils and, indeed, can even act as a disincentive to them. The experts point out that there is little encouragement for head teachers, who receive very little financial recognition for the massive administrative burden they have to shoulder.

The group of experts, including UK-based education consultant Caroline Macready, also urged the Department of Education to consider overhauling the current approach to assessment to ensure all teachers ‘use the same criteria and look for the same things’ when evaluating pupil performance. Another controversial recommendation concerns the school year, which the OECD group believes should be amended to shorten the long summer holidays.

A hint that the government may consider imposing a ceiling on tourists holidaying in the Canaries has met with swift and angry reaction from the sector.

Employment and industry minister Margarita Ramos appeared to suggest in a parliamentary appearance this week that the time had come to limit visitor numbers due to the demand placed on resources and essential services by such large numbers.

‘12 million, the number of tourists who came here in 2011, is a figure that invites reflection on the need for limits to guarantee sustainability. In addition to aspects such as water, we have

to think of the electricity needed and the rubbish produced by so many people’ said Ramos.

The comments sparked fury in several quarters, including travel agents and hotel bodies, who described the minister’s intervention as unhelpful and puzzling. ‘How would we implement the ceiling? Count the tourists as they arrive and then turn them back once the limit is reached?’ asked Fernando Fraile, head of the FEHT federation of tourism businesses.

For its part, the Spanish Association of Travel Agents said the proposal was at odds with the policy of the Canarian government, which devoted considerable efforts last year to promotion campaigns aimed at increasing visitor numbers.

La Laguna is in the process of drawing up a new Code of Conduct to erradicate antisocial behaviour ranging from spitting in the street and begging to late-night house noise.

The city is preparing a 57-page list of practices it says are ‘contrary to decorum and community spirit’. Among the activities to be totally prohibited is begging for money on the streets, which local councillor José Alberto Díaz says is ‘mafia-organised and has little to do with real needs’.

Stiff fines will be imposed on those who urinate on the streets or allow their dogs to foul pavements or public areas.

In response to complaints from city-centre residents, tighter rules are to be introduced on the use of skateboards and bicycles on pedestrian streets.

The corporation says that many of the offences are already set out in existing bylaws but it has decided to bring all of them together under a single, harmonised document to facilitate implementation and raise awareness.

Animal shelter forced to cut services DA Santa Cruz de Tenerife

One of Tenerife’s best-known animal shelters says it has been forced to scale down its activities and services because local councils have failed to honour their funding promises. The Valle Colino shelter, which is run by an animal welfare association called Fecapap, depends on grants from four town halls: Santa Cruz, La Laguna, Tegueste and El Rosario.

The association’s president Adriana Naranjo said this week that no more dogs or cats are being taken in, except those hurt in road accidents.

The shelter, which keeps stray animals until they can be returned to their owners or put out for adoption to suitable families, has had to reduce its opening hours also because of the shortage of money.

‘Only one council is up to date with its agreed payments and we are still owed money that should have been paid back in 2010 and 2011’ said Naranjo.

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SPORT

Community counts for Canarias Diario de Avisos Santa Cruz de Tenerife

A basketball player’s life is far from limited to fitness training, on-court practice and a game every week-end, at least if the player happens to be at highflying Iberostar Canarias, who currently top the LEB league and are bidding to return to the Spanish Premiership for the first time in decades.

The club is renowned for its strong links to the community, not just through its range of commercial activities which keep its multiple local sponsors in the public eye, but also through its outreach programme which sees players travel the length and breadth of Tenerife to visit schools and talk to the next generation of local basketball players.

Rarely a week goes by without a visit to a school by several members of the Canarias squad, who chat to the children about their experiences and join in the practice sessions, offering coaching tips to improve the youngsters’ game. Pupils at secondary schools on the island regularly receive visits by the side’s Americans, who host Q&A sessions on their lives as professional players as an incentive to English tea-

ATHLETICS

García delighted at Istanbul relay experience ◗Tenerife-CajaCanarias Athletics Club runner Samuel García is back home after his debut in international competition in a Spain vest. The La Palma-born 400 metres runner helped his country finish fourth in the 4x400 relay in the world indoor championships in Istanbul last week-end and says he was delighted to have taken part, even though Spain did not pick up any medals.

ching at the schools concerned.

The outreach activities do not end there, however. On match days, basketball teams from local schools and clubs are invited along to play mini-games at halftime in front of the biggest crowds the vast majority of the young players will ever get to see, including their proud parents watching from their seats above.

Whether the activities organised by the club will continue in their present form remains to be seen if Canarias are promoted to the ACB, where the demands of life in the second-best league in the world may well force a

BOXING

Canarian amateurs back at top of national tree

Rarely a week passes without Canarias players taking time out for a school visit.

Iberostar Canarias players pass on tips during their school visits./ DA

change in policy, due to the limited time available for outreach initiatives. However, that is a dilemma which will be addressed when the time comes and for the moment the players will continue to perform their vital role

as ambassadors for the club, and the game generally, in the local community. An immediate concern is to seal promotion as quickly as possible in the remaining six games, some of which are against sides currently in the

top positions in the table. The task has not been helped by the growing casualty list, which has seen key players Richi Guillén, Jakim Donaldson, Jaime Heras, Levi Rost and Nico Richotti all suffer injuries in recent weeks.

SAILING

Columbus yacht race cancelled due to funding cuts Diario de Avisos Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Severe budget cuts have led to the cancellation of the annual yacht race from southern Spain to the island of La Gomera this year, although the decision comes as no surprise. The bad news, rumours of which have been doing the rounds in yachting circles here and on the mainland for some time, was announced earlier this week by the local authorities in Huelva and the Cabildo in La Gomera, who have jointly organised the race for almost 30 years.

Despite outlining details of the 2012 event - which was scheduled to take place during the first week of September - at the Barcelona International Boat Show

The 750-mile race to La Gomera recalls the voyage by Columbus. / DA

back in November and opening preliminary registration for participants, the organisers have now decided to cancel the race rather than see its image tarnished irre-

parably by a very low-key and low-budget race. 17 yachts of all sizes took part in last year’s event, which was won in a time of just over 93 hours by the La Coruña-

based Fertiberia, the smallest of the competing boats.

The 750-mile race, one of the high points of the island’s September festivities, was created to replicate the initial leg of the journey by Christopher Columbus on his voyage of discovery that led him to the Americas at the end of the 15th century. As all Canarians know, Columbus and his crew stopped off in San Sebastián de La Gomera to take on water and other supplies for the marathon Atlantic crossing.

Despite the cancellation setback, the organisers are confident that they will be able to resume normal business when circumstances improve and funding becomes available again. ‘The yacht race is a vital cultural and historical event for its starting and finishing points and we are naturally very disappointed at having to call it off. However, we will do our best to ensure it survives even if it is not being held this time after 27 consecutive years’ said a spokesperson for the organisers.

◗Canarian amateur boxing has returned to the top of the Spanish tree after nearly 30 years, following the impressive medals haul at the inter-region championships in Valencia.

The nine medals won ( three golds, five silvers and a bronze) meant that the combined male and female team bettered favourites Madrid, Andalusia and Catalonia to head the overall table.

CD TENERIFE

Rosquete upbeat after recovery from mystery fainting ◗Tenerife forward Rubén Rosquete has revealed that his mystery collapse in the changing room was not the first time he had fainted in strange circumstances. The Icod player was placed under observation for a week after collapsing while the team was watching a video of the Castilla game. ‘It happened to me a few seasons ago but with stomach pains, unlike this time’ he said.

MOTOR RACING

Formula 1 season starts this week-end in Australia ◗Formula 1 fans get their first glimpse of design improvements to cars this week-end at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Spanish interest continues to focus on Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who will face a tough time keeping up with favourites Red Bull and McLaren, judging by the practice performances to date of his new car.

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