Island connections 773 FLN 40

Page 1

www.islandconnections.eu

1984-2016

040 1,80 €

773

June 9 – June 22, 2016 Gran Canaria

Heartbreaking interview

Spotlight on..

Guaranteed

Water shortage

Sandra’s story

Anthony Scott

Death and taxes

Page 13

Pages 14 & 15

Page 30

Page 34

Noche de San Juan

Wasteful bonfires The popular summer festival known as Noche de San Juan (Saint John’s Eve) takes place across the Islands on June 23, heralding Midsummer and the accompanying traditions of purging the soul and making fresh starts. The Feast of Saint John closely coincides with the summer solstice and the Christian holy day is held on June 24, however, in most countries the festivities are held the night before. The summer solstice is a festival celebrated by many cultures around the world, including the Guanches, the aboriginal inhabitants of the Islands. Legend has it that fire banished evil and disease while the ash contained mystical properties that healed skin conditions. Jumping over the fire and dancing around it was said to bring good fortune. Continued on page 3

This bonfire site in Los Silos already shows a large number of items unsuitable for burning

Yeremi Vargas

New clues to missing child? On March 10, 2007 Yeremi Vargas disappeared when he was just seven years old from his hometown of Vecindario on the southeast coast of Gran Canaria. On the day, the young lad was playing with friends and cousins on a vacant lot very close to the family residence, but he never made it home. More than 400 members of the security forces, several dog teams, friends and family members searched for the missing boy, the largest contingent ever deployed in the Canary Islands to date. All the effort was in vain, however, and despite intensive investigations by the Guardia Civil since there have never been any indications of his whereabouts. The discovery last year of a skull on the site where the boy had played brought hopes of closure, but the autopsy showed it was of a female adult who had been

Demonstrations were held all over the Islands to draw attention to the children’s disappearance

dead for at least 10 years. Spanish authorities even followed the trail of two British men, resident in Gran Canaria at the time Yeremi

went missing and currently serving time in a UK prison for paedophile offences, but this seemingly hot lead also came to a dead

end. However, there is now a new suspect in the case. Continued on page two


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